On the newsfeed today is yet another example of where a “veteran” officer is putting together scenario based training for civilians.
Such sites are popping up all over America, and with the restrictions on purchasing marking cartridges plummeting to the point where they are available to nearly anybody, lots of self proclaimed training experts are jumping on the money train. While there are obviously a good number of solid trainers running some very safe and effective training, there are far more people running training with little or no regard for the hazards, both physical and mental (probably also legal) that they are imposing on their students.
In this latest offering on Fox News, the trainer demonstrates the use of both marking cartridges and probe firing TASERs and in neither instance are best safety practices being utilized to the point where serious physical harm is possible. It has also been pointed out by one of the responders to this article that in one instance, the “bad guy” is using conventional blanks – firing them at the student who is wearing nothing more than her spectacles as protection. In a recent article by Greg Ellifritz as posted by Grant Cunningham.
He highlights the hazards of using conventional blank ammunition in conventional firearms, and last year in Florida former Punta Gorda officer Lee Cole shot a woman to death with a wadcutter .38 cartridge, thinking he was using blanks.
In this example of poorly facilitated scenario training, the obvious lack of groin protection or throat protection has led to life changing injuries in past instances with other trainers. The lack of gloves is also a huge concern since a marking cartridge can remove a finger nail or cause serious hand other hand damage. Could you imagine for a second, being the role player in one of the scenarios depicted in this video clip where you are having a TASER deployed at you by someone who has probably never done this before .. and being shot with a probe in your hand and a probe in your testicle?? Let that sink in, then ask yourself if you want to work for this organization.
As in many other instances such as this, I do not for a single instant question the character of this trainer. But I SERIOUSLY question his competence. Without going into the techniques or the legalities of the things that he is teaching, as I have not discussed them with him or attended his training, it is obvious from a quick watch of the news cast that he does not have the proper training in the safe usage of the very dangerous technologies that he is using. Sadly, this is extremely common, to the point of being a national crisis. In one of our previous articles, we addressed the Dunning Krueger effect, and how trainers such as this are living on the Peak of Mount Stupid. They don’t know what they don’t know when it comes to this type of training, and as a result are putting people who pay for their “expertise” in serious jeopardy.
Too bad. Because at this time in history we need to be preparing those who are increasingly in harms way from the growing violence in society – not putting them in harms way during that process.