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As a 23 year veteran, I can tell you that statement is missing a ton of context, and almost certainly is very inaccurate. Most people in the military rarely if
by jki275 6y ago
As a 23 year veteran, I can tell you that statement is missing a ton of context, and almost certainly is very inaccurate.
Most people in the military rarely if ever touch a firearm for their entire time in the military after they qualify with it in bootcamp - some don't even do that. De-escalation training? That's diametrically opposite of how an infantryman is trained, and totally irrelevant to anyone outside those combat arms fields. Most people in the military would never receive a single moment of training relevant to police work in their entire time in the military.
What you might be seeing is that most veterans tend to be a bit older, a bit more mature, and perhaps tend to view a badge less as a power trip and more of a responsibility due to the experiences they've had. I can't say that for sure, but it makes a bit more sense than saying military are better trained than police, when the vast majority of military members get absolutely no relevant training in anything related to police work.
- ineedasername 6y agoThat is an excellent bit of insight on the topic. Thank you.
- jessaustin 6y agoGP might have been thinking of MPs. ISTM many of the ex-military people who become cops had served as MPs.
- jki275 6y agoAnecdotally of course, most of the MPs I’ve known act much like the civilian police and are trained much like them. My father was an MP.
- tomschlick 6y agoI see a lot of people lately citing the military as some bastion of self control when it comes to ROE too. What they usually fail to see is that the military on patrol is usually in squads or at least in pairs, not alone like civilian officers. It's much easier to maintain control of a situation when you outnumber potential bad actors. When a normal beat cop is on patrol though they are usually alone (unless in a top 10 major city like NYC). That changes the dynamic as officers have to maintain the upper hand as if they get overpowered the suspect now has access to multiple firearms both on the officer and in a patrol vehicle.
- jki275 6y agoThat's also a fair point in a slightly different manner as well -- Soldiers on patrol are heavily supervised. They have an officer and usually a relatively senior NCO who directs the majority of their actions. LOTS of accountability there.
- scarface74 6y agoYou mean like the five cops who just stood there while one cop put his knee on someone’s neck for nine minutes?
- shirakawasuna 6y agoI've seen cops get downright giddy over having an excuse to gas and beat a protest. One of them had a little smiley face on the end of their baton and was fully kitted in riot gear.