Realistic training in use of force
The other night went out on the town with my fiancee. Around midnight while we were walking back home we turned a street corner and - woah! - found ourselves smack in the middle of three lines of riot cops blocking the whole intersection. This happens in Europe and apparently there was some big conference in town between EU and Asian countries, so all the rats were running wild too trying to set the town on fire.
Everything turned out OK for two of us, cops were happy to let us go on our merry way, but I got pretty good close ups how they were catching some of the trouble makers. Although she wanted to go out and start demanding explanation from them what the heck is going on! I took her by the arm and said “Oh no you don’t honey, they are not here to talk, let’s get the hell out of dodge while we can.”
Later we of course laughed about it, funniest thing being that the cops wore the riot gear I represent! I can now honestly claim to be one of the few if not the only salesman who has seen his riot gear in action from the wrong side of the line!
Anyways, I also started to reflect on the importance of good realistic training for the riot cops. Rioters are out to instigate and provoke, and they use real Molotov Cocktails and other weapons. It’s not easy to stand in and hold the line, it takes courage and nerves not to go out and just beat the hell out of everybody. But if you break the line, and that’s exactly what rioters are trying to achieve, the whole hell breaks loose all over town.
So, of course we take out our riot gear and training suit, go out to the range and see what happens….
No harm done, not even a scratch, just great full contact training, and the “suspect” is in custody.
Another lesson learned during the day: if you go out on riot control, first you better get used to the idea of being in the receiving end for Molotov Cocktails. You got to trust your gear, right? So naturally we whipped out that jerry can full of gasoline!
