Sadness and Anger...

I am sick at heart with the loss of these two NYPD officers, two of the most recent in a string of violent revenge attacks on law enforcement. I am saddened that two more families will be without their loved fathers, brothers and sons, and I am deeply angered and disgusted at the Obama-Holder-Sharpton-De Blasio divisionary, race-baiting, race-pandering politics emanating from places like the white house and the mayor’s office of NYC. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of Officers Ramos and Liu... Godspeed Brothers! And to the NYPD, Strength and Honor.

Somehow these cop-hating, kill all the cops, kill whitey-wanna-burn-it-down types seem to have forgotten that they are able to exist because we allow them to. “We” is that thin blue line that separates a civil, free society from the mob rule. The same thin blue line that protects all of our constitutional rights, including their right to peacefully protest. How many other countries in the world would respond to the burning, the looting, the racial attacks by sending in their military to quickly solve the problem? Thank God we don’t live in one of those countries. I have spent 34 years of my life defending our Constitution and protecting the lawful from the lawless, and I sure as hell don’t want to see it all for naught now. But that’s what I took an oath to do, and I’ll keep doing it until I’m no longer able to.

Now Sharpton and Company have come out saying they’re against the violence… Really? He and his ilk are no better than the opportunistic arsonist who started the fire, threw gasoline on it and is now running away calling for the fire department to come help. POTUS can’t even bring himself to say what really needs to be said to help calm things down, but then why should we expect any different from a man who has proven time and time again he cannot lead?

Folks, we are inching ever closer to the edge of the abyss, and if we allow ourselves to be pushed in, I don’t know that we’ll ever make it out. It will be jungle law ugly on an epic scale.

Stay tuned. This ain't over yet. Unfortunately I'm sure there's more to come.

Memorial Day, 2013

I had been meaning to go to Ambassador Chris Stevens' gravesite to pay my respects for some time now. Today was the day when it seemed the most fitting. I went there for several reasons.. but the biggest reason was for Glen Doherty and Ty Woods, the men who ran to the sound of gunfire to help Americans who were in trouble. I say this not to diminish the work and lives of  Chris Stevens or Sean Smith, by any means. But being a first responder I relate to Glen and Ty, and that grave is the closest thing to a memorial for them I could get to.

I stayed there for a while, and I said a prayer for all four of them. I left a small token of my visit. But I also apologized, as an American, for letting them down. I know... I wasn't there, I wasn't in the chain of command, there was nothing at all I could have done a half a world away that would have made any difference in the events at Benghazi that terrible night. But as an American, and as a first responder, Benghazi haunts me, and breaks my heart. It's not what we do, leaving our brothers unaided and alone, to die at the hand of the enemy. Glen and Ty answered the call. Why didn't we answer their call?

Today there were a lot of American flags next to Ambassador Stevens' headstone. It's a simple family plot in an old cemetery, with a beautiful big cedar tree right overhead. Someone had left flowers, and a note. The note contained an apology to Ambassador Stevens for our country failing him. It was wet and was falling apart in my hands as I read it. I gently put it back, said a last prayer, and left.

On my way home, the skies were gray and it kept trying off and on to rain. A small silver car was trying to change lanes in front of me. When I saw what was on her car, I slowed down and gave her plenty of room. Next to the license plate were two stickers: a USMC emblem and a Gold Star flag. I remember thinking that we have Memorial Day once a year, and even though many of us reflect on the sacrifices made more often than once a year, the woman driving that car has Memorial Day every day.

As I am writing this, I did what I said I would do earlier. I raised a dram of the best single malt I own, silently toasted and remembered them, as well as all the others gone before. Thank you for your service, your sacrifice, and the sacrifice of your families and friends.

 

Running Towards the Sound of Gunfire

St. Crispin's Day speech

from Henry V (1599) by William Shakespeare

WESTMORELAND. O that we now had here But one ten thousand of those men in England That do no work to-day! KING. What’s he that wishes so? My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin; If we are mark’d to die, we are enow To do our country loss; and if to live, The fewer men, the greater share of honour. God’s will! I pray thee, wish not one man more. By Jove, I am not covetous for gold, Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost; It yearns me not if men my garments wear; Such outward things dwell not in my desires. But if it be a sin to covet honour, I am the most offending soul alive. No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England. God’s peace! I would not lose so great an honour As one man more methinks would share from me For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more! Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host, That he which hath no stomach to this fight, Let him depart; his passport shall be made, And crowns for convoy put into his purse; We would not die in that man’s company That fears his fellowship to die with us. This day is call’d the feast of Crispian. He that outlives this day, and comes safe home, Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d, And rouse him at the name of Crispian. He that shall live this day, and see old age, Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, And say “To-morrow is Saint Crispian.” Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars, And say “These wounds I had on Crispian’s day.” Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot, But he’ll remember, with advantages, What feats he did that day. Then shall our names, Familiar in his mouth as household words- Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter, Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester- Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb’red. This story shall the good man teach his son; And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by, From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered- We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile, This day shall gentle his condition; And gentlemen in England now-a-bed Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here, And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

Boston Marathon Terrorist Attack

I watched the reports coming in from the terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon yesterday. In a word, as with all of these cowardly attacks on innocent civilians... horrific. The information coming in about casualties makes me sick to my stomach. At the same time it fuels a flame in me to want to destroy the cowards that would do such a thing.

Watching people respond to help the wounded, the first responders, civilians, everyone who ran towards the cries of the wounded... my thanks to all of you are heartfelt but hardly necessary. We're Americans. We pull together when things get tough. It's what we do.

Godspeed to those that were murdered. A quick recovery to those that were injured. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you and your families.

To my brother and sister LEO's... find them.

And another...

Sent to KFBK radio after listening to a discussion between the hosts and CA Senator Darrel Steinberg:


Amy and Ed,

I was listening to your show this morning on my way to work when you spoke with Darrell Steinberg. The subject of the horrific events atAurora, Colorado and Oak Creek, Wisconsin came up leading into a discussion on gun control. Everyone is understandably looking for some sort of solution to prevent this type of thing from happening in the future, and the topics of better mental health screening and treatment along with gun control are the standard conversations that occur.

I am a 29 year law enforcement veteran, still serving with an agency just east of Sacramento. I began my career with a large S. California Sheriff’s Office in 1980, then moved my family to N. California for a better quality of life. I am currently the lead trainer and lethal force instructor at my current agency. I only mention this as I want you to understand that I speak from a long time street cop and use of force instructor perspective. I spend much of the training time at our agency training our officers how to respond to these types of incidents.

By and far, the large majority of law enforcement officers do not support the type of gun control that people like Mr. Steinberg would like to enact, regardless of what their chiefs of police might say. It’s a proven fact that in states where there are more concealed weapon carriers that there are less crimes of violence. The facts are there… please don’t take my word for it, do the research yourselves. It has been said that “An armed society is a polite society”. I think everybody would wish that we had evolved beyond the need to be armed and have to defend ourselves, but it is simply not the way of reality. Even one situation like Aurora, the Sikh temple shooting, or a Columbine is one too many, but what Mr. Steinberg proposes will not stop these events from occurring. There is nothing I wish more than I could be at the scene at the moment that some perverted monster decides to make war on innocent civilians so I could do my best to stop them. But the reality is that we are very rarely on scene as horrible things happen.

I agree with some limited registration, which we already have. Most states have the Federal “Insta-check” program in place, where a background can be completed in moments on a firearms purchaser. What Mr.Steinberg was proposing this morning, which you agreed to, was in essence a ban on all semi-automatic firearms (all “clip fed” weapons was what he said).  AK-47’s are already illegal without a Federal permit and licensing process as they are fully automatic machine guns. So called “assault rifles” are simply semi-automatic look alike civilian versions of military rifles, and are already heavily regulated. As a peace officer I have no trouble with firearms, including the so-called “assault weapons” in the hands of reasonable, responsible, law abiding citizens.

The argument often put forward by gun-control proponents is that they support the Second Amendment, but that the Founders never envisioned semi-automatic weapons and high capacity magazines. So that means that we should still be relegated to muskets? Fortunately or unfortunately, technology has progressed. That does not mean I think that just anyone should be able to own a belt-fed heavy machine gun without some stringent background checks and a permit process.

When we recognize as a society, that, One: We need to stop spoon feeding media violence to our children, and teach them that there are serious consequences for committing violent acts. Two: We need to improve on our handling of persons with mental health issues, especially those that show some inclination towards acting out their violent fantasies. Three: There are already enough laws on the books, and enough controls. Instead of taking away rights from the rest of us, put some teeth back into the justice system. When a shooter is apprehended committing an act as horrible as the Aurora or Oak Creek shooting, a speedy trial should ensue. If found guilty, one speedy appeal. If the conviction is upheld, their lives are forfeit and they should be immediately destroyed just as we would destroy a rabid hyena.

When there are real deterrents in place and actually being used, we will begin to see a difference. When we actually call things what they are and act instead of being frozen due to “political correctness” then we will see a change. Unfortunately some people only understand brute force or the “big stick”. Those are truisms of human nature, whether some progressive minded folks want to believe it or not.  If youcould wave a magic wand and make all the guns disappear, the people that are inclined to will still find some other means to carry out mass murder.

Thank you for your show! You two do a great job and I always enjoy listening to you.

Best,

Steve Morrill

A Letter to Tom Sullivan...

Today I was coming back from an appointment and happened to catch part of Tom Sullivan's radio show on KFBK. There were a lot of calls coming in about the shooting in Aurora, Colorado. I felt the need to pitch in my two-bits worth but couldn't call the show. I sent him this email when I had a few minutes to sit down...

Tom,

I was able to listen to part of your show today and some of the comments made by various callers. I am a 29-year law enforcement veteran, still working at a sheriff’s office in N. California and originally coming from a large sheriff’s office in S. California. I currently work as the lead lethal force instructor/trainer for my agency.

A couple of points:

Some of the callers wanted to talk about ballistics and bullets and so on. The bottom line is this… in one of these situations, what will save the day is if there is someone in the crowd who has the warrior mindset and heart (read: courage) to attack the shooter. Since the Columbine massacre law enforcement has learned some hard lessons and we have adjusted our tactics and training accordingly. I train my people to attack and draw the shooter’s attention off of his intended victims. Whether they will or not depends on a lot on the circumstances and the individual officer involved. It could likely be an armed or even unarmed citizen that stops or at least slows down the attack. At Virginia Tech one of the teachers saved many lives by blocking his classroom door, ultimately with his body, thereby denying entry to Cho.

In one recent law enforcement study done on active shooter events, it was calculated that once the shooter begins his killing rampage, a victim is injured or killed approximately every eight seconds. Even with Aurora PD being as close as they were, and with their rapid, outstanding response,  there was still enough time for the killer to amass an awful body count. And as is so typical with these cowards who would make war on innocents who cannot fight back, he surrendered to law enforcement instead of taking on the guys with guns. (They generally surrender or kill themselves when law enforcement arrives on scene.)

We have become an almost Godless society. Until we, as a nation and a society, stop feeding our kids a steady diet of murder and violence in the various media, these incidents will continue. As each of these horrific events occurs, it appears the more well-planned attacks are designed to outdo the prior murder spree with an even bigger body count. Until our society puts real deterrents in place, these attacks will continue. If the attacker is captured alive, their trial should be speedy and fair. If found guilty, one speedy appeal. If their conviction is upheld, their lives are forfeit and they should be immediately destroyed.

The politicians will wring their hands and clamor for more gun control, instead of working to enforce the overwhelming number of laws we already have in place. The pundits will blather on and our nation slips further into the abyss because our political correctness and lack of courage has hamstrung our resolve to do the right thing.

And every warrior I know was thinking this morning “If only, if only I could have been there… maybe I could have made a difference.”

I am sick at heart for the victims, their families, and our Country.

Thank you for your time, Tom. Please keep up the good work!