REALITY vs. movies and TV

Many people saw the Dirty Harry movies. It is said that the first Officer Survival schools were held at Fort Ord in California. That is near Carmel (Pebble Beach, to some of you).

Officer Survival Schools started when some in law enforcement realized that most law enforcement agencies adhered to "The Bottom Line". Translation: It was cheaper for them to let you get killed than to have you wound or kill the Bad Guy.

If you were a Law Enforcement Officer, LEO,you found this out plus you were gradually being loaded up with politically correct concepts. You were expected to live with those as some of your superiors either wanted to climb that career ladder, or aspired to elected office at the end of their Police Administrator career. You were not to embarass them, or do something that they had to explain.

You found that you were expected to ignore some violations if they involved certain minorities. Example: In San Diego, the rage with Hispanics was "Low Rider " cars. In constructing these cars, the standard rims would be removed, and thin rims with undersized tires would be mounted. Problem: The skinny little tires were not lawfully rated to carry the load of the car. It was a traffic violation. But, a Hispanic Deputy Chief of Police ORDERED the street officers NOT to cite that violation as it was an "Ethnic violation".

So part of the Survival School was what to do with your Department if your superiors took action on you for doing yor job.

Clint Eastwood had a restaraunt in Carmel at the time of the Survival School start ups. He had served in the U S Army at Fort Ord. It was said, not documented or recorded, that Clint gave the LEOs a break on food and drink in his restaraunt. in return, he asked the question:" If you could do the job the way you wanted to--what would that be?"

Wella! What followed was Dirty Harry. The movie allegedly showed how cops would do the job--if they could it the way they wanted to.

In the movies, Officers return fire or shoot because of a threat and kill their opponent. There is a brief conversation with a partner or a bystander, then it is off to coffee.
REALITY: You will be at the scene for several hours. You will trade your weapon for another one. Each one of your fired rounds MUST be accounted for. Representatives from the Local Government, your Agency, the County Government, the State Government, the local and State District Attorney, and the FBI WILL interview/interrogate you, usually at an office in close proximity. In eighteen to twenty-fours hours, you will get to go home or to a bed.

In the movies, there is no further involvement with the wounded or killed opponent.
REALITY: Especially in California, look to be named in a law suit. Thanks to Ex-Governor Jerry Brown, who put a non-experienced person on the Supreme Court, we have Joint and Several Liability. (More to be written on this in future posts) You, your Agency, and your jurisdiction (City, County, State) will be named on that lawsuit.