Originally Posted By: hatt
Law enforcement bias. "I need it, you don't." The notion that the police need 18 rounds and 3 reloads and body armor and backup and a carbine but Joe Citizen needs 5-6 rounds and a cell phone that'll get the police there in 5 to 30 minutes is ludicrous. Joe walks the same streets as LEO.
If I gave you the impression that I think LE needs access to stuff that civilians don't then I completely apologize. I cannot express more clearly that I am a HUGE believer in the citizen being able to defend himself to any practical manner he deems fit. I was a CCW civilian before I became a Deputy. And I FULLY support the entire BoR. I am not threatened or intimidated by the thought of other folks having weapons; I am mindful of the bad entities that have access to weapons that would do me or others harm. AS far as I care, you can carry as much as you can shoulder. I don't believe that LE has some exclusive "right" to have "more" of anything. I really don't care what someone carries as long as it's done legally and responsibily. If I gave anyone the impression that I think LE should be entitled to stuff you aren't, then I've somehow not expressed myself well. PLEASE do not lump me into the mentality that you infer; that's not me (or other Deputies I work with). I don't believe that I deserve something you don't when it comes to defense of life.
I was only trying to give some practical advice as to why cops carry more ammo when on duty. We have two contributing criteria:
1) we are called INTO situations that most folks typically can avoid by choice; face it - no one dials 911 when they are having a good day.
2) we are honor and duty bound to stay in the fight, so we need to outlast the bad guys
As an engineer by day trade, I often do FMEAs. For those familiar with the concept, it's a matter of risk assessment viewing three criteria:
1)severity of failure mode
2)frequency of occurence or propensity to happen
3)ability to detect or control
These are typically rated on a scale of 1-10; the higher the number the greater the contributing criteria.
- For anyone, death offers the same severity, so that would be equal. Death is a 10 severity for anyone.
- For frequency, officers are called into situations that others can avoid, or at least would flee if able. Here, John Q may score a 4-6 where cops score a 9 or 10; we are sworn to enter to stop the offense. You have the right to defend yourself; we are sworn to defend anyone and everyone. The frequency is multiplied many hundreds of times.
- For detection, there is a little bit of disparity. For control, it's a matter of legal authority combined with personal ability. LE scores a higher value here as well.
Civilians have the right to pick and choose contributors to their situation. I FULLY agree that no one can control every single thing in life; I get that and please don't throw that out as some "gotcha" topic. What I'm trying to point out is that civi's can often choose where to drive, walk, live, etc. Cops have to go where crime leads. Don't get caught up in the semantics of the words or the numbers; embrace the simple fact that cops are more LIKELY to be involved in a PROLONGED shooting event.
Think of this in a similar venue in public service. You can choose to own a fire extinguisher or not, and how many you want in your home and your car and garage and at work, and how much capacity they can hold. But I suspect you want the firefighter to carry as much hose, as many tools, as much gear, as he can muster together on his rig and on his person. He has a NEED for these things to serve the public, whereas you can CHOOSE if you want these things, and you can run away from the fire if you are at all able.
When I used the word "need" in terms of how much ammo to carry, it was not in a manner as to show some type of regulatory conditional limit for the public; it was simply an acknowledgment that LE has a higher potential risk assessment and has a reason to bring more stuff on his person. My use of the word "need" in terms of LE ammos was NOT meant to place a maximum limit on the civilian, but only to explain the disparity of risk calculation and how LEOs must be equipped to confront a larger risk FMEA.
Hope that does a better job of clarifying my thoughts on this topic.