I hope not in Va! Well here in sw, va LEA have good training and it hasn't happened here at this point !
You’d be surprised.
I remember in the 1980s the Vienna police unloaded bulletes into a McDonalds, a gas station, and other businesses in a shoot out. Vienna’s department was typical for the towns in Northern Va.
Having recently moved from SW Va and know several deputies and officers I can assure you training varies greatly. The Deputies I knew with the Montgomery Sheriffs department and all of the officers I met with the Christiansburg department really impressed me in positive ways. Blacksburg was another matter. I wouldn’t trust them or the Va Tech departments with directing traffic let alone a firearm.
The reality is that each department sets its budget. They set the training schedules and requirements and determine what resources are provided, some are good, some are bad, some are excellent and some are horrible, changes in leadership can also change things quickly as some above have mentioned.
I’m a big supporter of law and order. I say it often, I support the honest men and women who risk their lives for us. I think they deserve respect and support for doing a hard job that most wouldn’t do. That said, I’m also for prosecuting bad cops to the fullest extent of the law. The problem as I see it is the far left, BLM and others see all cops as bad. They want to strip them of their privileges and ability to do their job. This I find offensive and wrong. In other words officers deserve the benefit of the doubt. But when it’s clear they’re wrong then they should be punished hard as the have a responsibility to use their position wisely.
In the case of poor training things get ugly fast. Someone can’t do their job at a high level if they’re poorly trained. We can’t expect them to use good judgement if they haven’t had to deal with situations.
Someone mentioned that these officers couldn’t have been able to train for this. I disagree. With simulators, role playing, and other modern techniques it’s possible. The issue is the cost and the time officers are off the street and in training.
Personally I’d love to see real civil discussions on how to improve training and how to improve the relationship between police and the public. Christiansburg Va has done a good job of community involvement. They train officers to respect the public, they get out in the community, talk to people and don’t act like power hungry jerks. I can’t say the same for the next town over, in fact I’d say the opposite is true.
Anyway, I think anytime someone is killed there’s a rightful reaction of pain and anger. Unfortunately we don’t usually get past this to get to real solutions because of groups like BLM who have agendas that aren’t about the needs of the public.
