More inadequately trained cops

New BIG Guns

The front page of The Age today has a picture of a Glock 13-shot .40 caliber pistol Bracks wants for the Victorian Police. From my experience with the police, twice I saw senior people red-faced and ready to use their batons before even making contact. That's disturbing.

In 6+ years in Australia, I haven't heard one gunshot. It's one of the biggest positives about Melbourne. There just aren't a lot of people going around shooting each other.
I expect to hear a few gunshots now, from police wanting to try out their new guns; and maybe from the criminals as they raise the armaments ante in response.
A cop who pulls his gun to overpower an unarmed - and possibly innocent - person is only a danger to everyone. These guys could hardly keep their batons in their belts.
Training makes the difference between an officer who is ready, and one who is anxious.

But from my conversations with police officers, they don't seem to understand why they have guns, and that is again disturbing. You have to wonder if the police know that the best officers never pull their guns?
Based on the desk sargeants and acting sargeants I've seen, the training has failed them all, and the public.
The most powerful weapon a police officer has is his mind. An officer can protect him- or herself and the public best by talking a person out of a violent or disturbed situation.


What Bracks is not talking about is additional training for the police. Those shiny, big guns are just going onto the same belts along with the batons. One thing I know the police, courthouse employees, 000 operators, and judges need in Victoria is better training.