Condition white LEO

1

11xray

New member
I'm walking out of the Glorius Birmingham Celebration of Liberty & Freedom Gun Show today. I retrieve my ammunition at the door. As soon as I get outside, I cut the plastic tie-wrap off, and load the piece, being in a high crime area, and all.

So far, so good.

A young man walking out at the same time approaches me and says "Oh, I'll just walk out to the parking lot with you, since you're prepared."
I said "I don't like to be downtown unarmed, myself. This is a bad nieghborhood."
He said "You don't have to tell me. I'm a police officer, and this is my beat."

THEN he TELLS me that he is UNARMED.

I had never seen this man before in my life untill 45 seconds sooner.

Lets see:
1. Off duty in civilian clothes.
2.In what he knows to be a high crime area.
3.The beat that he works.
4.NO WEAPON.

No point here. I just could'nt believe it.
What a genius.
11xray

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Audemus jura nostra defendere
 
I can only hope that he works in one of the jurisdictions that doesn't allow leo's to carry off-duty. Otherwise he's not prepared.
 
Sadly, this is too often the case.

Real life anecdote:

I had a little poker game last week with a half dozen or so local LEOs... I greeted them all at the door with similar comments:

1. Hey, $&@$^)@!~*!.
2. Beer goes in the fridge.
3. Hot guns go on top of the fridge.
4. Chili is in the crock-pot.

Three of them did not bring in guns, but two of those guys left them in their vehicles.

I must admit, that I gave the guys who left there guns in their cars a little crap, but nothing compared to the hell I gave the unarmed doofus throughout the night. His excuse was that he hated carrying around his issued full-size Beretta. I can understand that, so I offered to loan him a .38 until he fixed his situation... ;)
 
Didn't anti-gun (now retired) Chief Joseph McNamara of San Jose PD fame have his gun stolen while locked in the trunk of his car? Thank god the man retired and went to work at some think tank.

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Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt
 
11xray,

If our police officers do not guard against crime and their own self-preservation at all times, then us poor civilians have a longer, a harder and far more dangerous road to travel than we ever could have imagined. :eek:
I'm glad you were there, and armed, for your sake as well as his...
Hopefully, he'll learn.
Hopefully, he'll have time to learn...


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...defend the 2nd., it protects us all.
No fate but what we make...
 
When I graduated from the academy (that was a long six months) and was sent to my district I was the *only* officer in my area (state, city or county) that carried a gun all the time.

You wouldn't believe the crap I took because of it. The general opinion seemed to be that since I carried a gun I was trigger happy and was going to "get into something" at the first opportunity. I won even more points when other LEOs asked me why. My standard response was "any cop who doesn't is a fool".

One thing that non-LEOs seem to forget is that most cops aren't gun people. It's just another piece of equipment to them. Yes I know, they should take the responsibility to ensure that they are properly trained etc., etc. but when you couple their disinterest with the "it will never happen to me" attitude which they share with the rest of society (Remember, we're people too. We're not genetically engineered)you have the current sad state of affairs.

I would suspect that cop that you ran into was probably new enough to assume that the bad guys would be impressed with the fact that he was a cop. That attitude will wear off with time. He also displayed a lack of judgement when he identified himself to you as an LEO for the following reasons:
1) He was unarmed himself
2) He didn't know you and identified himself to an unknown person while in the afore mentioned condition.
3) There wasn't any need to do so, which is good since he wasn't the one who was "prepared".
4) Unless he has a gun, and a need to use it it's no ones business.
 
I would venture that the majority of gunowners would be like the first officer or at least those who played poker.
 
Yeah, 224, what you said. My first thought about the unarmed LEO was, "What's he doing telling you, 11xray?? He doesn't know YOU!!"

Ok, enough about unwise decisions of others; I have a really dumb question of my own. I read here and other gun places phrases like 'condition yellow', 'condition red,' and now I see 'condition white.' I've been guessing what they mean, based on context, but could someone kindly enlighten me by giving me an official definition? :o

Thanks. :) -- Denise
 
I know a Sheriff deputy here that says Disneyland does not allow off duty LEO s to carry in there . He said many clubs are that way also . I told him that that wouldn't fly in NYC . There would be a ticket " problem " real quick .This has got to be B.S.

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TOM SASS MEMBER AMERICAN LEGION MEMBER NRA MEMBER
 
I'll try to explain the color code, Denise.

White: Unaware of what is going on around you, who is there and what they are doing.

Yellow: Aware of what is going on, who is walking up on you etc. Cats are always in YELLOW.

Red: You are aware that something bad is about to happen. i.e. the BG is coming at you with a knife or whatever and you have to take action.

Kind of a rough idea of the codes, some add Black to the list for the time your protective actions are taking place however that color was not in the original coding. I always kinda figured that BLACK would be the condition you were in after the BG hit you while you were in white.

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Ne Conjuge Nobiscum
"If there be treachery, let there be jehad!"

[This message has been edited by Jim V (edited February 26, 2000).]
 
Orange. Something is amiss. Perhaps someone is paying way too much attention to your actions, your movement. You pay closer attention to him while at the same time trying to figure out where his companions might be.


[This message has been edited by bruels (edited February 26, 2000).]
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>I always kinda figured that BLACK would be the condition you were in after the BG hit you while you were in white.[/quote]

JimV, that's hilarious!

[This message has been edited by sensop (edited February 27, 2000).]
 
224
He told me he had been on the force for 13 years. It was'nt inexperience.
11xray

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Audemus jura nostra defendere
 
Two out of three of my field training officers didn't carry of duty. Once, when our department conducted training at the Sheriff's department one of them criticised me for bringing my firearm. "Are you paranoid? There are dozens of deputies around," he said. I couldn't believe my ears. I am not in law enforcement anymore. The same guy knows I am getting a CCW. He disaproves, stating that I have no reason to have one anymore. I'll get it anyway, and hope that I'm in a position to save him some day.
 
Kind of a repeat, but I get the same thing from acquaintences and family members. Some of them gun owners and active hunters.
 
I agree with 224, except for the idea that the guy was new... I know a lot more "old-timers" that don't carry off duty than I do young cops. Call it complacency.

Tomberg-

There is no such thing as automatic authority for cops to carry anywhere when off-duty. The LEAA sponsored Bill HR 218 is trying to fix that problem though. It is also seen as a great foot in the door to national reciprocity of CCW permits. Right now, I can theoretically carry legally in more states because of the CCW permit I have than because I am an LEO.....
 
Thanks so much Jim V, et al. Apparently I had it mostly right. But guessing as to definitions when I'm a newbie to the whole subject can lead to some very incorrect answers, and errors regarding guns--even terminology--is something I strongly wish to avoid!

Thanks again. :) -- Denise
 
I guess I'm always in condition yellow regarding my children. I can nearly always tell you where they are in the house, if I think about it and listen a minute (acoustically live house). However I've begun to notice that when I'm out of the house, I just focus on me and mine, and don't pay much attention to others. Bad eyesight compounds this. :( But if I think of being aware of others similar to the way I'm automatically aware of my children, I'll move toward condition yellow.

Comparing it to cats really helps. I've watched my cat react to people approaching her when I thought she was asleep. Apparently she was 'cat-napping' and that's why they call it that.

Thanks again, all. It's taking a while, but I think I'm moving in the right direction. -- Denise
 
White: Totally unaware of what is going on around you. Basically, you're food.

Yellow: Aware of your enviroment and everything in it. You are wary food.

Orange: You are alert to a possible threat and you may have to fight or flee. The food has claws.

Red: The fertilzer has hit the oscillating, rotating cooling unit. You have a weapon in hand and a target/way out located. The food is kicking the critters butt.

Black: Panic. You have come face-to-face with a threat and your mind has shut down. Not a threat to the critters or a help to anyone else. Add a little BBQ sauce, you're done.

LawDog

[This message has been edited by LawDog (edited February 27, 2000).]
 
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