I Guess I was Naive in Thinking that all Police Officers were Excellent Shots.

Just because someone can stand on a static range and blow one big hole in a target with their Nighthawk Custom 3000 dollar 1911 does not mean they are a great shooter. I taught firearms for police officers and civilians for a while. I used to take a line of shooters and put them at the 3 yard line. Target is big as life, how could you miss? Then have the line start shooting 2 body one head. Do that a few times with no time restraints. After a few rounds of that tell them that now they have 3 seconds to do the exact drill they have been doing. Watch the shots go all over the target. Just a simple time restraint, no real stress, nobody shooting back, no shooting after a foot chase or fight or pursuit.

Are there some cops more dedicated to their shooting skills than others? Yes. Are there some cops that do the bare minimum to qualify every year? Yes. In a perfect world there would be unlimited ammo and range access for every cop that wanted it, the world is not perfect and that does not exist.

I have seen some excellent shots outside of police officers. Obviously people that have trained or practiced a lot to get to that point. I have also seen some guys that were "gun guys" and owned lots of guns and shoot a lot. One in particular was shooting a big hole in the middle of the target at 25 yards. Until the gun failed to feed. Then the "gun guy" stood there for the count of 10 and just looked at the gun. Had no clue what to do about the gun failing. Just looked at it and hoped it would clear itself.
 
40 rounds=17 hits

around 9 years ago there was a police shooting next door to my work, a suspected bank robber he exited the vehicle gun in hand, the 2 officers went through 40 rounds, 17 hit the suspect at a distance of 25 feet or less.
 
around 9 years ago there was a police shooting next door to my work, a suspected bank robber he exited the vehicle gun in hand, the 2 officers went through 40 rounds, 17 hit the suspect at a distance of 25 feet or less.
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You do realize that in a gun fight, there is a lot of movement. I am sure that just like anyone else, the bad guy probably will not choose to stand still and see who aims better, and you will choose to do a little dancing of your own.
 
You do realize that in a gun fight, there is a lot of movement. I am sure that just like anyone else, the bad guy probably will not choose to stand still and see who aims better, and you will choose to do a little dancing of your own.
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Sadly, no, he doesn't realize that. And many others don't either.
 
The cop you saw was probably what is known among many officers as "a political hack." In other words, he says he's a cop when all he does for the department is take up space, waste air and deny a real cop a promotion. I've gotten reports back on a number of the political hacks worrying about having to qualify then going to a range and showing their firearms incompetence many times before having to actually qualify for the department. Sort of like a chief or assistant chief, who was appointed from the outside by a politician, needing to qualify. They always wait for the last minute, panic mode sets in and then they run to a range to hone their skills. Next time, ask the "officer" if he works a REAL BEAT or DISTRICT or if he's an appointed person. Beat/district cops can't mess around because they need to know how to shoot and the real cops know that. Appointees stay back and cower down behind squad cars hoping to get caught on film "looking good." Beat cops try to avoid publicity and just do their job in an honest manner.
 
Beat/district cops can't mess around because they need to know how to shoot and the real cops know that.
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I'm sorry, but I've just known way too many "real cops" that don't see shooting well as particularly important to them doing their job, and rightly so. Plenty of beat/district cops are poor shots on the range, plenty of them don't like to shoot, don't particularly care for guns, and so on.
 
Truth is, most police are cleanup crews, they don't need to shoot well.

Hence the concept of the Second Amendment...

How many officers actually have to use a gun, ever?
I know a local swat guy. Never had to pull the trigger, in 35 years.
 
hey socrates the truth is that swat hardley ever uses lethal force. they have other tactics, and most swat call outs are solved by a negotiator. and if you want to know i have used my gun 7 times at work and i am a beat/district cop. of course 6 times was against angry dogs trying to eat me, and one was against an angry guy who had is own gun and felt like using it against me. i struck all my targets.
 
Some cops can go an entire career without having to use their gun other than range time, others seem to be a gunfight magnet. I had to down one guy in 18 years 1 shot as he was charging me and I was rapidly backpeadling and when I fired the triggerguard was touching my side. he was dead before he hit the ground. Would I want to do it again, No would I if I had to, yes.
 
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