Stupid prizes for stupid games

National headlines have continued to cover stories involving law enforcement related events from around the country. President Obama has recently issued an executive order to terminate the 1033 program in response to some of these events from around the country. Although there were some pieces of military equipment available through this program that most law enforcement agencies did not need, there were many other items available that were very beneficial to local agencies.

Most of what the news agencies made sure to mention was that .50 caliber machine guns, aircraft, and armored tracked vehicles were available through this program. These items may have been on the list for some of the larger agencies across the country to obtain, but it was far from the common items available for small agencies.

In the past, Vernon County has received items such as ballistic vests for deputies, night vision (which the county loaned to conservation agents for hunting season), boots for deputies, a hummer for search and rescue during inclement weather, and the most recent items were individual first aid kits that were issued to road deputies and members of the Special Response Team.

There appeared to be a lot of support in national headlines in favor of this decision. Some viewed this move as a way to keep law enforcement from getting out of control. I noticed, however, those views changed very quickly after the most recent shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., where 14 people were shot and killed. The suspects were later killed by police who responded with, guess what -- armored vehicles and appropriate weapons to stop the threat.

The armored vehicles were not used to intimidate the public or become more like a military; they were simply used to help protect those who were putting their lives in harm's way, and to make sure they could not kill anyone else. The shooters were using rifles that would have gone right through the officers' ballistic vests.

I have always said I am against a militarized police force, but in my opinion the argument about whether or not the police are acting like a military is not the fact that they had on a camo shirt instead of a blue shirt, or the fact that they wore a ballistic helmet to protect their head from someone attempting to shoot them, but it is about the tactics and mentality of how you conduct your operations. In domestic cases there should be a different way of responding than during a war overseas.

You cannot expect police to respond to a shooter intent on killing, armed with a high-powered rifle, and use only their duty issued pistol and flashlight to stop him. The good guys have to have as big of fire power and protection as those they must go up against. If they do not they will lose, and when they lose the innocent are the ones who are at risk.

Just recently, we arrested several people for possession of methamphetamines; one of the suspects tried to fight us when we attempted to place him in handcuffs. It was a short struggle that ended with him in cuffs, but he was very quick to say that we hurt his arm and we were going to pay. He claimed that even though he was "kind of resisting," it was our job to know how to place him in custody without hurting him. This guy thought it was okay to fight us, but we could not fight back! One of my detectives was quick to speak up and say, "If you play stupid games, you get stupid prizes."

There seems to be a common ideology among the newer generation that they are not responsible for their own actions. The simple fact in most cases is that if you act in a reckless manner that escalates events, law enforcement will also escalate their response. I told him we would not have responded with any force if he had not tried to fight us when we placed him under arrest.

Law enforcement needs to receive proper training and know when to escalate and when to deescalate a situation, but more and more they are going up against people who do not care about the laws, the rules, or who gets hurt. We must make sure officers have the ability, training, and equipment to respond to those threats.