During our training cycles we all experience "shoot-don't shoot" scenarios but LEOs of this generation are facing more peril from drug crazed suicide by cop and jackal prosecutors pandering for favorable news coverage hoping for donor contributions and votes.

Lets take a brief look at two recent police shootings in Oklahoma. In the latest case five LEOs were charged with first-degree manslaughter when an armed robbery suspect failed to obey their command. He made a furtive move to his rear pocket while LEOs were heard shouting "Show us your hands, sir, nobody has to get hurt. Show us your hands."

In a 2016 Oklahoma shooting LEO Betty Shelby in an obvious suicide by cop was charged with first-degree manslaughter. A jury found Shelby not guilty.

Our fear has to be reasonable, meaning it has to be fear that's not based on speculation or imagination, but based on actual evidence. A speculative fear of harm is not sufficient to justify the use of deadly force.

However, you need not see an actual weapon. If someone threatens to shoot you and then reaches for their weapon you can make an inference from their words that verbalized threat in combination with their conduct they are about to draw their weapon. The law does not require that you be right about the inference. It is perfectly acceptable that you are mistaken about the inference. You are not required to make a perfect decision; you are required to make reasonable decisions in self-defense.

In Street Fighter Part 16 I wrote LEOs who are serious about their personal safety need to make "trigger response stimulation" a priority in their training regime. This is a big component while under mental or nervous tension often ignored in training. LEOs must ask themselves will the training techniques they have been taught crumble under stress or remain stress proof. Gun battles are both uncontrolled and unpredictable.

Whenever a Street Fighter fires his blaster two things occur. The first is marksmanship, aligning the sights, pressing the trigger. The second is backdrop, what is going on around you, meaning everything but the act of shooting your blaster. Think of your brain as a computer. Say it is devoting 80% of it's power to marksmanship; it can only devote 20% to your backdrop. However, if you have trained to become a proficient marksman, you can devote 10% of your brain power to marksmanship and 90% to managing the legal and tactical situation you are at the time facing.

All our Street Fighter editions published on DEA Watch are intended to be a handy work tool for readers to have readily available so they do not act hastily or impulsively. Instead DEA Watch readers will react deliberately and analytically and will not make fatefully wrong decisions.

Shoot or Dont - How much time is there to react

Semper Fi
Frank White