Stop Disarming the Police

Dec. 13, 2019
Across our country there are policies trying to disarm law enforcement officers in the name of "liability management." These policies do nothing but increase the target pool for bad guys. Here's why.

It was a beautiful fall day in Orlando, Florida. An off-duty police officer, his wife and their son were just entering a world-famous theme park. Knowing that the park didn’t allow weapons in, and knowing that there were security measures in place, the off-duty officer wasn’t carrying his weapon, any knives, or even his pocket flashlight as some folks seemed to consider it a “martial arts weapon” due to the crenelated bezel. As his wife and son walked through the magnetometers, he went through the line to get their backpack checked. After he was cleared he met his wife and son on the other side of the security check and they continued into the park. It was then that the officer realized he had never been checked for weapons. He could have been carrying his off-duty weapon, his usual assortment of knives and the flashlight and no one would have been any the wiser.

On a different day at the Virginia State Fair, an off-duty deputy sheriff approached the gates, and upon seeing the security set up approached with his credentials in hand. He was carrying his usual off-duty weapon with spare magazine, had his knife in his pocket and had no intention of not carrying both. At the gate he identified himself to the security guard working and was immediately told that he was not permitted to carry his weapon into the state fair. When the deputy asked why a security supervisor was called over. The supervisor explained that the state fair property prohibited all but on-duty officers to carry. When the deputy explained that he wasn’t about to go lock his gun in his car – because if someone was watching then the weapon could be stolen out of the car – he followed up by asking if there was a secure location where he could lock his weapon up if they insisted he not be armed in the fair. The security supervisor referred him to a state trooper who was working the fair. The state trooper understood the deputy’s outlook and referred him to the command trailer where the senior trooper on duty at the fair was stationed. At the end, after talking to the senior trooper, nothing changed. The policy at the State Fair was that no off-duty law enforcement personnel could carry a weapon into the fair. The deputy was forced to choose between locking his weapon in his car or simply leaving the premises – which was his choice.

Across the state line in Maryland, an off-duty police officer was going to the State Fair with his wife. He saw the signs that stated no weapons were allowed but had no intention of locking his gun in his car, and he’d driven over an hour to get to the fair site. As he approached the security guards he showed his credentials and told them, “I’m going to make your system whistle.” The security guard working only asked, “Where are you carrying?” The officer replied, “Appendix.” The security guard held out his wand toward the off-duty officer’s waistline, got the whistle he was expecting, smiled and waved the officer through with a, “Have a good time!”

At a major theme park in Virginia, three couples were entering to enjoy the Christmas holiday decorations. One of the men was an off-duty police officer but knew that the park didn’t allow weapons, so he had left his handgun at home along with the two knives he usually carried. He had driven about two hours to the park, and had that same ride home to make after the park closed – so well after dark and through about 100 miles of mostly rural roads. One of the other men in the group had a pacemaker and couldn’t go through the magnetometers. After he advised the security personnel of his situation, he was advised to walk around the magnetometers… and then completely ignored. It occurred to both the off-duty officer and his friend that security never verified the pacemaker claim by asking to see a medical card, nor did they check him with a wand from the waistband (where most people carry a gun) down.

These are four different examples of how different places manage and handle the reality of off-duty officers carrying their weapons. Two of them – the theme parks – like to think, and want every to believe, that they insure 100% security checks and that there is absolutely no way anyone could get a weapon into their park. Reality is a little different as has been demonstrated by the two experiences described above. Both of them are reported as witnessed first-hand in person by this author.

The Virginia State Fair incident was reported to me by the off-duty deputy who was forced to choose between violating gun safety rules (and agency General Orders) or not going to the Fair. The Maryland State Fair example was witnessed by this author first hand in person as well. Interestingly, Virginia is normally considered a more gun-friendly state while Maryland is considered borderline communist where guns are concerned. Virginia is a “shall issue” state while Maryland is a “may issue” state and they don’t even approve gun sales; they mark gun sales “not disapproved.”  (Seriously, that’s not a joke.)

The purpose of this entry is to ask a simple question: Why do ANY of these places want to disarm the police anyway? I fail to see any related liability management reason for doing so. The theme park in Virginia clearly states that they prohibit all but on-duty deputies from that county and Virginia State Troopers from carrying in their park. I can almost understand not allowing out-of-state officers from carrying, but why disarm all those deputies and police officers who live and work in Virginia from carrying at a theme park in Virginia? Doesn’t the theme park ownership understand that off-duty officers, properly armed and equipped, are the equivalent of free protection? Heck, it’s not even that it’s free: those officers and deputies are paying to come into the park.

That major theme park in Orlando, Florida? The last thing it EVER wants is a shooting attack or event of any kind on its property and it’s HUGE. It might think it’s keeping weapons out of its main park locations, but I can guarantee you that there are off-duty officers from all over the country still carrying weapons at the hotels and other park property locations. Further, their security is cursory and lacks the thoroughness to prevent weapons from being carried into the park areas.

Historically, the fastest way to end an active shooter attack is by having an armed good guy intervene. You can wait for that good guy to arrive on scene from some remote location or from normal patrol, OR you can have good guys a lot closer by having them on the property and potentially on scene almost immediately. That recognized, if the owners / operators of these private properties want to prohibit off-duty officers from carrying weapons in their parks, or at their events on private property, then the least they can do is insure 100% compliance and security checks of everyone. At both theme parks they failed to do that. At both it was fairly simple to avoid or go around the checks that would have found weapons.

The other side of this is the park owners / operators need to be held accountable for any and all threats that exist within their private property boundaries. If they are going to prohibit officers (or any other legally carrying persons) from carrying the necessary tools to protect themselves, then if any officer is injured (or anyone else as well) then the property owners are responsible; they created a situation wherein the officer was unable to defend him (or her) self due to private property restrictions.

At some point society in general is going to have to get past its fear of weapons enough to accept that good guys with guns is a good thing. Bad guys with guns is a reality we can never escape. No law has worked so far. No future law will work either. Until we return to having faith in those we trust to protect us, and extend that trust to them off-duty as well as on-duty, we will continue to see these types of situations. I can’t imagine that the Virginia State Fair grounds were somehow safer by turning away an off-duty deputy than they would have been if that deputy had been allowed in armed. What’s more, if that deputy HAD gone and locked his weapon in his car and then it had been stolen while he was in the fair, would the fairground’s owners have been held responsible? It was, after all, their policy that would have created the circumstance.  The deputy did the right thing but he should never have been put in that position.

To all theme park owners/management companies: You are responsible for the health and well-being of all your patrons. Having trained and armed law enforcement professionals on your property increases your safety levels by decreasing your risk of attack or increased casualty counts if an attack occurs. Stop disarming the police. Stop disarming deputies. Put your faith back into the law enforcement profession. Yes, that might mean ignoring the advice of the corporate lawyers. Anything can be argued. Bad guys with guns don’t get stopped by seriously spoken words from over paid lawyers in a courtroom. Bad guys with guns who are shooting people get stopped by good guys with guns shooting the bad guys. If you disarm the good guys all you do is increase the potential target pool for the bad guys.  That’s just stupid. Stop doing that.

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