Posted on Jun 28, 2015
Capt Richard I P.
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You've finished watching TV with your significant other for the night (approximately 1 AM). When you turn out the apartment lights you see a line of 6+ police cruisers, stretching down the road, seven or eight officers huddled around a hood of a cruiser with the apartment maintenance manager pouring over a map and gesturing to an adjacent building (approx 150-200m open stretch across the street). Tactical posture seems low, but the numbers and map pique interest. You and Significant Other go out on balcony to see if you can hear anything. One officer may have noticed you but most appear not to and none make any signs that you should go back inside. You notice 3 or 4 officers appear to be wearing external vests and carrying slung carbines. One (!?) of these begins to walk to the other building with the maintenance manager and as he does so racks a round into the chamber. Being cautious, you take this as a sign to re-enter the appartment, where you see a second lone (!?) officer with a carbine walking toward a different side of the building rack his carbine as well. What do you do now? What would our Peace Officer members of RallyPoint recommend for a fellow veteran/SM concerned about an obviously concerning situation that doesn't want to interfere but wants to know more? More to follow in subsequent posts.
Edited 9 y ago
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Responses: 3
MAJ Police Officer
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Please stay inside and lock your doors. If we have deployed rifles then we are dealing with a violent situation that is most likely very dynamic and fluid. If the police come to your door to evacuate you later (usually for a barricaded person) then leave calmly and try not to argue. Everything we are doing is to make things as safe for citizens as possible.
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Capt Richard I P.
Capt Richard I P.
9 y
MAJ (Join to see), Sir, thanks for answering, I'm hoping others of our Peace Officer members here on RallyPoint will join in. As indicated in the title I intend to write others like this, and I'd be eager to have your input on them as well. Two specific follow ups from this one: 1. What do you advise in this scenario regarding a concern for over-penetration (carbines inside of 200m) with sheetrock, wooden studs and vinyl siding? A. The typical combat lesson of stay away from windows and toward the interior? B. Keep some surplus flaks handy? C. Build a safe-closet with sandbag lining? D. Depart the area if tactically possible and not contradicted by officers? And 2. If approached for evacuation and answering while lawfully armed should a citizen A. communicate the fact to the officer? Or B. Leave it alone unless noticed
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MAJ Police Officer
MAJ (Join to see)
9 y
My department uses fragible rounds for our rifles to try to prevent the over penitration that a rifle round can cause. This helps but is not 100 %. If you have the space and can move to an interior room then all the better (similar to what people are advised to do during a storm). If the situation deteriorates then the police will look at evac when it is safe to do so.

If you are armed and approached by officers then follow all their commands. A concealed pistol (follow the laws in your state regarding licensed carry) is usually ones best bet for self defense. I always recommend letting an officer know that you are armed (Sir, just so you know I have a concealed carry permit and I am armed works well).
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LTC(P) Police Officer
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Stay inside, this exact situation happened to me two years ago with a murder suspect. Wait till it's over and go ask , if you go outside you're going to make their job tougher.
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Capt Richard I P.
Capt Richard I P.
9 y
LTC(P) (Join to see), Sir, a fair point, and interesting to hear about it from past experience.
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LTC(P) Police Officer
LTC(P) (Join to see)
9 y
If you have knowledge of the suspect or you have keys because you do some maintenance then yes contact the police. If a person just wants to see what's going on wait until the suspect is in custody. This is for the persons own safety.
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Capt Richard I P.
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Edited 9 y ago
Note that I'd like to edit option 4 to clarify, "disarm" is "make sure you, yourself are disarmed" and in no way to imply an attempt to disarm the Police Officers or in any way to create a conflict. But despite a great editing option in RallyPoint, survey options cannot be edited. This is probably so people can't make bait and switch surveys. That's an interesting problem to try to fix.
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