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      The White Report
      TACTICAL TAKEAWAY #25 -- 17 Oct 2022

    Mi Amigos:

    Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd gave a most brilliant, straight from the shoulder press conference in which he explained in detail the death by friendly gunfire of Deputy Blaine Lane. He clearly told us he was providing initial information which might change as the formal investigation continued. Good move since the press likes to nitpick at inconsistencies.

    Just to Sheriff Judd's left was a tasteful color photo of Blaine. Sheriff Judd eloquently introduced us to Blaine so that we got to know him as a person. He then went on to let us know that tactically Blaine had positioned himself correctly.

    Sheriff Judd then smoothly transitioned, providing us the criminal background on the female defendant as he held her picture. He next presented a photo of her pistol as he aptly described the events that led to his deputies entering a mobile home and firing six shots at the female as she aimed her pistol at them. She was wounded by two of their bullets. Blaine was struck and killed by a deputy's bullet that passed through an exterior wall. As he held the photo, we all realized it certainly was a menacing looking weapon and his deputies were justified in shooting her in defense of their lives. Sheriff Judd told us it was a BB gun and the woman's intention had been suicide by cop.

    Sheriff Judd then ended by saying, "It's our job to be at our very best at the very worst of times, and this is the very worst of times for us."

    Polk Sheriff Grady Judd says suspect pointed gun at deputies trying to serve warrant; friendly fire killed 21-year-old deputy (fox13news.com)

    I would suggest you share Sheriff Judd's comments with both your command staff and PIOs.

    Switching gears. Miyamoto Musashi wrote in the Book of Five Rings, "be skilled at fighting and applying your skills regardless of what weapon you have in your hands. You should not have any special fondness for a particular weapon; you should have as much weaponry as necessary to complete the task."

    It is not about scores or split times, it is about terminating the threat without you yourself being killed. Our shooting skills must first be learned and practiced before they can be tested in the unscripted crucible of real-world violence.

    With these thoughts in mind no defensive firearm is a magic wand that can be guaranteed to always stop a violent attack but a load of buckshot within 25 yards will surely stop most fights. Could Blaine's tragic death have been avoided if one of the deputies fired one round form his shotgun instead of relying on his pistol, we will never know.

    We often carried short barrel shotguns. Having a short barrel shotgun doesn't mean the pattern will be large since buckshot loads not encased in a shot cup will get larger as the barrel length increase. Rounds with the specialized shot cup-Federal FliteControl and Hornady Critical Defense-will shoot the tightest patterns.

    At 15 yards the Hornady load gives an impressive 3.5-inch pattern while at the same distance the Federal FliteControl patterns at 2.5 inches.

    Stick with the 8-pellet load for the 9 pellet #00 buckshot often has a one pellet flyer. This is because 8-pellet buckshot come arranged in four rows of two pellets each. 9-pellet buckshot comes in three rows of three.

    Street Fighters need to remember sand pours consistently through our hourglass. We cannot control time, unfortunately Deputy Blaine Lane's hourglass ran out of sand at a young age.

    Semper Fi
    Frank White

    The above Report has been archived for permanent access at The White Report