july 3rd fireworks

[brew3x]

I was at the local fireworks Friday night and the local cops where walking around with AR's. This is the first time I've seen small town cops with this type of firearm. Does anyone think this is just a sign of the times or over kill? I understand they are trying to keep the people safe but it just seemed out of place.

 

[JonJ]

Overkill.

 

[Manomet]

Absurd

 

[ScottS]

Did they shoot them in the air during the fireworks, celebratory-style?

 

[Cross-X]

Your own mall ninjas...

 

[usnma]

yeah i would agree overkill...what town was this if you don't mind sharing? the display i was at had little kids running around with toy m4's that the vendors were selling.

 

[MACGYVR]

Is this not covered in the compensating for a small penis thread?

Way over kill. So much for community policing.

 

[brew3x]

It was sharon

 

[CRSIII]

I would have been the first one to tell them to get them the hell off the street until they are warranted! Sharon? What the hell were they doing with them at a town celebration? Conditioning, thats what. Wrong wrong wrong.

 

[Cobra Guy]

Maybe there is more to the story like someone could have called in some kind of threat for that event? Does Sharon have a high crime rate? If so that could also be the reason. If nothing was out of the ordinary then I totally agree that it's overkill and unnecessary.

 

[dagwag77]

Trying to scare the sheep into compliance....

 

[KDK]

Maybe there is more to the story like someone could have called in some kind of threat for that event? Does Sharon have a high crime rate? If so that could also be the reason. If nothing was out of the ordinary then I totally agree that it's overkill and unnecessary.

Sharon has no crime rate. The last time there was a homicide in this town a woman drowned her infant in a bathtub and that was at least ten years ago.

 

[MattP99]

My friend has a beach house on White Horse beach in Plymouth. The celebrations occur on July 3rd for some reason. Around 6 PM, the police were on the beach in riot gear. He guessed they were trying to make their presence know to prevent any misbehavior from occuring later.

When he was younger, the police cleared white horse beach in full riot gear on July 3rd.

 

[JonJ]

My friend has a beach house on White Horse beach in Plymouth. The celebrations occur on July 3rd for some reason. Around 6 PM, the police were on the beach in riot gear. He guessed they were trying to make their presence know to prevent any misbehavior from occurring later.

When he was younger, the police cleared white horse beach in full riot gear on July 3rd.

It was out of control last year. Over 60 arrests, 3 stabbings and several rapes. This year was just over 30 arrests. The residents want the celebration back to family oriented. Officers were placed on the beach early to nip it in the bud. It has become a free for all. Under age kids from out of town who think they have license to do what they want on July 3rd.
But, NO ARs were deployed on the beach nor have they ever been.

 

[theGringo]

I'm trying to imagine what kind of scenario might unfold in Sharon sufficient to wannant the use of those ARs.

 

[MikeH]

The presence of AR's is ridiculous. Illegal fireworks, bonfires, public drinking are all misdemeanors. Where would deadly force be justified?

Nantasket Beach has had these problems. This year they had 4 person patrols: one firefighter and 3 patrolmen. They made a conspicuous display and informed neighbors and beachgoers that bonfires, drinking and unruly behavior would not be tolerated.

Those who brought fireworks were allowed to light them. The night went off without a hitch until some idiot decided to burn a bookcase. He was quickly arrested.

 

[lowbuckbob]

The purpose of the police having patrol rifles is one of preparedness. The police are in no way attempting to intimidate those gathered for a peaceful viewing of fireworks. Large gatherings, such as a fireworks crowd, are magnets for a potential active shooter. The news is filled with recent large scale killings: Binghamton, NY; Nickel Mines, PA; Carthage, NC; Northern Illinois University; and Virgina Tech to name a few. If a psychopath with a large capacity weapon were to start shooting fireworks attendees, the police would only have their .40's. Additionally, where the fireworks are in Sharon puts officers' cruisers at a good distance, making the retrieval of a weapon locked in a car futile. An active shooter requires Immediate Action Rapid Deployment (IARD) which also requires that a suitable weapon (patrol rifle) be readily available. In a worst case scenario, if an active shooter were to kill a large number of attendees and police as well, the inevitable question would be, "Why weren't the police prepared?". Well, in this case, they were. Don't read too much into this, the patrol rifle is just another tool of the trade.

 

[JonJ]

The purpose of the police having patrol rifles is one of preparedness. The police are in no way attempting to intimidate those gathered for a peaceful viewing of fireworks. Large gatherings, such as a fireworks crowd, are magnets for a potential active shooter. The news is filled with recent large scale killings: Binghamton, NY; Nickel Mines, PA; Carthage, NC; Northern Illinois University; and Virgina Tech to name a few. If a psychopath with a large capacity weapon were to start shooting fireworks attendees, the police would only have their .40's. Additionally, where the fireworks are in Sharon puts officers' cruisers at a good distance, making the retrieval of a weapon locked in a car futile. An active shooter requires Immediate Action Rapid Deployment (IARD) which also requires that a suitable weapon (patrol rifle) be readily available. In a worst case scenario, if an active shooter were to kill a large number of attendees and police as well, the inevitable question would be, "Why weren't the police prepared?". Well, in this case, they were. Don't read too much into this, the patrol rifle is just another tool of the trade.

You're kidding, right?

 

[CRSIII]

Don't read too much into this, the patrol rifle is just another tool of the trade.

Oh Bob.[sad2]

 

[drgrant]

I have no problem with LEOs having patrol rifles.

Having them toting them around during a small town fireworks display is just a tad absurd, though, with a dollop of crappy irony on top- Oh, let's celebrate freedom- with a police state!

Even if we just look at this pragmatically, if I was one of those LEOs I would not -want- to be toting a rifle around, because the likelihood of having to use it is near zero, and it'd be rather cumbersome to have to carry the thing around.

-Mike

 

[CRSIII]

LE toting EBRs enforces a police state mentality. I don't want to live in a police state.

 

[theGringo]

The purpose of the police having patrol rifles is one of preparedness. The police are in no way attempting to intimidate those gathered for a peaceful viewing of fireworks. Large gatherings, such as a fireworks crowd, are magnets for a potential active shooter. The news is filled with recent large scale killings: Binghamton, NY; Nickel Mines, PA; Carthage, NC; Northern Illinois University; and Virgina Tech to name a few. If a psychopath with a large capacity weapon were to start shooting fireworks attendees, the police would only have their .40's. Additionally, where the fireworks are in Sharon puts officers' cruisers at a good distance, making the retrieval of a weapon locked in a car futile. An active shooter requires Immediate Action Rapid Deployment (IARD) which also requires that a suitable weapon (patrol rifle) be readily available. In a worst case scenario, if an active shooter were to kill a large number of attendees and police as well, the inevitable question would be, "Why weren't the police prepared?". Well, in this case, they were. Don't read too much into this, the patrol rifle is just another tool of the trade.

Spoken like a member of the Fast Action Response Team.

 

[lowbuckbob]

Sorry guys, I stand by my statements. Virtually all agencies are currently engaged in active shooter training, including MSP. As an LEO Firearms Instructor, I am part of this. I don't see this as the promotion of a police state but maybe I'm biased. I find it interesting that a group of people who promote firearms would be against their own police officers carrying the most efficient firearms they can.

 

[CRSIII]

Sorry guys, I stand by my statements. Virtually all agencies are currently engaged in active shooter training, including MSP. As an LEO Firearms Instructor, I am part of this. I don't see this as the promotion of a police state but maybe I'm biased. I find it interesting that a group of people who promote firearms would be against their own police officers carrying the most efficient firearms they can.

Really?

 

[mikem317]

I find it rather odd that there would be police with AR-15 rifles patrolling during an "Independence Day" celebration...

Oh, the irony!

 

[mikem317]

The purpose of the police having patrol rifles is one of preparedness. The police are in no way attempting to intimidate those gathered for a peaceful viewing of fireworks. Large gatherings, such as a fireworks crowd, are magnets for a potential active shooter. The news is filled with recent large scale killings: Binghamton, NY; Nickel Mines, PA; Carthage, NC; Northern Illinois University; and Virgina Tech to name a few. If a psychopath with a large capacity weapon were to start shooting fireworks attendees, the police would only have their .40's. Additionally, where the fireworks are in Sharon puts officers' cruisers at a good distance, making the retrieval of a weapon locked in a car futile. An active shooter requires Immediate Action Rapid Deployment (IARD) which also requires that a suitable weapon (patrol rifle) be readily available. In a worst case scenario, if an active shooter were to kill a large number of attendees and police as well, the inevitable question would be, "Why weren't the police prepared?". Well, in this case, they were. Don't read too much into this, the patrol rifle is just another tool of the trade.

Yeah, it's not like there'd be any peaceable, LTC-holding citizens with firearms around!

 

[ScottS]

Sorry guys, I stand by my statements. Virtually all agencies are currently engaged in active shooter training, including MSP. As an LEO Firearms Instructor, I am part of this. I don't see this as the promotion of a police state but maybe I'm biased. I find it interesting that a group of people who promote firearms would be against their own police officers carrying the most efficient firearms they can.

Wow, you make a persuasive case for the threat being real. So, based on that, I'm assuming you'd be OK with a bunch of non-LEO's carrying their AR's to the fireworks, as they are, as you said, "the most efficient firearms" they can carry.

 

[Hogie1]

Bob, I'll stand up and back you on this one. I think what Sharon PD did was legit and you're right on the mark. I'm on the fire dept side but I've been taking quite a lot of terrorism courses as of late and I agree that they had better be prepared. I carry all the time as I know a lot of you do as well, so what's wrong with being prepared? Not more than 2 months ago Sharon had a bldg fire and at the same time a train stopped at the Sharon train station (NYC-BOS line/MBTA) w/ a susp device. My training and ears perked up and told myself that's a perfect scenario for a trial attempt to see what our response would be, or possibly an actual incident in a highly Jewish residential community. It turned out to be nothing (the fire was real though), but people/public safety should have their heads up about this stuff. I have no problem seeing police carry the tools that they need, and I wish our state and country overall felt that the police & responsible citizens can all carry. That's an even better deterent if you ask me. Don't be critical of the "EBR" that the police have and are actually putting to use instead of letting them collect dust. That's not a "police state", it's really proactive patrolling for the mission they don't want to have happen.

 

[Gooman24]

Sorry guys, I stand by my statements. Virtually all agencies are currently engaged in active shooter training, including MSP. As an LEO Firearms Instructor, I am part of this. I don't see this as the promotion of a police state but maybe I'm biased. I find it interesting that a group of people who promote firearms would be against their own police officers carrying the most efficient firearms they can.

These statements make sense to me. If we are really who we say we are than this should be no different to any of us then a Paramedic carrying more supplies that day in case he needed them. After all AR-15s are nothing but tools. But, all this logic falls apart if the people carrying those rifles are more like "them" than us. If they are more like "them" than I guess I can see the police state thing.

*Flame suite on* Bob if this thread goes to shit I think I got an extra suit somewhere - maybe the guy on the FD can help.

 

[joehaus]

The police carrying the AR's was just a diversion for the tactically placed sharp shooters who had their scopes trained on the crowds. Ya know, for the coming insurrection.