Reading these post, regarding LE sniper training I find a subject that is left out of the lesson plans. That understanding the Criminal Sniper.
In military counter sniping you know you are dealing with a person who, like you is trained in sniping, he's on a mission to get you before you get him. You know why he's there.
Counter-sniping in the LE world is a bit different. You are dealing with varied bandits with different reasons for his acts. For example, there are those bandits that, caught in the commission of a crime may take a hostage. Normally time is on your side, you have hostage negotiators to help rectify the problem.
Not true with the psycho, for example the Texas Towers type incident, or the DC Sniper. These of course have to be handled by different methods. Time isn't on your side if he's blasting away at any person he sees. Domestic cases are differant yet.
I believe any LE sniper training should include subject on the mind of the mind of the criminal sniper. You need to understand what you are dealing with.
Little is written on the subject but it’s out there. The book I used when conducting LE sniper schools was:
“THEY SHOOT TO KIILL, a psycho-survey of criminal sniping” by Ronald Tobias.
This book was written in 1981, maybe there are more books and studies on the subject, I don’t know, I’ve been out of the game for a while now, but I believe it warrants a search so that the subject can be included in your lesson plans.
In this area, LE is no different than Military Counter Sniping in that you need to understand your enemy.
Just something that comes to mind in reading post about LE Sniper Training.
In military counter sniping you know you are dealing with a person who, like you is trained in sniping, he's on a mission to get you before you get him. You know why he's there.
Counter-sniping in the LE world is a bit different. You are dealing with varied bandits with different reasons for his acts. For example, there are those bandits that, caught in the commission of a crime may take a hostage. Normally time is on your side, you have hostage negotiators to help rectify the problem.
Not true with the psycho, for example the Texas Towers type incident, or the DC Sniper. These of course have to be handled by different methods. Time isn't on your side if he's blasting away at any person he sees. Domestic cases are differant yet.
I believe any LE sniper training should include subject on the mind of the mind of the criminal sniper. You need to understand what you are dealing with.
Little is written on the subject but it’s out there. The book I used when conducting LE sniper schools was:
“THEY SHOOT TO KIILL, a psycho-survey of criminal sniping” by Ronald Tobias.
This book was written in 1981, maybe there are more books and studies on the subject, I don’t know, I’ve been out of the game for a while now, but I believe it warrants a search so that the subject can be included in your lesson plans.
In this area, LE is no different than Military Counter Sniping in that you need to understand your enemy.
Just something that comes to mind in reading post about LE Sniper Training.
