Unc linked to a pic of an NYPD cop in full ninja garb on the New York subway, apparently a response to the self-immolating goatherds in the Moscow Metro.
I don't know what a dude with a carbine is supposed to do in that situation, except maybe make the taxpayers feel better by getting blown up along with them in a show of solidarity.
I'm also kind of curious just how many hours of training the guy has and how much time he spends a day with a carbine in his hands. A lot of things like muzzle discipline come down to ingrained rote familiarity, which is something you're just not going to get when you draw a carbine from the arms room once every ninety days. A crowded subway car is maybe the trickiest place I can think of to safely lug a longarm, much less deploy it effectively.
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Um, deployed in response to the Moscow incidents? We have many Chechen separatists agitating in the boroughs of NY, do we?
Times have changed.
The year that my dad was born (1925) any adult could walk into a hardware store in Manhattan and walk out with a Thompson .45 SMG and take it home on the IRT.
"We have many Chechen separatists agitating in the boroughs of NY, do we?"
No, we have panicky voters on the subways of NY who are soothed by strong symbols of authority like boots and badges and various musky body sprays.
Turk,
I'd have scrutineered their muzzle discipline, too. (Although "muzzle discipline" was kind of a foreign concept back then...)
Ya'll chill...what with budget cutbacks and all, the H1's are in mothballs and those boys are just trying to get out to the 'burbs where wrong doors are in need of breachin'.
Worst case, though, while they'd have little chance of stopping a wannabe Chechi from blowing hisself to bits, they would provide some interesting shrapnel.
AT
NYPD ESU is squared away. That guy is older and has the look, and his finger is straight off the trigger.
I agree though that it is a feckless political gesture. As well, there is nothing more terrifying to city residents than a NYC patrol cop with a long gun, with Boston and D.C. cops coming in a close second. (Chicago cops with long guns do not scare me as the long gun is in operable as it is used as an ashtray and trash can for Snickers wrappers).
Shootin' Buddy
"getting blown up along with them in a show of solidarity"
Solidarity with the serfs?!
Somehow, I think the nobleman would pull a George Costanza and make sure that no matter what it takes, he gets home to his family that night.
Show of force... for various reasons.
As for true 'assault weapons' being used in a crowded subway car... perhaps you are assuming the nice officer is worried about collateral damage?
Security Kabuki. The real security is far below eye level, and will likely happen in some hotel room in New Jersey.
I commute daily from NJ to NYC, I've seen how SWAT cops handle their weapons (mind you, possession of the magazzine from one of their weapons would land my sorry butt in jail, but that's another rant). One day I watched a Port Authority SWATtie walk up the stairs in the Hoboken train station holding his M-4 in a very studly manner while pointing it at the back of the person in front of him. Granted, booger hook was off bang switch and one presumes the safety was on, but such a violation would have the RO at my range tell you to pack your stuff and not come back. How about just letting the piece hang from that very tacticool sling you've got there, oh wait, that wouldn't get the admiration of the big-haired, big-boobed, small-brained Jersey-shore-girls who you were trying to impress.
Bah.
He has a nice flashlight in case one of the MTA's decrepit trains breaks down in a tunnel...
I agree the NYPD EMU is a top ranked unit. Penn Station and GST also have a large NYNG deployment.
AMTRAK and NYPD run dog teams at the stations as well.
Will they stop a sucicide bomber?
Probably not.
Will they stop a follow on attack?
Probably they will try.
I agree with Tam this is more to sooth the sheep than keep the wolves away.
Gerry
Anonymous said,
"NYPD ESU is squared away. That guy is older and has the look, and his finger is straight off the trigger."
Glad to hear it. I still have a copy of the post-911 photo of a NYPD cop in full battle-rattle with his Aimpoint mounted backwards.
At least they didn't give him a shotgun for subway duty...
I suppose they can't use Bernie Goetz so they have to find some way to keep the sheep happy.
"One day I watched a Port Authority SWATtie walk up the stairs in the Hoboken train station holding his M-4 in a very studly manner "
It is a given that East Coast copper gun handling is abysmal, but Port Authority is not ESU.
In my experience in NYC, outside the couple of hundred in ESU, there's not one NYC cop that I would trust with a firearm, or a blue gun or a sharp pencil, behind me, beside me, in front of me, four blocks away, inter alia.
Shootin' Buddy
Somebody explain how that's going to stop a suicide bomber from blowing up a train.
I mean, seriously.
Nathan,
They will look for the following behaviors:
• The appearance of being nervous. They may seem preoccupied or have a blank stare.
• Focused intent and vigilance. Such an acute focus may result in no response to verbal or other contact.
• An awkward attempt to blend in. Behavior will seem odd or overtly out of place.
• Avoidance behaviors toward authority. If security is present, suicide bomber tries to be inconspicuous.
• May be praying fervently to him/herself. This gives the appearance of talking or whispering to someone. Keep in mind that many people talk to themselves, thus this behavior in and of itself has little meaning. Further, either of these behaviors could be confused with speaking on a cell phone headset.
• Behavior may be consistent with that of a person without any future. For example, giving away things of value, buying a one-way ticket, or being unconcerned about receiving change for a purchase. In addition:
• Profuse sweating that is out of synch with weather conditions.
• Walking deliberately toward a specific object or target, often pushing their way through a crowd or around barriers. May show a high degree of focus or intent, especially if the target is in sight.
• Lack of mobility of the lower torso may cause upper body stiffness. This is due to the bomb device that is strapped to the body. The increased use of backpacks may reduce or eliminate this element.
• In order to disguise the appearance, a beard may have been recently shaved or the hair cut short. There is a noticeable difference in the skin color of the recently shaved area.
• To smell better when going to paradise, the suicide bomber may use herbal- or floral-scented water.
• Clothing that does not match the weather. For example, wearing a heavy coat on a warm day.
• Clothing that is excessively loose, giving the appearance that the head is out of proportion with the body. The loose clothing is used to conceal explosives worn close to the body.
• The suicide bomber may carry a backpack, bag, briefcase or luggage.
• The detonating switch is often held in a clenched fist. Backup devices might also be used, including a timer, pager, cellular phone or booby-trap switch. An accomplice or supervisor can remotely detonate the bomb if the attacker is detained or killed, or if the attack is otherwise aborted.
• The appearance of excessive weight. Many bombs will be packed with shrapnel such as ball bearings, nuts, bolts, screws, nails or other small metal objects that are dispersed into the crowd upon detonation. These comprise the bombers primary kill mechanism.
If they think the person checks enough boxes, they will shoot the suspect in the head. Then they will pray they were right unlike the London Metro Police.
Or they won't do anything but radio for help and let some other sucker make the call while praying their wrong. Nice Job eh!
This list is from DHS. I have one from IACSP that is shorter which I gave our receptionist just to play with her head.
Gerry
Sorry for the length of the reply
"Glad to hear it. I still have a copy of the post-911 photo of a NYPD cop in full battle-rattle with his Aimpoint mounted backwards."
Remember it well. I flew (had too, didn't want to) to San Diego in March of 2002. In Terminal B at MCI there's a weekend warrior with his M-4 at the security line (Kansas effing City, mind) and no mag in the bunghole. I didn't make it a matter of discussion to ask him what his Ops Tac was in case he was really needed. Usually kabuki at least has a point . . .
'Berg
Jeez, he doesn't even have a 9mm, it's a fricken' 5.56mm, probably loaded with surplus 62 grain AP.
Old New York joke (I was born there, Brooklyn Navy Yard hospital): There are 3,000 transit cops in the subways. Now, if you can find that train with the 3,000 cops, you're gonna' be real safe.
Nowadays the New York cops actually are competent with handguns (3 cousins on the force. Brooklyn Irish. Go figure).
But obviously, the special weapons and tactics boys and girls are somewhat clueless.
I was dropping my daughter off at Newark airport last year, and wanted to choke on my spit watching the 4 National Guardsmen walking around in a poorly organized gaggle.
One cute blond girl, very much the center of attention of three pimply-faced adolescents in well tailored utilities, and M-16A2 rifles slung on their shoulders. The kid carrying lefty did have the weapon on safe.
All were in a cluster less than 5feet across, centered around Little Mary Sunshine.
Having recently watched one of the Bourne movies, I naturally sized them up as potential opponents. I estimated it would have taken me less than 2 seconds, start to finish, to snatch the weapon from the southpaw on the outside rear left, buttstroke him, clear the weapon and drop the other three. And I'm old and fat.
I suspect some young graduate of an Al Fatah training camp, filled with adrenaline, could have done it faster, then tossed the other three weapons to buddies and started a shooting spree.
Are they there to protect us, or to supply weapons and hostages to the badguys?
"Glad to hear it. I still have a copy of the post-911 photo of a NYPD cop in full battle-rattle with his Aimpoint mounted backwards."
I seem to recall reading the manual for that sight, and it indicating that for lefties the outer part of it with the batteries and controls goes on backward so they face out, while the inner part with the optics remains undisturbed.
Jim
"weapons and hostages to the badguys"
Well we all know that assault rifles are useful only for killing lots of people, and that guns kept for personal defense are 47 times more likely to be used against their owners or a member of the family than against a criminal attacker.
So that's the way to bet, right?
The murderer wouldn't even have to take the gun first, he'd be far better off sneaking up behind the gun provider with a crowbar.
Locally (Puget Sound area) Sound Transit has beefed up the presence of it's Securitas rent-a-cops, most of whom are either retired something or other, or East African immigrants who can't get a job driving a truck.
They're all unarmed.
At SEA, after 9/11 when the WARNG was there, they were armed with M9s, not M16s, and had a mag in, although I never asked one whether they had rounds in the mag. I did discuss with their S3 NCO (I was working as a volunteer in the USO lounge at the time) what he went through to get a battalion's worth of troops qualified on pistol.
All you ordinaries just be calm and go about your bidness, and us perfeshunals will take care of any stray suicide bombers...
'Cuz we are the ONLY ONES in this here tube that are TRAINED enough, and 'SPERIENCED enough, and BLAMBLAMBLAM!...
Uh, everything's fine, nothing's awry, just go about your damn BIDNESS! Pay no attention to the matter and splatter on the walls and windows...HEY! WHADDAYOU LOOKIN' AT?
Hey Gerry,
We're talking about the NY subway here. You're describing just about every strap-hanger, in one way or another. Acting weird to survive is the norm.
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