"It was all the fault of the 9mm!" or "The FBI screwed up and tried to scapegoat the 9mm!" (Which one you claim depends on whether or not you're trying to sell a .40, of course.)Anyhow, rather than getting the skinny from TV dramatizations or the guy at the local gun store, one can instead read
EDIT: Stupid FBI won't let you hotlink directly to the document. Your tax dollars at work. When you get to the "vault.fbi.gov" error page, type 'miami dade shootout' sans quotes in the search box in the upper right corner.
15 comments:
There is also a very interesting writeup of the shooting from a forensic perspective, including autopsy photos, etc.
www.amazon.com/Forensic-Analysis-April-1986-Firefight/dp/1581604904/
FBI Page gives me this:
"We apologize for the inconvenience, but the page you were trying to access is not at this address. You can use the links below to help you find what you are looking for."
Sometime after it happened, the FBI did a videotaped reenacctment of the whole thing, step-by-step, with some training commentary. Don't remember how, but somehow I got a copy of it. No idea if I still have it. Many mistakes made and they covered every one of them. Also showed the need for lots of training, especially weak hand.
After reading Massad Ayoob's write up, when the opportunity knocked, I bought a Benelli Super 90 M1.
The direct link does work if you keep the trailing space and slash...
Try this:
http://vault.fbi.gov/FBI%20Miami%20Shooting%204-11-86%20
It has the spaces URL encoded to %20, as needed.
The FBI training video is called "Firefight" and is now available online. Here is one source:
http://www.gardenstatecle.com/lawtube/copflix/shootouts.html
Rob (Trebor)
I've read that report, and other accounts of the incidents.
What I always felt it did a great point of showing was that a long gun is a long gun, and a pistol is a pistol.
When it comes down to a seriously bad day, there are no real substitutes to the useful firepower delivered by a centerfire intermediate caliber cartridge rifle.
Sorry, but the only 100% effective solution would have been an armored vehicle with a twin fifty in a turret.
Since the notion of having police patrol with things that can shoot clear through schools ( thanx, Sledge ) gives me the willies, sometimes cops are going to be in stupidly deadly situations.
Arguing 9mm vs. .40 S&W when you are dealing with folks that might need 12g slugs to put down is kinda pointless.
I saw the "Firefight" vid some time ago, and the things I took away from it were:
1: Secure your handgun. The agents were preparing for a firefight, and instead got a traffic accident, during which a firefight broke out. Some of the agents were combat inneffective because they took their guns out of holsters and laid them on the seat ..... and the guns went flying, as did one agent's eyeglasses....
2: The will to keep fighting is nigh all important.
3:Long guns are fight stoppers.... pistols ..... not so much..... though a .357 magnum ended this fight .....
It amazes me that this talk goes on and on and on...and I mean that in a very good way. But, I really don't think gun/ammo/holster/whatever store owners, training schools, & product manufacturers will ever want to see the arguing end.
It's interesting to note that while the Peshtigo, Coconut Grove, Triangle Shirtwaist, South Canyon, Worcester Cold Storage, you-name-it fires are likewise critiqued in detail for the fire service - and new lessons are learned to this day on all of those incidents - there is no similar push to use such incidents to market products directly to the private sector with quite the same zeal as there is from LE incidents for the private gun community.
In that vein, the average citizen is probably learning more personally-useful from the LE encounters than they are from over a century of well-documented tragic fires, hence the need for Ma & Pa Kettle to be able to read the Miami AAR and such things. For the responsible citizen interested in carrying a firearm, that's a good thing. For the average citizen interested in staying in a safe house or hotel - yes, we are better off today - but it's generally not due to the measures of the private citizen doing the learning, but rather the associated saafety service doing the learning for the public and contstantly pushing the message out to the masses..
If only the LE profession would take such a proactive approach to the well-being of the private citizen as has the fire service. Imagine a public safety announcement every October, aslong wiht the usual "I'm Firefighter Fred, change your smoke detector baterries" we might get Special Agent Friendly from the F.B.I. saying "Time to change out your carry ammo & rotate your mags" on NBC during prime time. Along with teaching our kids to Stop-Drop-n-Roll in first grade, we also teach them how to form a sight picture and make any firearm safe to handle.
As the Jimmy Fund sign over the Fenway bleachers used to say, "I can dream, can't I?"
Ancient Woodsman,
I have long maintained that the most important lesson from Miami is this: Some days you get the bear, and some days the bear gets you.
I started my law enforcement career in Sept. 1985 and this was quite the hot topic (and obviously still is from time to time) in the LE community just as I was coming out of my rookies phase.
When my department at the time began transitioning to semi-autos in 1987 the initial direction was to go to department issued 9mm S&W 5906's but a lot of referencing of this gunfight got the administration to relent and allow us to continue to carry personally owned, department approved handguns, resulting in a majority of officers opting for .45 ACP as their duty round.
Tam,
As revealed in your bear comment, you have a knack for boiling things down to their true essence. You can blame equipment, circumstances or training, but some days in spite of getting it all right, the bear gets you.
Having the best equipment and training along with tight control over the circumstances of initiating an armed confrontation do contribute to a higher percentage of getting the bear instead though.
Only four things to remember:
1. Have a weapon.
2. Use available cover.
3. Aim.
4. Squeeze the trigger.
Repeat 3 and 4 as necessary.
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