They Still Don't Get It

Was doing some consulting recently for a church security team. The head of the team is former law enforcement. The person assisting him is a firearms trainer for a major law enforcement department. The trainer wanted the church security team to have a firearms qualification. He drew inspiration from the quals that his department runs. I spoke matter-of-factly about running a qual that was not sanctioned by a "higher" body - it is a situation ripe for a prosecuting attorney to pick apart and cast as evil - "teaching people to kill!"

His reply? "Oh, I've testified plenty of times, I'm not worried." 

We had to stop at that time, and I had to have a kind, but firm heart-to-heart talk with the man. He missed the mark so badly on that comment that it had to be addressed. It had to be approached kindly, because he was so very wrong and didn't even know it. 

First things first, I had to explain to him that no criminal defense attorney worth his salt would allow any of the security team members to testify... so his willingness is great, but should never come to fruition. 

The next most major issue I had to clear up for him was the fact that while he is acting on the job as a police officer, he enjoys the benefits of Qualified Immunity. While we can debate the finer points of QI, that is best saved for another post. Instead, I focused on the fact that most of the security team there would not enjoy the protections of QI, as they were not LEO. A civilian's actions must be 100% defensible, and there will be no QI. 

The next major issue was the fact that he was trying to reinvent the wheel. I suggested he use the FBI qualification. It is not easy - so someone who passes has had training and has practiced. 

The last point that I made that will be discussed on this post was the fact that of the 15 or so members of their team, my prediction was that fewer than 5 would show up for the qual. Three of the team showed up. 

We discussed some other finer points, including self defense insurance and other topics, but these were the ones that needed to be discussed the most.