The Columbine High School shooting happened over twenty years ago. One of the lessons that law enforcement learned is that the tactic of contain and negotiate doesn’t work in an active shooter event. Such a response only guarantees that the shooter will remain undisturbed in the kill zone. That message never reached Texas DPS. The agency still has no policy dictating the proper tactics, even after the Uvalde shooting.
DPS has announced that a Texas Ranger has been fired for his actions, or lack thereof at the Uvalde shooting. Here he is at the Uvalde Scene. He has all the toys, vest, AR15, spare magazines, macho outfit. The only thing he lacked was brains and balls.
The Colonel explained that DPS officers were directed to follow the doctrine established by Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center at Texas State University. Known as the ALERRT doctrine. Sounds good. Except, I never met a denizen of DPS that accepted any training that didn’t originate from with DPS. You can send them to training, but you can’t make them think.
What was the phone conversation that was so important? Could it be?
I flash back to Apocalypse Now. One of the catch phrases from the movie was:
To be fair there is a good chance that the intrepid Texas Ranger wasn’t even born when those lines were spoken in the movie. In keeping with the Texas Ranger ethos, based on my interactions with them, this is probably closer to the mark.
“Don’t leave the coffee shop, never leave the coffee shop!”
Could be
I knew a legendary Texas Ranger that spent eight hours straight in a coffee shop. I know he didn’t pay for the coffee, no word on whether or not he left a tip.
