In December of 2024, in Secret Service Secret Marksmanship, I took to task the unnamed Secret Service Agent who fired at least six shots at the second Trump wannabe assassin from a distance of only a few feet and missed every shot. One would think Secret Service agents on a presidential detail would be better shots. One would apparently think wrongly. One would also think they’d be better shots than the average local patrolman. In that case at least, one would also think wrongly.
One of the articles of faith and narratives of anti-liberty/gun cracktivists is the police are highly trained marksmen. We must leave guns to them because Normal Americans aren’t so highly trained and will just shoot themselves, their families and worse, they might shoot criminals. The truth is quite different.
Graphic: Glock 17, a common police duty handgun. Author.
Putting on the blue suit and a badge does not bestow upon police officers magical shooting abilities beyond the abilities of citizens. Only a small portion of any police force are gun guys and girls. Most police officers have only a single gun: their agency-issued handgun. The only training they get comes from their basic academy—private or public—and whatever refresher training their agency provides. Periodic qualification doesn’t count. Unless a given officer spends the time and money in regular practice and in advanced, private training, that’s all they’ll ever have.
For most agencies, qualification is a once-a-year burden. Ammo is expensive, and so is taking officers off the street. They have to be replaced by other cops at overtime rates. Qualifications normally fire no more than 50 rounds at never-changing stationary targets at known ranges, usually no greater than 25 yards, and commonly no greater than 15 yards. Often, strings of fire aren’t timed, and only 70% proficiency is the usual standard. Officers pass if they miss only 30% of their shots.
Even better, officers are allowed to reshoot the course of fire as many times as necessary to pass. Were that not true, were officers required to be 70% proficient on demand, far too many would fail, which means they’d be desked until they could meet that standard, or fired, which is much too expensive.
Don’t ask how often officers clean their handguns, whether they’ve been trained to do it or have the proper equipment.
Keep in mind large blue city police agencies tend to have even lower standards. Their executives are politicians who have to reflect their boss’s beliefs if they want to keep their jobs. That means they don’t like guns, don’t like cops and trust neither. They’re not going to do what’s necessary to ensure officers have a high degree of shooting ability. Two examples illustrate reality:
The New York City Police Department issues guns with 12-pound trigger pulls. Standard Glocks have 5.5 pound triggers. The heavier the trigger, the harder it is to shoot accurately. NYPD brass are worried about negligent discharges, so they issue hard to shoot guns. The results are predictable:
In 1990, NYPD officer hit potential was only 19%. That means 81% of the rounds they fired at criminals missed. At less than three yards, they hit only 38% of the time. From 3-7 yards, 11.5% and from 7-15 yards, only 9.4%
Some of those less than 3-yard shots were at muzzle-touching range. There are many cases on record of police officers emptying their guns at crooks at inside-a-phone-booth range and missing every shot. Those 1990 results haven’t improved with time. Heavy triggers combined with poor training have inevitable consequences. We now move to Los Angeles, setting for innumerable police dramas where sharp shooting cops never miss.
Graphic: KTLA5 Screenshot
In 2013 LAPD Officer Christopher Dorner, a large black man, was fired for cause and began hunting superiors he thought responsible. He was reportedly driving a pickup truck. Eight LAPD officers, including a supervisor, were covering the home of a LAPD Captain, a potential Dorner target, when a blue pickup entered the neighborhood. Those eight officers unleashed 103 rounds at the truck, which did not contain Dorner but two Hispanic women delivering newspapers.
This was a classic example of “me too!” police shooting. One officer shoots at something and every nearby officer, having no idea why they’re shooting, joins the fun.
Fortunately, their marksmanship was reliably poor. They hit the truck, seven nearby homes and nine other vehicles. The women were only wounded. They were awarded $4.3 million, and none of the officers were disciplined.
I’m not denigrating the police. I used to be one. They do a difficult job that requires they always be right amazingly well. But shooting is a perishable skill. Unless one learns the right techniques and regularly practices and improves, they'll fail under stress. Many citizens spend that necessary time and money. Most cops don’t.
As with politicians we get the police, and police marksmanship, we deserve.
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Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.