Thank you TC; makes a lot of sense. Also to Going Downtown, that I just finished reading. Hard to tell which is worse: 40 million semi automatic rifles or 70 million voters for trump; the combination is truly worrying.
To the one thing making you different from Salvador Ramos was maybe that you had a father who was present enough to go shooting with you.
Thank you TC; makes a lot of sense. Also to Going Downtown, that I just finished reading. Hard to tell which is worse: 40 million semi automatic rifles or 70 million voters for trump; the combination is truly worrying.
To the one thing making you different from Salvador Ramos was maybe that you had a father who was present enough to go shooting with you.
It is a question that should be asked. I live in such a racially homogenous community that I have NO experience in that milieu and cannot answer that question with any knowledge or accuracy. I suspect if those had been white parents and not Hispanic, there might have been more response, but I also suspect that the SWAT team is all gear and no go.
It's an essential question Ally as is the one you pose at the end about SWAT teams; everyone has one now and they are very impressively armed and vehicled (?) but one questions the effectiveness of such training as they might receive. One would hope that public safety personnel would be different but, in business, training is the first line to go when budgets get tight.
In my experience, you are 100% accurate. I went for 10 years with no refresher in Emergency Vehicle Operations (EVOC) but I qualified on the firearms range twice a year. We went for about 5 years with no "tactical" firearms training (shoot/no shoot, scenario based/building search) due to lack of training funds. I did far more building searches, confronted more shoot/don't shoot firearms scenarios than actually firing my handgun/shotgun/rifle (never). I drove my patrol car (sedan, jeep, SUV) every day.
I know that our local jurisdictions are ready to go and have gone multiple times. My "all gear and no go" was a take-off on "all hat and no cattle"...
I don't think so. Among those babies murdered were two little white girls. Years ago, when I worked in San Antonio, Uvalde was one of 15 counties my agency served, and I met with the superintendent of UISD and his administrators (and teachers) on several occasions. My staff provided staff development services for them. It is a predominately Hispanic community, but not completely. I would tend to call it more "rural" in nature than anything...much like the one I live in now (which is becoming urbanized thanks to Austin-tax-flight.) I think Ally (below) has probably nailed it. Those LE officers might have had the gear (think costumes) and equipment (think props), but they never learned their job (think script and acting chops) and apparently none of them had the stomach (think balls) for their jobs. It's like Ally said, all hat and no cattle. I suspect these guys barely made it through whatever "academy" they attended, were like overgrown football players wearing different pads and helmets (hats) but had no idea what play to call, how to run it, and what to do when the going got tough. I heard some reports of several who actually went inside and rescued their own children and then left. I hope that is just rumor, because if it's true, in that small community, I wouldn't give a fig for their survival.
I'll be sure to correct my comment with anything confirming this. Thus far, I think this has been a claim made by parents in interviews with reporters. Given their state of mind and their anxiety, I want to attribute those "reports" to the confusion and horror of the moment.
Makes sense, especially under the circumstances and, maybe more than anything, we don't want (or need) to add fuel to the fire that's already been lit.
There were an awful lot of white faces surrounding Abbott at his press conference, and the one that the Texas Director held (at least in his, the emotion was visble). Frank Figlusi (sp?), retired FBI, said on MSNBC yesterday that during that "golden" hour where people can be saved was lost. I cannot even imagine the anguish of these parents.
Fern, yes, got that part. Will be interesting to see if first responders were local, and the final tactical team nonlocal, and the demographics of such. But the lack of diversity with the first press conference and no translation in a population with many Spanish speakers, was apparent.
'Texas law enforcement ignores Spanish-language media at press conference after shooting, despite Uvalde's large Latino population'
'At a press conference, reporters pleaded for responses "en Espa├▒ol."
'More than 7.8 million people in Texas over the age of 5 speak Spanish.'
'Texas law enforcement wrapped up a press conference on the Robb Elementary School massacre Thursday without taking a single question from Spanish-language media.'
'Speakers of Spanish make up around 30% of Texas's population, according to US Census Data. In Uvalde County, where the mass shooting took place, half of families speak a language other than English at home тАФ largely Spanish, with Latinos making up just under 90% of the student body at the elementary school.'
'At Thursday's press conference, reporters with Spanish-language media pleaded for answers "en Espa├▒ol," the language spoken by around 8 million Texans and more than 41 million Americans.'
'But despite being asked to "please" address the media in Spanish, Victor Escalon, a regional director with the Texas Department of Public Safety, walked away from the podium without responding.'
Olof, I think there were many differences between Tom and Salvador - race, ethnicity, class, family background, asperges, education... and something in common, the bullying.
Thank you TC; makes a lot of sense. Also to Going Downtown, that I just finished reading. Hard to tell which is worse: 40 million semi automatic rifles or 70 million voters for trump; the combination is truly worrying.
To the one thing making you different from Salvador Ramos was maybe that you had a father who was present enough to go shooting with you.
I think you're right about that; also that I was white and my mother - while indeed crazy - wasn't a drug addict.
If you liked the book, I hope you'll post a review on Amazon Europe.
Another random thought I had yesterday: what if these had been little white children? Would the response by law enforcement been different?
It is a question that should be asked. I live in such a racially homogenous community that I have NO experience in that milieu and cannot answer that question with any knowledge or accuracy. I suspect if those had been white parents and not Hispanic, there might have been more response, but I also suspect that the SWAT team is all gear and no go.
It's an essential question Ally as is the one you pose at the end about SWAT teams; everyone has one now and they are very impressively armed and vehicled (?) but one questions the effectiveness of such training as they might receive. One would hope that public safety personnel would be different but, in business, training is the first line to go when budgets get tight.
In my experience, you are 100% accurate. I went for 10 years with no refresher in Emergency Vehicle Operations (EVOC) but I qualified on the firearms range twice a year. We went for about 5 years with no "tactical" firearms training (shoot/no shoot, scenario based/building search) due to lack of training funds. I did far more building searches, confronted more shoot/don't shoot firearms scenarios than actually firing my handgun/shotgun/rifle (never). I drove my patrol car (sedan, jeep, SUV) every day.
I know that our local jurisdictions are ready to go and have gone multiple times. My "all gear and no go" was a take-off on "all hat and no cattle"...
Or the Congressional analog, "All talk and no action".
I don't think so. Among those babies murdered were two little white girls. Years ago, when I worked in San Antonio, Uvalde was one of 15 counties my agency served, and I met with the superintendent of UISD and his administrators (and teachers) on several occasions. My staff provided staff development services for them. It is a predominately Hispanic community, but not completely. I would tend to call it more "rural" in nature than anything...much like the one I live in now (which is becoming urbanized thanks to Austin-tax-flight.) I think Ally (below) has probably nailed it. Those LE officers might have had the gear (think costumes) and equipment (think props), but they never learned their job (think script and acting chops) and apparently none of them had the stomach (think balls) for their jobs. It's like Ally said, all hat and no cattle. I suspect these guys barely made it through whatever "academy" they attended, were like overgrown football players wearing different pads and helmets (hats) but had no idea what play to call, how to run it, and what to do when the going got tough. I heard some reports of several who actually went inside and rescued their own children and then left. I hope that is just rumor, because if it's true, in that small community, I wouldn't give a fig for their survival.
In respect of the independent rescues, I've seen press reports of parents doing that but not LEOs. I concur in your hope that it's just a rumor.
I'll be sure to correct my comment with anything confirming this. Thus far, I think this has been a claim made by parents in interviews with reporters. Given their state of mind and their anxiety, I want to attribute those "reports" to the confusion and horror of the moment.
Makes sense, especially under the circumstances and, maybe more than anything, we don't want (or need) to add fuel to the fire that's already been lit.
Thanks for this, Ellen.
Rhetorical question right?
ЁЯШг
And another related question is what was the racial/ethnic origins of the police and those in charge.
There were an awful lot of white faces surrounding Abbott at his press conference, and the one that the Texas Director held (at least in his, the emotion was visble). Frank Figlusi (sp?), retired FBI, said on MSNBC yesterday that during that "golden" hour where people can be saved was lost. I cannot even imagine the anguish of these parents.
Karen, I was referring to those in charge of handling the crime scene, the decision makers when the crime was taking place.
Fern, yes, got that part. Will be interesting to see if first responders were local, and the final tactical team nonlocal, and the demographics of such. But the lack of diversity with the first press conference and no translation in a population with many Spanish speakers, was apparent.
'Texas law enforcement ignores Spanish-language media at press conference after shooting, despite Uvalde's large Latino population'
'At a press conference, reporters pleaded for responses "en Espa├▒ol."
'More than 7.8 million people in Texas over the age of 5 speak Spanish.'
'Texas law enforcement wrapped up a press conference on the Robb Elementary School massacre Thursday without taking a single question from Spanish-language media.'
'Speakers of Spanish make up around 30% of Texas's population, according to US Census Data. In Uvalde County, where the mass shooting took place, half of families speak a language other than English at home тАФ largely Spanish, with Latinos making up just under 90% of the student body at the elementary school.'
'At Thursday's press conference, reporters with Spanish-language media pleaded for answers "en Espa├▒ol," the language spoken by around 8 million Texans and more than 41 million Americans.'
'But despite being asked to "please" address the media in Spanish, Victor Escalon, a regional director with the Texas Department of Public Safety, walked away from the podium without responding.'
https://sports.yahoo.com/texas-law-enforcement-ignores-spanish-194000271.html
Olof, I think there were many differences between Tom and Salvador - race, ethnicity, class, family background, asperges, education... and something in common, the bullying.