(CNN)A few weeks back, the executive producer of my show "Newsroom" suggested I take a police training course. "You're crazy," I told her. "What would it prove? I'm not a trained police officer. And I do not want my audience to think I am taking sides at a time when so many police shootings are controversial."
But, the more she talked, the more intriguing the idea.
"When all is said and done," she said, "Not many people know what it's like to be in a situation that's life or death. Including you. It's just a different perspective."
That word, "perspective," got me. Clearly there are bad cops who abuse the privilege of enforcing the law. But, it is my job to provide perspective. So, I decided to give it a go.
I evaluated several shooting simulators for the Air Force. It's a very eye-opening experience. You have a split second to determine if the guy you're talking to is suddenly trying to hand you his ID or is going to shoot you. I always think that these news people who ask, "couldn't they just shoot the gun out of his hand?" should have to go through one of these.
In the first video, the reporter starts second-guessing her decision to shoot - around 1:54 she says, "well, he didn't speak English..." Time to think, lady: What kind of harmless guy keeps approaching a drawn gun pointed at his chest?
"You can say 'stop' or 'alto' or use any other word you think will work but I've found that a large bore muzzle pointed at someone's head is pretty much the universal language." - Clint Smith
In the first video, the reporter starts second-guessing her decision to shoot - around 1:54 she says, "well, he didn't speak English..." Time to think, lady: What kind of harmless guy keeps approaching a drawn gun pointed at his chest?
"You can say 'stop' or 'alto' or use any other word you think will work but I've found that a large bore muzzle pointed at someone's head is pretty much the universal language." - Clin<script id="gpt-impl-0.013078337890567393" src="http://partner.googleadservices.com/gpt/pubads_impl_76.js"></script>t Smith
"That would be great, but when a person armed with a weapon is threatening your life, you shoot to stop that person. That means you aim for the largest part of the body. Remember, it's you or the suspect."
"And I do not want my audience to think I am taking sides"
This is the line that got me, if there is one thing she always does is take sides and it is always the lib side. She is about as much a open minded talking head as my dog is. No wait my dog does have an open mind.
After reading the comments I'm pretty sure that she failed at keeping a particular segment of her audience from thinking that she was "taking sides". They seemed to have the same mindset of some of the dingbat pantywaist college students who want to protest "racism" and want any reporters to agree before hand that they completely support them without even knowing what the problems are suppose to be
After reading the comments I'm pretty sure that she failed at keeping a particular segment of her audience from thinking that she was "taking sides". They seemed to have the same mindset of some of the dingbat pantywaist college students who want to protest "racism" and want any reporters to agree before hand that they completely support them without even knowing what the problems are suppose to be
every reporter should be required to do this training and ride alongs.
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