Boston Bombing and Controversy Around the Following Manhunt.

To  those who are factlessly claiming that the manhunt in Watertown Massachusets after the Boston Marathon Bombing included forced searches of homes and martial law, please consider the following.

First off, I must cover video and photos and their use to prove anything. Without context, they are useless. You can interpret any photo or video to say what you want if you do not have context. Not to mention several well photo shopped photos circulating the internet. Most of the videos and photos posted where I have read or hear people claiming warrantless searches, do not have the context of them included. For example, did the videographer/photographer know what the report was regarding the residence where people were being pulled out at gunpoint? No. Law Enforcement does not pull people out of residences, vehicles, side of the road, etc. at gun point without a reason. It is America, not Russia or China.

Next, let’s consider a few things about the Terrorists:
1. The Terrorists detonated two IED’s in a crowd of innocent marathon spectators and competitors, murdering three with many more injured.

2. The Terrorists were involved in a car jacking.  

3. The Terrorists murdered a police officer.

4. The Terrorists were in a many mile vehicle pursuit actively shooting at law enforcement while using and attempting to detonate more IED’s.

Next, was Martial Law declared? Unless the Governor or similar Government official states Martial Law is in effect (like during the Katrina disaster), it is not in effect. Just because you saw Law Enforcement out and about and National Guard units called up to assist (EOD skills in particular), does not mean Martial Law was in effect.

The video footage on Youtube such as I’m linking to below, lets you hear Law Enforcement asking, not ordering, people to stay inside. Naturally one would do that when you have violent criminals like explained above on the run.
http://youtu.be/Bm9CisNCS1g

Next, did Law Enforcement forcibly search homes? A few homes or business, yes. Why? Extra information had been presented to Law Enforcment indicating that there was more likely hood of the Terrorists’ being in those locations – i.e. a report of a suspiciously acting middle eastern/muslim male partially matching the description of the Terrorists.

I’m not going to go into the “Exigent Circumstances” clause as I’m not an attorney, but it was very well briefed and understood how it applied by Law Enforcment on scene during this. If a search warrant was or had been needed, the presence of representatives from the US District Attorney’s office and most likely local Jurisdiction Attorney’s on scene made any Search Warrant needs easily put to rest.

How did Law Enforcement conduct the neighborhood search? Read the following from a member of one of the SWAT teams in the search:
            “We started out setting up a quick perimeter around each house, contacting the residents, speaking with them, asking them to step out while we checked their house/apartment/basement/garage, etc, and it was taking a long time and tiring the team. everyone was more than happy to give us consent to search, and since they were all watching out the windows as we made our way down the street, the knew we were coming and there were no "Plain view" issues. After a while, we realized that by asking to have everyone inside come to the door and by using our good cop skills, we conducted a quick threshold interview, asking them about their household, and inquiring about their neighbors and the neighborhood, we were able to move forward with our job. If we had any concerns, we asked and were granted permission to search inside. We have never had so many thank yous, or people relieved to see a SWAT team outside their door, than we did Friday”

Next, watch this video of one team approaching a residence. No forced searches here, just good old fashioned Police Work like everyone is use to seeing or participating in. http://youtu.be/Z0mU7VATsC8

There you have at least my take on events, from a rounded viewpoint based on reports from those present who took place in the manhunt, but also firsthand footage of the search for the remaining terrorist. Take it for what it is, if it changes your opinion, great. If not, then I probably wasn’t going to anyways.

Power Outages and You

Power Outages and You

Earlier this winter, I was woken up by a O’Dark Thirty phone call informing me that the power was out and that I needed to come into my day job to help out thanks to the increased call load. At this point I observed that clearly the power was out as my bedroom clock was no longer working nor the light from streetlights.

At this time I became thankful that I followed the 6 “P”s. Proper Planning and Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. How so?  On my nightstand I have a headlamp situated next to my wristwatch and cell phone that is always plugged in at night to ensure it’s always fully charged. (Needless to say, a pistol with white light is there as well.)

What did I learn during this?  Headlamps are worth their space in gold. Yes, you can read a book or walk to the kitchen with a handheld flashlight, but you can’t brush your teeth, get dressed and make breakfast in a hurry with one hand. I was able to do all of this much quicker with the use of the headlamp than I ever would have with a handheld light.

A previous power outage reminded me to keep candles and a lighter in the same spot at all times for access during a power outage, fortunately I did not need to utilize them for this outage.

What else did I observe and learn from talking to people that day?

Most people do not have a flashlight, let alone a headlamp around nor do they keep it fully charged if it’s a rechargeable light. When its pitch black in your house is not the time to look for batteries or flashlight.

Cell phones were whined about due to them being almost dead before the power went out and not being able to be charged. Do to most homes no longer having a landline; this results in an inability to call 911 should you have a Medical, Fire or Law Enforcement emergency.

No heat. This is the winter. Our winter was below freezing during the day for almost a full two months, and below zero at night most of that time as well. Residences couldn’t be heated when their heat source relied on power. Some homeowners bragged about having a wood stove, but then that smile turned to a depressed look when they realized that they did not have any wood for said stove. Some homes only had gas heat, others pellet stoves, others hybrid wood stoves and others traditional wood stoves. Yes, you should find a way to ensure warmth should the power go out for an extended period of time. 

No way to heat up food or beverages to keep one’s inner body temp up, let alone morale. Backpacking stoves seem to be only owned by a very few.

Lessons learned?

Sustain:

• ·      Headlamp and Light sources in familiar locations.
• ·      Wristwatch in familiar location.
• ·      Charged Cell Phone
• ·      Heat free food that can provide the substance needed to keep the body warm in cold temps.
• ·      Layered plan should power stay out for longer.

Improve:

• ·      Cell Phone staying at 50% or better battery life at all times.
• ·      Ensure all flashlights for use in these situations have fresh batteries in them at all times.
• ·      Grid free home heating system.
• ·      Further refine and expand the long-term plan for no power survival.

Hope some of these things are useful, as for what turned out to be a 2.5 hour power outage, I sure saw a lot of panic going on. Imagine if that turned into 1 day, 1 week, etc.

DARC Drag Strap Belt Loop Adapter

DARC Drag Strap, Belt Loop Adapter

I’m a big fan of the DARC Drag Strap setup from Direct Action Resource Center (DARC1.com). It does what in my experience, other drag straps do not. The drag strap does require a rather large Carabineer for ease of use with a regular 1.5” or even a 2+ inch duty belt. Recognizing this, I decided to sew up a loop of the same 1” tubular webbing I made the drag strap out of to place on my pants belt. 

I took a guess at how much webbing I would need for wearing with a 1.5” belt and guessed correctly. The webbing is a total length of approximately 7-8 inches of webbing with about a 1.5” overlap. The overlap is stitched in a box pattern with an X finishing stich in the center. Forgive me if the sewing terms are incorrect as I do not sew for a living.

As seen here this will allow the user to wear their regular duty style belt at all times with the ability to quickly throw on their plate carrier and have an easy interfacing drag strap system ready to go. This will also work when worn with other kit like MOLLE war/battle belts or CCW/Plain Clothes rigs and a hastily thrown on Heavy Vest or Plate Carrier.

Low Light Essentials Part 2

As a follow up to the last post, specifically on rifle mounted weapon lights and where to place them, here are some pictures demonstrating the various lights, light setups and grips I use.

I’ll describe the light setup and then three pictures. First is a picture showing the light location.  Second is the daylight no light activation grip. Third is the light activation grip.


First, Surefire X300 at 12 O Clock on a Daniel Defense 12.0 FSP rail.

Second, Surefire M600 Scout at 3 O Clock, Laser Devices Inc DBAL-I2 at 12 O Clock. Switch is the Surefire SR-D-IT located at 9 O Clock.  Rail is a Daniel Defense 12.0 FSP rail. 

Third and last. Inforce WML at 9:30 mounted on a Magpul MOE handguard with MOE rail.