LITTLE ROCK — When prosecutors released the police dash cam video of convicted murderer Jerry Lard shooting Trumann police officer Jonathan Schmidt during a routine traffic stop last April, law enforcement authorities said the 20-minute film would be valuable as a training tool for other patrolmen.
It is a truly harrowing video to watch. Excerpts show how quickly a normal situation can escalate to one in which life and death hang in the balance of a few seconds.
Its instructional value is not limited to police officers, however. It might even be more beneficial to average citizens who have a falsely glamourized version of gun play from television crime shows or action movies.
The Internet is inundated with shootings caught on camera, from police-cruiser dash cams to security or surveillance cameras in places like convenience stores.
Few real shootings even remotely resemble the choreographed high definition, Dolby-audio-enhanced versions found in television programs or feature films.
This disconnect creates a genuine need for a dose of gun-crime reality-and not just for people with concealed-carry licenses. There is much to be learned from watching videos of real gun crimes that would help any citizens who might someday find themselves in a situation with an armed criminal.
Let’s face it. Most of us are pathetically unprepared for an encounter with a violent criminal. Whatever skills for survival against predators our species had honed in earlier times, the mass of our civilized citizenry now naively entrusts to law enforcement. But police can rarely protect us from violent crime. Their main function is to respond to lawlessness, not prevent it.
Violent criminals are used to using force-but how many average citizens are? You likely haven’t pistol-whipped anyone lately, or swung a crowbar or baseball bat against someone’s head. You also probably haven’t had to try and ward off such blows, or dealt with the mortal fear of having a gun pointed, or fired, at you.
Videos like the one from Trumann can help prepare people by helping them understand-in advance-the nature of real crime.
Overwhelmingly, shooting videos reveal three primary points of information that citizens should thoroughly understand.
Everything happens very fast.
Handgun accuracy is very poor.
Armed criminals are often ruthless.
In the Trumann video, one moment everything is normal as Officer Schmidt casually reaches to open the back door of the car, and the next instant Jerry Lard sticks his pistol up from the back seat and shoots Schmidt in the neck.
Everyone is surprised, including Schmidt’s partner, who comes under immediate fire from Lard.
Haste makes waste, and it’s amazing in many videos how many missed shots are fired from less than 10 feet, including those from well trained police officers.
If you own a handgun and take leisurely target practice, taking aim and taking care to squeeze the trigger rather than yanking it, you are wasting your time.
The reality is that adrenaline will be coursing through your body if an armed criminal is shooting at you, and you likely would have to shoot back in a huge hurry and/or while moving to take cover.
Handgun practice that doesn’t simulate a reality situation is useless as a protective measure. Watch a few videos and time the actual shooting parts (it’s usually a matter of only a few seconds). Then put up a target about 10 feet away and see how many shots you can land within that time frame while ducking for cover.
It’s typically a humbling experience.
Criminals are notoriously bad shots, too. They don’t practice much either, and they really don’t want a gun battle. They prefer to be the only ones armed, and as shown in many videos, as soon as return fire erupts from prospective victims, they seek to flee rather than fight.
On television when people are shot, they are knocked down. In reality, unless they are shot in the head, heart or spine, people often keep moving with nearly full capabilities.
Officer Schmidt is shown heroically helping shove his partner out of harm’s way even after being shot point-blank. Similarly, other videos show criminals who are mortally wounded continue to carry out their attacks with strength and vigor.
The average law-abiding citizen is utterly unaware of the savagery violent criminals are capable of. Many videos show heartless criminals shooting innocent people so cold bloodedly that it would be unbelievable if you weren’t seeing it with your own eyes.
Violent criminals can be horrifyingly deceitful, looking to get the upper hand from which they will be merciless. Countless videos show them cordially cooperating with police-just before shooting an officer.
It would be in the state’s interest to secure a television channel and publicly broadcast shooting videos so more people could be aware of and prepared for what actually happens in those situations.
Such videos are very disturbing to watch, but gun crime is a disturbing issue-one worth seeing in its sickening, undramatized reality.
A gun isn’t the only thing handy to have if confronted with an armed criminal; having learned from watching videos of similar situations would be critically helpful, too.
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Dana Kelley is a freelance writer from Jonesboro.
Editorial, Pages 17 on 08/17/2012