WTK: What is a New York reload?

greg1911. Talked with Clyde today, he is a good friend of Jim Cirillo. Back in the early 70's there was a rash of robberies taking place in NYC. Banks, Jewlery stores, Phamrmacies, etc. The robbers were taking the goods then killing the people that they had just robbed, this was a big problem for NYPD. They assigned stake out teams consisting of trainers only, by watching the patterns of the bad guys they were able to predict where they would hit next. Jim was one of the first officers assigned to stake outs. It is my understanding that virtually every encounter involved a gunfight. I have heard that on his first encounter there were three bad guys vs Jim...Jim was the only one to walk away. There were many more. Jim if you read this I hope I got it right.

Lew

[This message has been edited by laser (edited 08-31-2001).]

[This message has been edited by laser (edited 08-31-2001).]

Stake out teams/Shotgun squads

One of the earlier and more successful uses of proactive law enforcement. Usually the bad guys wouldnt know they were in trouble until the first shots rang out (usually from concealment). Which is just as it should be!, After the first shots though, if the bad guys arent down, then things start getting really interesting.
Too bad that this practice today (while still completely in keeping with our Penal Code ) would subject us to all kinds of adverse media attention.
When we had a string of robberies here of the local stop and robs, I suggested just this apporach, the high brass reply was "what no warning???" i replied, "uh, if there is more than one of them , then the warning is when the first one falls sir" , they then asked " can we do that??!" to which i had to go back to " yes sir, we can , if you carefully read chapter 9 of the penal code, you find find no duty to retreat or to give warnings sir" , the final word from the brass was " the media will skin us"
The stop and robs stopped shortly after we raided a couple of our local user/dealers homes, seems that they were using more than their business would support and had to supplement the income .

My hats off to Jim for doing the job right and for his agency having the guts to make it happen.

I found myself standing next to Mr. Cirillo at the NRA convention

I took my 10-year old son to Pittsburgh and practically bumped into Mr. Cirillo at a reloading display. Knowing a bit about his history I quietly pointed him out to my son and told him he was one of the most decorated NYC policemen in history, and in addition to being a real, live, old-fashioned hero* he's also one of the winningest police competitive shooters in history, to boot. All Kevin could say was, "Wow!" as he stared at him wide eyed.

I didn't say anything because he was there to enjoy the convention and I suspect famous folks like him must get tired of people saying, "I'd really like to shake your hand!" Especially at something like the NRA convention, he'd never get through the exhibit hall. But we both felt like we were in the presence of a hero.

JPC

* Definition of real, live, old-fashioned hero: A public servant, either because they're in a public servant job or they're just an ordinary citizen who steps up and puts themselves in harm's way, to protect or rescue others. They often do this repeatedly, even though they themselves are in mortal danger, and they also have wives (or husbands!) and children of their own who would grieve mightily at their passing. But they do it anyway. People like Jim Cirillo, a true American hero.

Not to be confused with a modern-day hero: Someone who accidentally or serendipitously finds themselves in mortal danger, not necessarily in the act of protecting or rescuing anyone else, and who is intelligent enough to duck and later be interviewed by a journalist.