""I’ve always believed ATVs are a great asset for police work; their uses range from backcountry enforcement, search and rescue, beach or park patrol, special events, parades to urban patrol. You’re only limited by your imagination..." - Suzi Huntington, editor of "American Cop" magazine....
Hello Folks!
Big Jim here, coming to you from the very heart of Hatfield-McCoy Country.
Years ago, I first heard of the world famous Gunsite Ranch when reading an interview with legendary retired U.S.Marine Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper. Col.Cooper is no longer with us, but his millions of fans all over the world are who still read his books and collect magazine columns he did over the years after he retired from the US Military and active duty college teaching to start what was probably the first ever shooting school for civillians, police and the military in the USA. IE the American Pistol Institute at Paulden Arizona, which later became known by it's nickname the Gunsite Ranch.
In case you are wondering where Big Jim Charles is going here, bear with me a bit while I share a little history of the Gunsite Ranch and how it related to ATVs...
Col. Cooper was a young man during WWII when he began to aproach the 'conventional wisdom' of the day with some skepticism and common sense.
To wit, the young marine had been involved in a gunfight with a Japanese soldier and he felt that the U.S.military service pistol the model 1911 Colt .45 auto may indeed have had several benefits over the old cowboy style Colt Single Action Army sixgun he was actually toting in that affair. Cooper began a lifetime of experimentation with the 1911 pistol which lead by the late fifties and early sixties to what became known as the 'New Technique" of the modern service pistol- a way of fighting with a handgun that has since saved the lives of thousands of civillians, cops and military men and women all over the world. Col. Cooper felt that the 1911 pistol was faster to reload, easier to hit with under stress due to it's single action trigger and more reliable under adverse field conditions than the double action revolvers of the day and other service autopistols...He also liked it's hard hitting .45 acp caliber which was powerful enough to down an agressive adversary but not so powerful as to be uncontrolable should rapid fire be needed.
Under trial and error through open competition the Col. was able to prove his point when the Bear Valley shooting matches slowly evolved into the modern sport of action pistol shooting and the 1911 easily trounced everything else...
For decades Col. Cooper taught classes at Gunsite to students from every walk of life. Ironically early on he began riding an ATV between different ranges to be able to interact with students - many of whom were thrilled to get some instruction from the main man himself.
Col. Cooper is no longer with us, but the Gunsite Ranch is- and imagine my surprise a few months ago when sitting around after work at one of my various part time gigs, to find a fantastic article about ATVs and the Gunsite Ranch in a nationally known magazine!
Over time, law enforcement in the US and the Military adopted Col. Cooper's teachings - the heavy duty service pistol of large caliber, the two handed "Weaver" shooting stance; the exclusive use of sights for aimed fire always and the rapid reload. To the point where today it is unusual to see a police department that does not utilize both semi-automatic service pistols and some variation on the New Technique.
I met Roy Huntington online a few years ago, when I was a newspaper reporter and he was the new editor of American Handgunnger magazine. I had written him and email, regarding the trend of Tactical verses old fashioned practical gear. Roy and I exchanged a few emails and when he found out I was a part time Municipal Court Judge he sent a subscription to AH's sister magazine edited by his lovely wife Suzi Huntington. Let me point something out right here- when Roy or Suzi talk cop shop stuff, they know whereof they speak- both were beat cops in sunny California for many years before escaping the hustle and bustle of big city life for ranching.
Imagine my delight to read about a special seminar for law enforcemenr writers at the Gunsite Ranch, sponsored by Yamaha, who were showing off their new line of specialty ATVs and UTVs for cop and search and rescue work. I knew about the seminar- in fact, a few months earlier I posted some photos from it on our popular Facebook wall. But I had no idea that somebody I respected was gonna attend it and write about it for an important law-enforcement trade organization!
ATVs and UTVs are growing more and more popular in all walks of life with all sorts of people and given their amazing capabilities, it was only natural that police and first response agencies would begin making use of them for police and search and rescue work. Of course, our Rangers at Hatfield-McCoy have used them for years and years, but so have many other organizations who do what they need to do to keep people safe and secure. Locally the town of Logan has used a UTV for a few years, and when I was last at town hall, the police chief there told me that Logan P.D. will soon be getting another one! The UTE they have been using has been a godsend for our police department there. In addition to being used for searches in the hills, the machine is often used at times when traffic is jammed or tied up around the town with special events like the annual Freedom Festival each July... The UTV can get to places when the streets are clogged that no cruiser will ever get to. Ditto with the wildwoods!
Below is a link to the article itself, so you can read it and enjoy it, with some select quotes that I particularly enjoyed.
Make no mistake good people, ATVs and UTVs are going to become even more popular as the years go by and they will be specialized and improved in many ways for specific tasks. And when lives are saved, in large measure it will be because of the improvements in these remarkable locomotion devices that riders like you good people have helped by providing experience and feedback!
http://americancopmagazine.com/alternative-thinking/
If you cannot take time to read this remarkable article by Suzi Huntington, here are a few high spots for your contemplation!
"With a modern police vehicle of any sort hitting a city’s budget for anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000, do ATV-type vehicles make sense for specialized functions? And, if your agency polices mostly urban areas, does it rule out these innovative vehicles for your use? ....Hardly. As a matter of fact, you might find more uses for them than you might imagine....I wanted to get some firsthand knowledge about modern off-road and ATV-type vehicles, so I attended a presentation by Yamaha, co-hosted by Ruger (the gun company) at Gunsite Academy in Arizona."
" During my own police career, I spent weeks on end patrolling on ATV Quads. They were stock consumer models with no features specifically designed for LE work. Engine sizes were only in the 250cc range, and the flimsy plastic bodies, terrible seats and “consumer-grade” suspension meant a day in the saddle was long, tiring and sometimes frustrating. We designed training classes around the ATVs, and basically developed our own rules and regulations regarding their operation. But in the beach communities of San Diego, even in spite of the ATV’s flaws, we found them to be a powerful enforcement tool as we chased fleeing bad guys up and down stairs, crossed soft sand and beaches, snuck around trails to roust transients and even responded to radio calls on city streets when gridlock was the rule in the summer months. "
"Citizens were always amazed when two or four (or more!) officers suddenly appeared seemingly out of nowhere, rapidly taking control of situations that could have easily gotten out of hand due to delays in normal beat car response times. Taking shortcuts in alleys, on sidewalks, across fields and even riding right into shopping malls or apartment complex grounds made us highly mobile, able to respond fast and to rapidly find a problem and nip it in the bud."
"If your agency polices an urban area, it doesn’t exclude the use of ATVs, and as a matter of fact, an ATV sometimes makes the best sense. What I learned from my own experience riding them in city environments was their ability to keep officers highly mobile is perhaps their strongest point.....they were particularly handy during public events like parades or anytime crowds were an issue. Plus, there’s something about seeing a smiling cop on an ATV that really gets the attention of both the good citizens — and the bad ones, too. The good guys love it, and the bad guys know they can’t outrun a cop on an ATV...."
"Basically, if you’re using bicycles now, you can really expand your abilities by adding a couple of ATVs. The two-seat models offer more room, sometimes have roofs to help with sun or rain, have storage and make it easier to carry long-guns. They can be equipped with emergency lights, radios, first-aid kits and other goodies if you need them....The Yamaha Tactical Black Special Edition Grizzly & Rhino 700s. They started out clean and pristine … they looked even better after we played hard in the dirt and mud at Gunsite....In the early 1990s when I rode the ATVs in San Diego, we soon found the stock consumer models simply didn’t have the options available we needed. Their “light-duty” nature meant they broke down more often, plastic bits like fenders tore or ripped off easily, and storage was non-existent. Every cop had their own solution to carry their ticket book, first aid supplies, flashlight and other necessities, and none of the solutions (soft packs, ammo boxes, etc.) were very effective.
"How times change.
After using the Yamaha products I can see all of our early concerns have been addressed handily. The units we rode (both single-person and 2-person vehicles) were brawny, had bigger motors, were rock-solid in both performance, function and features, had 4-wheel drive, and offered options to carry long guns and store equipment. The quality was obvious, and even after hard riding over several days, they didn’t beat us up like the old ones used to.... In the right hands, and with the right training, they’re virtually unstoppable...."
The models we rode sported some optional accessories, some very useful for LE needs, others not necessarily; but it was good to see different configurations and see how it all performed. There are long lists of specific features and accessories for each vehicle, and I recommend you check out their website to get a complete handle on their many benefits.....When we rode our ATVs in San Diego, there was no way to carry a shotgun with us. Racks or locks simply didn’t exist, and the ATVs themselves really didn’t have any frame support for mounts. Our duty handgun was the sole means of protection at-hand, regardless of what we encountered. And the likelihood of encountering something serious was high due to our mobility and tendency to be used to police crowds.
"Both the Grizzly and the Rhino have answered the need for cops to carry long guns (like an AR rifle) with dedicated mounting options. On the Grizzly, a mount carrying a long-gun “side-to-side” on the front rack makes sense. The officer not only can keep his eye on the gun, but also has the gun at the ready if needed. And there’s room on the mount for a second gun holder (think shotgun and rifle). On the Rhino, unique methods using the roll cage are possible, along with other options too...."
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