German polizei make Portland-area police look like sissies

How is it that German police can disarm a man wielding a samurai sword without hurting him, by using a broomstick, while Washington county police shoot and kill a teenager holding a three-inch fishing knife, and an unarmed mentally ill man dies after three Portland policemen rough him up?

According to a news report, in Hamburg, Germany a man swung a samurai sword violently at police as they tried to disarm him. If this happened in Oregon almost certainly he would have been filled with bullets.

But the polizei used a broomstick to subdue him. Check out the videotape. It puts Portland-area police to shame. Guess they should bring over some German police to show them how to use guts rather than a Glock to save lives.

I know something about samurai swords (katanas). I have two of them, shown here unsheathed. I’ve trained extensively with them in martial arts classes, using wooden practice swords (bokken).

Samurai swords are fearsome weapons. A lot more fearsome than a knife with a three-inch blade. A National Geographic channel special, “Fight Science,” concluded that a katana is the ultimate sword (compared to a straight Tai Chi sword or a curved broadsword).

Here’s what the German police had to deal with.

And here’s a snapshot from the video of how they handled him. A policeman on the right uses a broomstick to push the man’s arm down while other police on the left grab him.

Pretty simple. Nobody got hurt. Because the polizei (1) have more balls than Oregon police and (2) don’t have a reflex reaction to pull out a gun when it isn’t necessary.

A former police officer, Ray O’Driscoll, backs me up in a letter published in the Oregonian after the needless killing of Lukus Glenn.

In the Sunday Opinion section, a retired Portland police officer, Jim Bellah, wrote, "I seriously doubt anyone who is being critical [of the Lukus Glenn slaying] has ever had to face that kind of situation."

I have faced that kind of situation several times, and I am very thankful that I did not kill the person who was wielding the knife. I can sleep at night. An officer who has taken the step to end another person's life is hardly an expert on other possible options.

As a police officer for many years during the turbulent 1960s and '70s in a major metropolitan area, I faced and dealt with drunks with knives, and not-so-drunks with guns. I do not feel that makes me an expert, either, but I do believe that three officers facing a drunk teenager with a three-inch knife could have disarmed him without killing him, without getting cut themselves, and most surely not risking death.
Glenn is dead because two officers chose to shoot him and end his young life. There has to be a better way.

I’ve said before that police need more martial arts training. In confrontations maybe they’ll get some bloody noses and bruises. But they’re sworn to serve and protect, not kill without reason.

Comments

[proud lefty]

Great job! I am impressed by your site and your work. I am telling as many of my left leaning friends who are in their right minds about your site.

[spooky]

I know the German police, the Dutch police, the Frence police too...So far the German police can act very disturbing, like most police everywhere I guess, but they are indeed very capable of handling difficulties, both physically and mentally, conversation wise I mean. Is the US police really as bad as I always hear??

[Carol Ann]

Imagine this(in a 3rd world country);

A mini-van(taxi) carrying 13 people is travelling along the Highway
when 4 men who are standing along the road, wave at the driver to
pull over. He does not know who they are, and afraid of being robbed and caring about the safety of his passengers, speeds ahead instead of stopping. The four men open fire, killing one passenger and seriously wounding two others. The driver goes to the closest police station, only to find that the four men were policemen. They thought someone onboard had drugs. Didn't show ID; weren't in uniform. Didn't try to blockade the van or shoot the tires. And no drugs were found onboard.

[spooky]

Well, I love the cops in my part of the world....