Law Enforcement Targets Inc. Discontinues Line of Targets Featuring Mom, Child, Grandparents, Pregnant Woman
In response to criticism from civil liberties advocates and law enforcement groups alike, Law Enforcement Targets Inc.--a supplier of targets to the local, state, and federal law enforcement groups--has discontinued a line of targets that feature grandparents, a mother, a child, and a pregnant woman; all of them holding guns.
"We apologize for the offensive nature of our 'No More Hesitation' products," reads a letter that LET Inc. posted Feb. 21 on its company Facebook page. "These products have been taken offline due to the opinions expressed by so many, including members of the law enforcement community."
According to a statement the company sent Reason last week, members of the law enforcement community inspired Law Enforcement Targets Inc. to design the "No More Hesitation" series in the first place:
The subjects in NMH targets were chosen in order to give officers the experience of dealing with deadly force shooting scenarios with subjects that are not the norm during training. I found while speaking with officers and trainers in the law enforcement community that there is a hesitation on the part of cops when deadly force is required on subjects with atypical age, frailty or condition (one officer explaining that he enlarged photos of his own kids to use as targets so that he would not be caught off guard with such a drastically new experience while on duty). This hesitation time may be only seconds but that is not acceptable when officers are losing their lives in these same situations. The goal of NMH is to break that stereotype on the range, regardless of how slim the chances are of encountering a real life scenario that involves a child, pregnant woman, etc. If that initial hesitation time can be cut down due to range experience, the officer and community are better served.
The company's full letter is below:
We apologize for the offensive nature of our "No More Hesitation" products. These products have been taken offline due to the opinions expressed by so many, including members of the law enforcement community.
This product line was originally requested and designed by the law enforcement community to train police officers for unusually complex situations where split-second decisions could lead to unnecessary loss of life.
Consistent with our company mission as a training supplier (not a training methods company), we will continue to seek input from law enforcement professionals to better serve their training objectives and qualification needs. We sincerely appreciate law enforcement professionals for the risks they take in providing safety and defending freedom.
