This is a friend of mine from the Marine Corps

[Macx]

I am really sorry man. You gotta be feeling a little betrayed too.


On a side note, I always hate it when the media prints stuff like:

According to the account in the Daily Bulletin, Orban, a former Marine and Iraq War veteran, showed . . .

It always feels like they are trying to make a statement or imply that service to the country is somehow the cause.

[dew4au]

Wow, that's really messed up. Some people just go off their rocker. Like Chris Rock said, "What ever happened to just crazy?" Sorry it had to happen to your buddy.

[Irish]

Sadly I read about many cases similar to this every day through out the country. I am not trying to be offensive to anyone when I say this but I feel that illegal activities are on the rise within the ranks of the police, or maybe I just started reading too much. I think that many departments have been infiltrated by the bad guys and they are taking advantage of their position of authority. I do not mean to paint the vast majority of good cops, which most are, with the same brush but it is something I've noticed when conducting my "research" into shootings on a daily basis, I do not post these articles on M4C because I don't feel it serves any legitimate purpose.

This is gonna cause a shitstorm and is not my intention but... My opinion is that we also need to reevaluate our LEO hiring procedures when it comes to war veterans and ex-military personnel. The military and civilian law enforcement have two vastly different missions and the mentality of the one tends to get dragged over to the other.

Obviously there are thousands of great officers who are prior military and this does not reflect on them. However, current duty police officers who get called up with their reserve unit to go to Iraq or Afghanistan for a year to kick ass for our country come back to a job where they interact with the American public and there is some carry over. There are several notable cases recently where prior military LEOs have had PTSD incidents in the line of duty and outside of work and I think there should be a reassessment of one's eligibility for a career in the civilian police after serving in the military, especially a combat zone.

This isn't intended to be anti-veteran, I am one, or anti-police, it is merely an observation after doing lots of research and being a concerned citizen.

[bkb0000]

This is gonna cause a shitstorm and is not my intention but... My opinion is that we also need to reevaluate our LEO hiring procedures when it comes to war veterans and ex-military personnel. The military and civilian law enforcement have two vastly different missions and the mentality of the one tends to get dragged over to the other.

as a vet, i fully agree with this. military service is something we should be very proud of, but there are a multitude of reasons why soldiers and marines shouldn't be given so much preference in the hiring process.

[ST911]

This kind of thing happens far more than anyone realizes, and I'm no longer surprised by it.

A good, hard, honest look at him will almost certainly reveal of number of problems in his life. Subtle and obvious cues should have indicated problems were on the horizon. Good folks don't just snap.

I'll bet an alcohol problem is at or near the top of the list.

[rob_s]

as a vet, i fully agree with this. military service is something we should be very proud of, but there are a multitude of reasons why soldiers and marines shouldn't be given so much preference in the hiring process.

Once upon a time I was looking into an LE career and actually assumed that not having a military background would work against me, but several departments and agencies said they preferred it in some cases. it's been a long time and I don't remember which ones though.

[jhurt]

Based on what I've seen around where I work, I've come to the conclusion that military preference for civil service jobs exists for 2 equal reasons: As an important reward for your service to our country AND because while you were overseas fighting or training the other guy you are competing with for the job went to college and has had a few jobs and built an employment history, finished college or whatever. As far as police work goes, anyway, it is not because soldiers make better cops. Some can't make it through the police academy and field training in a ratio about equal to those who never served in the military.

[120mm]

PTSD does not turn someone into a ****ing criminal.

If veterans are so ****ing dangerous, why don't we just evaluate them as they come back and euthanize the ones that act weird? I mean, service in a combat zone has turned them into hardened killers, hasn't it?

I will bet you a dollar, that 20 years from now, when all the "dangerous vet" hysteria has simmered down, we will find out that the actual rate of former combat veteran misbehavior and mental problems is LESS than their non-combat veteran peers.

Just like every other conflict era in the modern era.

This hysteria about combat vets happened after the Civil War, WWI, WWII, and Viet Nam. And it has never actually been proven to have basis in fact.

[rob_s]

PTSD does not turn someone into a ****ing criminal.

If veterans are so ****ing dangerous, why don't we just evaluate them as they come back and euthanize the ones that act weird? I mean, service in a combat zone has turned them into hardened killers, hasn't it?

I will bet you a dollar, that 20 years from now, when all the "dangerous vet" hysteria has simmered down, we will find out that the actual rate of former combat veteran misbehavior and mental problems is LESS than their non-combat veteran peers.

Just like every other conflict era in the modern era.

This hysteria about combat vets happened after the Civil War, WWI, WWII, and Viet Nam. And it has never actually been proven to have basis in fact.

Do you have any resources where we can learn more about this? Are there studies that show the misconception not to be true.

I'm inclined to agree with you. From what I can see based on my interaction with vets, combat or otherwise, they are a cross-section of the rest of society.

[120mm]

Do you have any resources where we can learn more about this? Are there studies that show the misconception not to be true.

I'm inclined to agree with you. From what I can see based on my interaction with vets, combat or otherwise, they are a cross-section of the rest of society.

I have nothing at hand, but I seem to remember the book "Stolen Valor" has a good bibliography on modern studies on this.

Post-WWII, the guy who did the "Up Front" cartoon series got interested in the "killer veteran" hysteria of their time, and did some good research. The name of this dude escapes me at this time.