Sean V Taking On Bad Guys At Ingham County Sheriff Shootout

Today was one of the most eye opening days of my life. I saw and did things I never knew existed in the line of duty as a police officer. I was a part of the Sheriff Shootout, hosted by the Ingham County Sheriffs Office earlier today. The Sheriff's office opened its doors to media members across the Lansing area to be a part of a virtual simulator with real life police scenarios. What an incredible experience! We were given instructions and prep on three different scenarios, none of which were pre determined. The outcomes of each scenario were determined by our actions and reactions to people in the video. We called out orders, and suspects reacted accordingly, or negatively to our orders. For instance, a man was drunk and trespassing on private property, I tried to get the man to calm down and come with me but to no avail. He then picked up a boulder and rushed at me threatening to kill me. I reacted with a shot to the groin. (I'm a terrible shot I learned today).

In a split second, everything can go right or horribly wrong and that's something that we have to think about more often when we criticize police shooting situations and police work in general. Admittedly I was one who would come down harshly on law enforcement for the way they reacted on a lot of things. Whether it would be an arrest or even a shooting. I have to tell you guys, today my outlook on a lot of those situations has changed. Today, there is a ton of cop bashing in the media, and now, as someone who has been thrown in to a situation where you have to make a life or death decision in a split second, I just want to thank law enforcement for what they do. They put their life on the line every single day so we don't have to be placed in situations where we could be harmed, or even worse. Check out this photo gallery from the Lansing State Journal.