I received the "Professional" Duty Holster the second week of August 2004 and had to report to duty on Saturday, 14 August, 2004. I had only a couple of days to practice holstering and accessing my sidearm. It would be safe to estimate that I practiced less than 30 repetitions before going to duty on Saturday.
While on duty at a large construction site, I was summoned by an employee to a disturbance on the main street. I ran to access the elevator when I heard two shots fired and saw construction workers scatter. I arrived near the scene, with my sidearm out , where from a window I saw a man standing next to the passenger side of a van yelling into the van. His left arm was jerking wildly, but I could not get a visual of his right hand. I went outside and took cover behind a brick column. At one point the man entered the van.
A young woman and 3 children were in the van. I could hear screaming and crying. The man exited the van as the young woman appeared in the passenger side front seat. I now had a visual of both his hands, but wondered where the gun went. I watched as he yelled at this woman and then he violently grabbed her with both hands and began pulling her out of the van. I feared for her and the children's lives. I immediately approached him with directives. He initially complied and went down to his knees, then attempted to put his hands behind his back when I told him I had to see his hands in the air and to get all the way down on the ground. He then stood up and started walking towards the van, against my directives, and kissed the woman, then stepped away and went back to his knees. I yelled to him to get all the way down,stating "I want your face on the ground and your hands out!" He complied but kept his hands near his sides near his cargo pockets, when I yelled "Get your hands out to the sides-palms up! " He then complied. I then saw my back-up approach. I repositioned my location to my cover officers side of the offender, I got the clear from my cover and holstered my sidearm blindly. I handcuffed the offender with the cover officer next to the offender.
A witness then approached me and told me that as I initially approached the offender he slipped the gun to the woman, who was still seated in the front seat. I notified my cover officer and we immediately extracted her and the children from the vehicle, while other officers searched the van. We recovered a BBgun, a loaded 25 mm, and a loaded SKS 726 Assault Rifle, not to mention some weed and a pipe. Another witness, later known to be a lawyer, approached me and said he was taking pictures. I thanked him.
With less than 30 repetitions of practice, my holster was never a concern or an issue.
S/O Margaret Crow
Training Supervisor
Heartland Security Services
Kansas City, MO
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