I’m constantly surprised by how poorly police are trained.

If the man on the ground had been so inclined, he could have grabbed the officer’s weapon. Guns are not an especially good weapon up this close.

Yep. In the Army, we were trained to hold anyone at gunpoint at least four and preferably six feet away. Reason is that no one that far away can easily rush you and take or grab your weapon before you have a chance to fire.

Up close, a reasonably quick and competent person can take your weapon from you and kill you with it pretty easily – especially if you are momentarily distracted.

Can’t happen if they are six feet in front of you with their hands on the back of their head.

Similarly, it always bothers me in films where the protagonist is holding someone at gunpoint with the gun pressed to their chest or back or head.

I always think, I’d have their gun and they’d be dead. In situations where I thought I had nothing to lose, I absolutely would try to take someone’s gun if they were stupid enough to hold me with it that close.

I know, in films and TV shows it creates dramatic tension as it puts the characters closer together but it still looks incredibly boneheaded to me.