Punished for practicing Krav Maga

[jops]

Here’s something to chew on when practicing with your buddy in public…

http://www.dhonline.com/articles/2005/08/06/news/top_story/news01.txt

[karlhungus]

So, we use bright yellow rubber guns in our class. I am picturing them using the same and it is pretty humorous that they say there was no indication that this could be a training activity……

Pretty ridiculous. 🙁

[karlhungus]

What is funny is that my friend is thinking about signing up for that school. He was just telling me about it, they give a free 1 month trial. I just assumed it was a different Albany until i clicked the other links and saw that it was infact Albany Oregon.

That is even more crazy. Albany is not a very big town and a bunch of gathered outside of a Krav Studio would be pretty damn hard to mistake for gang activity…..

Again, ridiculous.

[la-revancha]

😯

Yeah, this almost happened to Ernie’s peeps in PA a few months back.

[little-looper]

This kind of reminds me of the the first day we opened our new location in San Francisco. In our very first class, in our main room, that has a large plate glass window overlooking the street we began with about a dozen students touching shoulders. Within 10 min. of the start of class we had 2 police cruisers show up with reports of a brawl going on. Of course by that time we were stretching so there was no brawl. After a long discussion with the SFPD and a few one week passes (not bribes) they left the school with big smiles on their faces.

[guerriere]

And the logical conclusion: \”outdoor exercises will be held inside until the incident is resolved\” 😕

[johnwhitman]

I know Scott and have a lot of respect for him.

Personally, I think it was an overreaction by the police. Any of you who have seen KM people train outside know that although it is aggressive training, it is very clearly \”training.\”

I am quite sure Scott’s group did nothing wrong and I hope that the city sees the error of its ways.

[caliwt]

I always make sure everyone is wearing their Uniform when we work in parks so it looks like an organized event and not a brawl.

I think the police gave tickets because the went so far as to draw guns and pat down children. They gotta cover their butts, so they give a citation. Hopefully the DA will throw it out.

I bet the expirence was better than any air pistol drill for the students. 😯 having a real gun pointed at you even if it is a Cop is not relaxing!!!

[clfmak]

quote :

I always make sure everyone is wearing their Uniform when we work in parks so it looks like an organized event and not a brawl.

\”Okay, defenders wear the blue uniform, attackers wear the read ones.\” 🙄

[clfmak]

I meant red

[anonymous]

\”If there was a major event occurring elsewhere in the city…the question is whether police would have been able to respond with only half the department available.\”

So, half the Albany police department was chasing five Krav students practicing gun defenses? Sounds like a big overreaction to me…

[ffdo]

Sounds like a huge over reaction by the PD to me but I do a lot of outside drills and think it might be a good idea to advise the PD before doing them now as a lesson learned.

Airsoft guns are metal and look feel and operate much like the real version but are usually marked with bright orange tape to distinguish them. They are better for training than the yellow guns but not as obviously fake.

(You can find them at ebay btw, they are awesome for training.)

JC

[kravron]

Hmm…no offense to any police officers on the forum. But aparently the police in Albany oregon have nothing better to do than hassle 6 Krav practitioners for doing training. Sad part is the citations were probably issued because these cops were pulled off a speed trap somewhere and had yet to make their quotas.

[caliwt]

I am not a lawyer or a Cop, but in general, they cite you so later you cann’t complian that they harassed you.

If they didn’t cite, then your lawyer could counter, \”while harassing my clients at gun point…….for something that didn’t even warrent a citation. I think this is police harassment.\” The Citation protects them by showing that the training looked enough like real deal to deserve a citation.

Don’t sweat the cops, they got a tuff job to do. Wait and see if the tickets get trial or get thrown out.

I remeber seeing people train in a black room on TV for this stuff. Black floor and black curtains. this way the event could be anywhere, and only the Guns or weapons are simulated. This completely eliminates the enviornment mental linkage. Knda like, \”Insert your situation here, GO!!!!\”

8)

[mike-p]

The story would have had a funnier ending if the KM students proceeded to disarm the police officer. 😛

But seriously, in defense of the LEOs, obviously someone was scared enough, when seeing this situation, to call the police. This is probably not something you see every day in Albany, OR. As Turner said, most of these students have never been in a dark alley in their lives. So the officers felt the need to protect the community as best they could. They likely wanted to ensure that people act with care when they go outside and use fake guns on the street, especially when it is not completely obvious to everyone else that it is simply a drill.

That said, I do agree that once they realized what was going on, giving the citations was unnecessary. Legally speaking, they did not commit disorderly conduct. According to the Oregon criminal code, this crime involves:

Disorderly Conduct: If, with an intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating such a risk, a person:
– engages in fighting or in violent, disorderly, or threatening behavior;
– makes unreasonable noise;
– unlawfully disturbs a lawful assembly of persons;
– gathers with other persons in a public place and refuses to comply with a lawful order of the police to disperse;
– initiates or circulates a knowingly false report concerning an alleged or impending fire, explosion, crime, catastrophe, or other emergency; or
– creates a hazardous or physically offensive condition by any act which the person is not licensed or privileged to do.

Obviously, the KM folks did not intend to cause any type of inconvenience. Without this specific mindset (or mens rea for the lawyers here), the crime has not been committed. So while this may have been an overreaction by the police, the KM students & instructor should be fine when they go to court. I just hope the school’s rep doesn’t suffer very much.

[Author]

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