James Burton

ARBuildJunkie spoke with Jared Reston of Reston Group about the AR-15's vital role in law enforcement and just how critical it is for LEOs to seek out their own training beyond what they receive at the academy. We also discuss the true meaning of "proper mindset" and the real-world usefulness of competition shooting. For readers who may not be familiar with Jared Reston's background, here are some details via the Reston Group web page: Jared has been involved in the successful resolution of over one thousand S.W.A.T. missions, including several lethal force incidents...For his actions in a January 2008 shooting, he was awarded The President of the United States “Medal of Valor”, American Police and Hall of Fame’s "National Police Officer of the Year", Fraternal Order of Police’s "Florida Police Officer of the Year", and the State of Florida’s "Law Enforcement Officer of the Year." Q: Jared, can we begin with a bit of background on how and why Reston Group was started? Jared Reston, Reston Group - I’ve been a policeman in Jacksonville, Florida for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office since 2001. I’ve been on their S.W.A.T. team since 2004. I've had duties ranging from court house, to patrol, to task force, to gang detective, and now, I’ve moved on to just being full-time S.W.A.T. But with that duty…we’ve moved from not just S.W.A.T. missions where we’re fully decked out, wearing green…We also do a lot of criminal apprehension of wanted felons for violent crimes. I started Reston Group around 2010. After my shooting in 2008, I began to go around the country and speak to different agencies. I think I lived in a little bit of a bubble…I thought all agencies got the training that I was able to receive. However, I quickly found out that was not the truth. So, I wanted to get out and take all the training that I’d been so lucky and privileged to have due to the funding and support of my agency, and bring it to law enforcement and civilians in a package that we could all use. We could also round some corners in weeding out some of the junk that's out there. We could put in true stuff that works for S.W.A.T., from patrol, to everyday shootings…actually shooting people…and share what works and what doesn’t. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_FwUfFhFHs Jared Reston speaks about the incident he was involved in on 01/26/2008. For his actions, he was awarded The President of the United States “Medal of Valor”, American Police and Hall of Fame’s "National Police Officer of the Year", Fraternal Order of Police’s "Florida Police Officer of the Year", and the State of Florida’s "Law Enforcement Officer of the Year." Q: Jared, what would you say to a young officer about the importance of getting out there and seeking training beyond what they are initially provided? Jared Reston, Reston Group - Just because they are at the academy, or just because they are at the firing range - that does not make them the best shooters. There are people in the world that make true livings teaching this stuff. These are the people you need to reach out to….even just to see if the people that are teaching at your academy are teaching you the right stuff. So, it might just be a validation, or you might learn something new, but regardless…when it comes to training, you need to invest in yourself as much as possible. This is a job that can kill you. Or, this is a job where you can save someone’s life. You don’t always have to train to save yourself. Train to save others. Be a professional and seek out as much training as you can get. "You don’t always have to train to save yourself. Train to save others." Q: Can you talk about the idea that it’s important to not just be content and assume the level of training you are receiving is enough? Jared Reston, Reston Group - Right, so when you go to basic law enforcement…that’s what it is…it’s basic. That stuff will get you through an officer-involved shooting, but it’s not going to get you through a gunfight. That’s not going to help you prosper in winning….just learning the same regurgitated stuff and training to the least common denominator. It’s not going to do it for you. You have to reach. If you want to succeed, you have to learn how to do it. If I want to be a race car driver, I’m not going to go to the high school drivers education teacher to learn how to race a car. That's not how it’s going to work. You have got to get better at your job. You'll get the basics, but then you need to learn how to work the basics to your advantage and get a mastery of the basics. Jared Reston on Investing In Yourself. As far as spending your own money to train…I always get on people about that. I still spend my own money to train and I own my own training company. It’s super important that you get your mindset right and invest in yourself. Some will complain that their agency is broke…and I get that. But remember, if you get killed in the line of duty, your agency is certainly going to feel bad for you. For about two weeks, they’ll wear your band, they’ll remember you, and they’re going to have fundraisers for your family. But after that, that big ball has to keep on rolling. Criminals don’t give people mourning breaks…So, pretty much you’re going to be a name on a plaque that gets remembered once a year by the masses. But who will fall apart is your family. That ball will implode. Jared Reston - "I’m passed that now. I’m training to save others" So, I don’t train for me to "get good." I don’t train for me to not die. I’m passed that now. I’m training to save others…to be the best, and for my family. I train to make sure they know I’m going to make it home. But even then, it’s not guaranteed that I’m going to make it home…but my family will know I put in every effort I could. They will know that I was training physically, mindset wise...and that I did my best to get home to them. Look, I’m good with dying in this line of work. It’s an honorable death. It is what it is, but you’re going to have to take it from me. I’m not giving you anything. Q: With all of the training you do at Reston Group, can you talk about some of the most common mistakes you see, or is it more of a "you don’t know what you don’t know" situation? Jared Reston, Reston Group - That’s mostly it - they don’t know what they don’t know. They’ll go on the internet and read some things...my big thing now is people are really going for these fast splits. The shot time and the internet has really ruined tactical training (laughs). Everybody wants the fast splits, but you’re out-shooting your brain. When shooting people, that is what really matters. What’s happening? What problems are you facing? The shooting should happen through training, almost subconsciously. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YMA7Y7aer0 Are You Out-shooting Your Brain? That decision to shoot is the hard part. “Who can I shoot? When can I shoot? Should I shoot? Can I shoot?” Those problems around the shooting…that’s what we need our bandwidth for. That’s what training opens up. It’s not necessarily the “getting better at the shooting.” Yes, you are getting better, but then you're making that automatic so that you can open up your brain and you can fix the problem in front of you. Jared Reston on Fast & Sloppy. Again, I just think that too many people are pulling the triggers way too fast, being sloppy on the gun…They also count big misses. To me, on an A-zone sized target, anything outside of that is a miss in training. I get that my groups are going to open up a bit in real-life, but if I keep a tight standard in training then if my group opens up a little bit more, I know I am still getting good hits. But these people that are using a whole target as a hit zone…that’s just crazy to me. The human body is a big target - I get that. But the kill zones within that human body are very small and very precise. We have to hit the kill zones. Hits to just meat and appendages…they do not stop fights. I’ve been shot. It does not hurt. The pain of it does not stop anything. The only thing that would have stopped me that day was putting my lights out. That’s the only thing that stopped the man that was trying to kill me that day was me putting his lights out. "the kill zones within that human body are very small and very precise." Q: That reminds me of a recent incident making the rounds…a criminal with a knife wearing a yellow shirt... https://youtu.be/8MWrUvaC8Ks Video: "Body Cam Shows Fatal Officer-Involved Shooting of Man That Charged Officers with a Knife" Jared Reston, Reston Group - It was brought to me early in my career that bad guys are going to continue what they were doing prior to getting shot until you put their lights out or they give up. The human body is very unimpressed with pistol rounds, or any kind of rounds really. I’ve seen people shot with rifles and it didn’t affect them unless it does what it’s supposed to do. But the guy in that yellow shirt, he was probably a little bit wacked and determined…who knows? But, I think that first officer who shot him, he thought that the guy was just going to give up. That’s how they’re trained in the movies, trained over time that if you just shoot them a few times, they’re going to lay there. Jared Reston on Down...But Not Out. The guy, even when he got shot, he was “trained” that he should go down and then lay there. Well, he sat there for a second and realized “I’m not that hurt. I can get up and keep doing”, and that’s what he did. So, just because they are shot does not mean that they are out. Just because they are on the ground does not mean that they are out. They can quickly regain a little bit of ‘oomph’ and realize “oh shit, I’m o.k. to do this.” "bad guys are going to continue what they were doing prior to getting shot until you put their lights out..." Q: Can you talk about the importance of a carbine like the AR-15 for law enforcement?...