Update: Changed the title, because obviously you can’t shoot someone with a knife…what we we’re were trying to say that they are shooting people holding kn…doesn’t matter. New title!

This year, despite cheery tweets from @MayorSlay to the contrary, violence is as high as it’s ever been, but particularly noteworthy is the amount of violence we’ve seen towards police officers. Time and time again we’ve seen comments from the STLPD and their peers that the average criminal doesn’t seem to give a damn anymore about turning on the police.

The latest officer-involved shooting makes for 14 total this year in St. Louis. Last year, there were 15 total. Police say the average is 15.

So what’s a police force to do? Get better at shooting stuff!

“We simulate unpredictable behaviors, so the first time we react to something like that, it’s not the first time,” said Sgt. Paul Bastean, the owner of Ultimate Defense Firing Range and Training Center in St. Peters.

Captain Sack says suspects seem to be more brazen these days.

The numbers prove Captain Sack (shown above), and here’s KSDK’s actual photo of the STLPD “training” posted with the article:

That sure does look intense. Nothing scarier, or more representative of the mean St. Louis streets,  than a pretty relaxed looking guy, standing still while holding a knife in one hand. Watch out officer! In addition to casually holding a knife, he’s also wearing a wife beater!

When St. Louis City police officers use deadly force, police say their goal is not to kill but to incapacitate the suspect to immediately stop the threat. They are trained to target the tactical unit mass which encompasses the vital organs.

…and when the criminals stand still like that it makes it much easier to not accidentally shoot them in the balls or head. “We can’t train for every little movement a criminal might make. ” said Captain Sack in our imaginary interview, “That’s impossible! So we just hope and train for the best case senario. Next week we’re thinking of putting a hat on the guy, but we’ll see. Just wanna take it slow.”

via KSDK