Relative importance of firearm tactics?

[Radovan]

Mr Ayoob,

In your opinion, when things go wrong and officers gets killed or injured in the line of duty, is poor firearm skills often a key reason for the failure? How common is it that speed of draw has an impact on the outcome of a shooting? How about marksmanship?

A friend of mine claims that firearm tactics typically do no significantly contribute and that root cause tends to be more along the lines of poor procedures, lack of judgement, hesitation to shoot when warranted and such. Not sure what his sources are but i would appreciate your expert POV as he is a real know-it-all and I would love to prove him wrong :)

[Mas Ayoob]

Radovan, I think you and your friend are probably not going to resolve your argument, if only because of the way it is set semantically. It's not firearms tactics versus judgment, procedure, etc., because those things are part of tactics.

Yes, some officers get shot because even though they fired, they were unable to effectively hit and neutralize their assailant in time. However, more often the casualties come from a successful ambush (i.e., the Oakland Police murders and the coffee shop cop-killings in Washington State last year), or because an unexpectedly well-prepared cop-killer gets the first deadly move (i.e., the double deputy murder in Okaloosa County, FL last year). It is probably a safe bet that more cops have been killed due to failure to use available cover and/or maintain sufficient distance and/or take more time, than have died for "losing a quick draw contest." That said, firearms skills AND tactics of both approach and fighting are all part of the same package.

Sorry I couldn't give a more cut and dried answer,
Mas

[Radovan]

Thank you very much :)