Editor's Notebook: Reverberations

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SeekHer
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Editor's Notebook: Reverberations

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Editor's Notebook: Reverberations
By Rich Grassi

Kirchner's book on Jim Cirillo is an important historical record. G19 is fitted with Cirillo's Visible Sights, sent to author before Jim's passing.
Jim Cirillo, formerly of the NYCPD Stakeout Unit, is the star of a book written by author, illustrator and API family member Paul Kirchner. Available from Paladin Press (Gunbarrel Tech Center, 7077 Winchester Circle, Boulder CO 80301; 303-443-7250; http://www.paladin-press.com), the book is entitled Jim Cirillo's Tales of the Stakeout Squad.

Paul said that he'd been working on a second volume of his wonderfully written The Deadliest Men: The World's Deadliest Combatants Throughout the Ages. He was adding Jim Cirillo to the new tome. After the interview started, Paul realized what a number of us had known for years: Jim Cirillo was full of valuable information. He and the Stakeout Unit deserved a book all their own.

With the assistance of other SOU members, such as Bill Allard, Paul began his investigation. The more he looked, the more he realized that, in addition to being a great story teller and jokester, Jim had a depth of understanding of lethal violence that most people will never experience. It's a good thing; Jim Cirillo's was one of the most well-adjusted personalities of any of the people I've ever known. Lesser souls could have been destroyed by the experience.

He and the others of the SOU faced incredibly dangerous situations and succeeded time after time - with more than forty offenders KIA in over 250 encounters. Kirchner's book of Jim Cirillo's stories adds other perspectives to classic Cirillo tales. The relative precision of Jim's memory and how well his relating of a story matches that of people who were there at the time is impressive. I've interviewed witnesses many times - officers too - and found that some saw this, others saw that and seldom do witnesses and participants share common perceptions. This wasn't true in Stakeout.

Of what import is a book of stories told by an old school copper? Well, if you've ever wondered what it would be like to face death as a condition of your employment, Jim Cirillo will tell you. If you wondered what it would be like to hear Jim tell a story, open this book. As I read stories I was already familiar with, I could hear Jim's voice.

It's a voice I've missed hearing since July 2007. Paul Kirchner brought him back to tell his tales once again. I'm indebted to him for that.

You learn some pretty telling lessons from Stakeout cops. Is it more important to see the front sight or to "target focus?" The answer is in this book, but the answer may surprise you. What caliber is the best to have in a gunfight? What gun type is best - auto or revolver? What's better, the shotgun or a M1 Carbine? What were Jim's favorite, most used guns?

Where do you aim to put a dangerous offender down quickly? Of what import is verbalization when there is an armed robbery in progress?

Then there are the funny stories. The gallows humor will put some people off - but not people who've been out there.

Besides, this is part of our history as peace officers. It's our duty to understand it. Jim's friends, including our friend Massad Ayoob, share recollections of him and his remarkable life at the end of the book.

Already a fan of Deadliest Men, I would have rushed to another book by Paul Kirchner. Having known Jim Cirillo since January 1998, I would have purchased it solely for that reason. To combine one of my favorite subjects - recollections of a personal friend who's now gone on - with a favorite author, getting this book was very important to me.

I was not disappointed. You won't be either.
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Re: Editor's Notebook: Reverberations

Post by Combat Controller »

SeekHer wrote:The relative precision of Jim's memory and how well his relating of a story matches that of people who were there at the time is impressive. I've interviewed witnesses many times - officers too - and found that some saw this, others saw that and seldom do witnesses and participants share common perceptions. This wasn't true in Stakeout.
All that means is that the SOU cops stuck to the story. :roll:

Still, I ma going to get the book, looks like a good read.
Winner of the prestigious Автомат Калашникова образца 1947 года award for excellence in rural travel.
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