This Issue Affects More Than Just Law Enforcement (ft. Task Force 70 Foundation)

State of the Second hosts Kaylee and John sit down with John "Chappie" Chapman, founder of the Task Force 70 Foundation. Chapman has been a law enforcement officer since 1992 and has spent most of that career as a SWAT operator and a trainer. He started his first civilian training company around 1998 after noticing there was not much actual force application training going on beyond the square range. Task Force 70 began about three years ago and went public roughly four months before this recording. Its mission is to train the small-town cops who get little or no training, the officers who make up the 70% of American law enforcement working for agencies that serve fewer than 10,000 people, often 12 officers or less. The foundation takes no government money, partners with GOA and Hillsdale College, and runs on private donations. The conversation gets into why the gap exists. Chapman walks through the three levels of police training and explains that the large departments have gotten better at training over the last 20 years while the bottom 70% rely on second- or third-hand material with no full-time training guy. He draws a hard line between qualification and training: qualification is a standardized test that a person can safely manipulate a firearm and accurately hit a target, while real police shootings turn on decision making, prudence, legal understanding, and contextual processing. Shooting, he says, is only maybe 10% of gunfighting. The foundation teaches five topics, and the first is constitutional judgment, because officers are taught case law and amendments rather than the Constitution itself, the Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers, and the original meaning behind the Second Amendment's "well regulated." The episode also speaks directly to armed citizens. Chapman's advice for a traffic stop is plain: be polite, keep your hands where the officer can see them, and comply. The roadside is not the place to argue an unreasonable order; that fight belongs at the Article 3 level, in front of a judge. He tells CCW holders that having a permit is not training and urges them to seek contextual instruction, a force-on-force class, or a ride-along. He closes on trust between communities and their police, the idea that authority is responsibility rather than power, and a call for support at tf70.org/donate, where $20 a month funds training and enters donors in a monthly Bravo Company rifle giveaway. Questions this episode answers What is the Task Force 70 Foundation and why was it created? It is a privately funded nonprofit founded by John "Chappie" Chapman to train small-town police officers who get little or no training. It targets the 70% of American law enforcement working for agencies that serve fewer than 10,000 people, often with 12 officers or less. Why do most small-town police officers receive so little training? Large departments have improved their training over the last 20 years, but the bottom 70% rely on second- or third-hand material and have no full-time training staff. Most small agencies lack the resources for the kind of contextual instruction officers actually need. What is the difference between firearms qualification and real training? Qualification is a standardized test that proves a person can safely manipulate a firearm and accurately hit a target. Real police shootings turn on decision making, prudence, legal understanding, and reading context, and Chapman says shooting is only about 10% of gunfighting. How should an armed citizen handle a traffic stop or police interaction? Chapman's advice is to be polite, keep your hands where the officer can see them, and comply. The roadside is not the place to argue an unreasonable order; that fight belongs in front of a judge at the Article 3 level. Why does the foundation teach the Constitution instead of just case law and amendments? Officers are usually taught case law and amendments rather than the Constitution itself, the Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers, and the original meaning behind the Second Amendment's "well regulated." The foundation's first of five topics is constitutional judgment, which builds that missing foundation. Is a concealed carry permit the same as being trained? No. Chapman tells concealed carry holders that having a permit is not training and urges them to seek contextual instruction, a force-on-force class, or a ride-along. Why does Task Force 70 refuse government funding? The foundation takes no government money and runs entirely on private donations, partnering with Gun Owners of America and Hillsdale College. This keeps its training independent of government influence. How can people support the foundation and what do donors receive? Supporters can give at tf70.org/donate, where $20 a month funds officer training. Each monthly donation also enters the donor in a monthly Bravo Company rifle giveaway. Chapters 00:00 — Welcome and guest intro: John Chapman of Task Force 70 00:10 — Rapid fire: EDC pick, training gaps, home defense 02:53 — Who is Chappie and what is Task Force 70 06:37 — The three levels of police training and the bottom 70% 09:11 — Qualification vs. training: shooting is 10% of gunfighting 11:53 — The two-headed snake: citizen and officer interactions 16:02 — A permit is not training: get contextual instruction 20:10 — How to handle a traffic stop: be polite and comply 27:51 — Officers mirror your behavior: driving the interaction 29:30 — Soapbox: constitutional judgment and the missing curriculum 35:03 — Primary Arms sponsor read 35:29 — Trust, the Constitution, and the Federalist Papers 44:34 — Faction, the republic, and educating every generation 45:29 — Where to find Task Force 70 and how to support it About the guest John "Chappie" Chapman is the founder of the Task Force 70 Foundation. He has been a law enforcement officer since 1992, going back and forth between full time and part time, and has spent most of his career as a SWAT operator and a trainer. He has been in the firearms industry since he was a teenager, working mostly on technical expertise for product development, and started civilian training in about 1998. He has worked for a long time with Bravo Company as a gunfighter. He started Task Force 70 about three years ago and went public roughly four months before this recording; the foundation partners with GOA and Hillsdale College, where Dr. Regan is his mentor. He is now a detective after years in patrol. Key quotes "Police shootings have very little to do with marksmanship." — John Chapman "Having a permit is not training." — John Chapman "The police don't work for the government." — John Chapman "The first question should be, is that endangering me or the public?" — John Chapman "It is not power in our constitutional form of government." — John Chapman