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Old July 13, 2001, 05:32 AM   #1
Ken J. Good
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Join Date: November 22, 2000
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Plagerism at it's Best....I mean Worst

The following email was sent to the editor of SWAT Magazine after I read the July 2001 Issue. In this issue was an article entitled "Taking Control of the Dark"
The authors name was Wes D
A Sergeant with the Mohave County Sheriff's Department.
_____________________________________________
Plagiarize: 1. To steal and use (the ideas or writings of another) as your own
Deceit: 1. Misrepresentation, deception

- Both definitions taken from “The American Heritage Dictionary “
You see it’s not that hard to give credit where it is due, it’s really quite easy if you have any decency.

The Internet has made the dissemination of information a fast paced and exciting process. Some take this amazing tool and decide and abuse it. I have several articles electronically published on the internet with my authorship clearly indicated. If I choose to use someone else’s concepts, I give them the credit they deserve. It is a fairly basic concept. Don’t lie, steal, cheat, have honor, be trustworthy, you know the stuff that civilized society should be built upon…

I am avid aficionado of low-light doctrine, principles, strategies, and tactics I continually search a multitude of sources to increase my understanding of this unique environment. It had been my job, my passion, my calling for over a quarter of a century. A good friend of mine, sent me the latest issue of SWAT magazine. The note was earmarking a particular article on low-light doctrine. The note was also asking me how anyone with this level of understanding could not include some mention of the SureFire Institue. What this individual could not know is that this article would bring out a couple of strange emotional feelings in me often referred to as anger and frustration. Those emotions have since faded to a sad sense of disappointment. Disappoint in the human condition. Disappointment because of an individual’s basic lack of integrity, intellectual honesty, and his total disregard for someone else’s efforts.

I have come to see that is much easier to steal that develop and innovate…how pathetic.

I have come to know that some will do anything to get there moment in the sun, a fading glory.

In this day and age of self-centeredness, look at me I am high-speed low drag, some forget that the higher purpose is to truly serve those that are sworn to protect. Be who you are for God’s sake, no more, no less. Don’t blatantly pilfer someone else’s work and pass it off as your own.

Mister D’s article should be re-titled, “I cannot control my Dark Side”. I have given some specific examples listed below that I have located within 20 minutes. Who knows how many other authors and teachers he has violated and disrespected?

Let there be Light – Written by Ken J. Good – June 2000
Training must reflect the tactical use of the tools chosen and carried. As an example, let’s pick an officer who spends his entire time in a martial arts dojo learning how to ground grapple in a judo uniform. After a period of time, the officer may fully believe that he is fully prepared for a fight that ends up on the ground. Unfortunately this hypothetical officer has never trained with all his operational tools in place. Suddenly a real world engagement occurs and priorities change to weapons deployment and weapon retention. Additionally wearing body armor, operational clothing, and a duty-rig will restrict movements, eliminating familiar options. Terrain considerations become extremely important. Multiple opponents are a problem and so on.

SWAT Magazine – pg 66 par 3 – July 2001 – Plagiarized by Wes D
Additionally, instructors must remain cognizant that typical training does not reflect the limitations of duty equipment or the complications the environment itself can create. Body armor, duty uniforms a leather gear do restrict movement and eliminate options that officers can grow comfortable and confident in.

-------------------------------------

Let there be Light – Written by Ken J. Good – June 2000
Move from technical work to dynamic application work.
Technical work on the range and a shoot-house should be first done in well-lit conditions to get familiar with equipment and ensure proper weapons handling when around other officers. Accuracy and speed are improved here. Although try as we might, it is not the place to simulate tactical engagements. In the shoot-house, the greatest stressor becomes how small was my group on such and such a target? Use Virtual Reality (VR) simulators for judgment considerations and Force on Force for timing, to elevate stress levels, and creating dynamic interaction with skilled opponents. Flashlight techniques should be committed to the sub-conscious during daylight sessions so mishaps are reduced.

SWAT Magazine Pg 66 par 8 - Plagiarized by Wes D
The information and techniques discussed thus far should all be introduced, developed and perfected on the range in well-lit and less than dynamic conditions. This is to ensure familiarity with equipment and provide safe weapon handling skills.

-------------------------------------

Page 73 of the SureFire Institute Instructor Handbook - Written by Ken J. Good, 1999
Force on Force (FOF) training for the purposes of this discussion, will be defined as a simulation of small arms conflicts with live adversaries in the environment. All participants will be utilizing training weapons that shoot some type of non-lethal projectile that can strike the participants without serious injury when wearing the appropriate protective equipment.
The purpose of FOF training will be to reasonably simulate many of the stresses, timings and difficulties associated with defensive and offensive small arms conflicts typically faced by those in law enforcement.

SWAT Magazine Pg 66 par 9 - Plagiarized by Wes D
The next progressive step is to integrate “Force on Force training into the program. “Force on Force is a means of reasonably simulating the stress, timing and difficulties associated with actual engagements.

-------------------------------------

Page 73 of the SureFire Institute Instructor Handbook - Written by Ken J. Good 1999
Quality “Force on Force” training should include two things; Stress and Pain. Padding a trainee up to the point that impacts are unfelt negates one of the key benefits of the training. Sounds Neanderthal, but nevertheless true. Stress and at least the fear of pain, injury or death are significant elements in actual street confrontations. We should not put officers in the position of having to deal with this fear and pain for the first time in public.
SWAT Magazine- pg 66 par 10 – July 2001 - Plagiarized by Wes D
Quality “Force on Force” training must include two elements to make the training worthwhile-stress and pain. All too often, trainers and agencies, in an attempt to be kinder and gentler, will cover and officer with so much padding that the impact of the projectiles is not felt—this voids one of primary benefits of the training. Stress and the fear of injury or death are substantial factors in actual situations. The first exposure to these factors should occur in training, not on the street.

-------------------------------------

Let there be Light – Written by Ken J. Good – June 2000
When we are training properly, we are training our mind, body and spirit to act in harmony with the actual reality of the moment. If we have not seen any reasonable semblance of this reality, how can we expect to be successful when the reality comes to us in the form of living, breathing, threatening humans, exerting tremendous pressure on our person?

SWAT Magazine – pg 66 par 10 – July 2001 - Plagiarized by Wes D
When we train properly, we are conditioning our mind and our body to act in concert with each other. If trained correctly, when faced with an actual situation, an officer should be able to say, “ I’ve been here before, I know what to do!”

-------------------------------------

Page 67 of the SureFire Institute Instructor Handbook - Written by Ken J. Good, 1999
And in the article Let there be Light – Written by Ken J. Good – June 2000
Use the light intelligently and lean toward the intermittent side of the light employment. The closest illustration for this methodology would be the firefly. When you see the glow you establish a direct line to the insect, if you reached to grab in the same location immediately after the glow, the firefly would no longer be there. Light/move or Light/move-shoot/move if required. Discharge a short burst of light, and move. Evaluate what you just saw, in the same way you view the speedometer of your vehicle. Don’t stare at the speedometer, but rather let your subconscious mind feed you the data. Parallel this same observation methodology when trying to get useful information is diminished lighting conditions. Additionally, try to randomize your light on duration periods, angle of the beam, distance of the hot spot from your location, vertical and horizontal place of your light. This will appear chaotic to potential threats downrange. It does not give unknown threats a simple firing solution, and may provide the edge you need to successfully locate and identify your threat first.
As you perfect this methodology, you will be able to decrease the duration of your light output, and obtain better information in smaller timeframes.


SWAT Magazine Pg 66 par 5 - Plagiarized by Wes D
….as the training progresses and the employment of this technique becomes more proficient, students will be able to decrease the duration of light and be able to take in more information in significantly shorter timeframes.

Last edited by Ken J. Good; July 13, 2001 at 11:06 AM.
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Old July 13, 2001, 05:33 AM   #2
Ken J. Good
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Part 2

-------------------------------------

Starting on Page 21-24 of the SureFire Institute Training Manual
Core to the instructional period dealing with Force-on-Force training is a detailed segment on the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS)–

A reading of Wes D's article will indicate a core relationship between SNS and force-on-force training that is remarkably similar to the numerous examples found uniquely in SureFire Institute Low Light Instructor manual.

I encourage all those who know of our work to seek out Mr. D and express your extreme dissatisfaction with his actions. He is a Sergeant with the Mohave County Sherrif’s department. I don’t have, but am looking for his email address.

From the pictures in the ‘article' the logo on his shirt had an 8-ball on it, I from what I could make out the company name was
“Concepts xxxxxxxx
Training and Consulting”
The aggressor had a shirt with a logo that might read “Mohave County Sheriff’s”

If anyone knows what company/department he works for, please let me know via e-mail: [email protected]

By the way, Mr. D if you read this, you can always reach me through SureFire – it’s toll free 1-800-828-8809. A public apology will be accepted. You are an insult and a disgrace to this profession

Respectfully,

Ken J. Good

Director of the SureFire Institute
714-545-9007
------------------------------
This was sent to me by Denny Hansen, the editor of SWAT magazine hours later. He was absolutely livid and we both up until 3:00am in the morning talking about this situation.
My hat is off to him for his quick actions.

He has the original manuscript as submitted. He believes that many of the reworded concepts were actually an edit, copy, paste until he personally 'tightened' them up to make the magazine article the correct length.
Here is his response:

-----Original Message-----
From: Denny Hansen [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2001 1:53 AM
To: Ken Good
Cc: Rich Lucibella
Subject: Wes D

Ken,

For a decade and a half I have been proud of the credibility S.W.A.T.Magazine has enjoyed with the tactical community. I have actually lost advertisers because I refused to compromise my principles and have stated in print when I believed a product was junk. Your e-mail has got me so UPSET at Wes D I can hardly see straight. How dare he use me and S.W.A.T. as a shill for his own lack of ideas. You will have a complete apology in the first issue I can arrange it in. And I assure you it will be up front where it will be seen, and not buried somewhere.
--
Stay low and watch your back,
Denny

Last edited by Ken J. Good; July 13, 2001 at 11:43 AM.
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Old July 13, 2001, 08:04 AM   #3
KSFreeman
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Rich, yeah, that's great, but will you run photos of mall ninjas brandishing unloaded weapons like the other gun rags do for Mr. Good's articles?
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Old July 13, 2001, 12:42 PM   #4
Rich Lucibella
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The SureFire Institute and Ken Good:
Like 'em or hate 'em, you gotta respect 'em....and fair play is fair play.

I only just became aware of this issue and can state that both Denny and I are more than a bit upset. This is a very serious allegation and Ken has every right to be angry. We have yet to compare Mr. D's original manuscript to Ken's writings and are doing so today. We also have yet to contact Wes D for explanation. However, we are pursuing both these issues most aggressively and, if Mr. Good's allegations prove out, he can expect a speedy and public retraction and apology.

In the meantime, I hope Ken will accept our apology insofar as what appears to be the case and will bear with us as we sort this out.

Rich Lucibella
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Old July 13, 2001, 02:04 PM   #5
Denny Hansen
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I have compared Mr. D's original manuscript to the article as it appeared in S.W.A.T. Magazine and there is no substantial difference between the two. The verbiage in the 6-7 lines lines in the 4-1/2 page article that Mr. Good has questioned are so similar that it is readily apparent why he believes his work was plagiarized.

In an attempt to contact Mr. D for an explanation, I have learned that he is currently serving his country on Guard/Reserve duty and will not be available for comment for the next two weeks.

Although I am quite upset over this matter, in the interest of fair play I must give Mr. D the opportunity to validate his writing and answer Mr. Good's allegations.
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Old July 13, 2001, 04:11 PM   #6
Denny Hansen
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I just made contact with Wes D.
He told me he has attended SureFire schools and seminars taught by Good and admittted to using the handout material as reference material for his article, although he said he would never intentionally plagiarize anyone. He will give me a written public apology for publicaion upon his return from Guard duty, will send Good a personal apology and volunteered to send Ken Good the money he received for the article. He also stated he has the utmost respect for both the SureFire Institute and for Ken Good personally.

D took it like a man, and I'm inclined to believe it was indeed an honest (although negligent) mistake.

I have also been in correspondence with Ken Good. Like a true gentleman, he accepted the apology but turned down the offer to have D pay him the money he received for the article.

D won't make the same mistake twice, honor has been returned to SureFire and Mr. Good, and S.W.A.T. retains hard fought for credibilty.
Denny Hansen
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