A Texas Department of Public Safety recruit died last month of injuries suffered after a lieutenant overruled warnings that the trainee was too overmatched by a superior fighter to box in a drill, reports the Dallas Morning News. The death of Jimmy Ray Carty Jr. is apparently the first in an exercise long used to teach recruits to defend themselves. Trainers have not stopped using the exercise. “We want to keep the public safe, but we want to keep our troopers safe as well,” said Tela Mange, a department spokeswoman. “We are looking to see if there is anything else we can do that will be as effective.”
In the drill, Carty fought another recruit for about eight minutes, simulating a struggle over a loose weapon. Carty was a five-year sheriff’s deputy before he joined the state in January. During the boxing match, recruits are outfitted with headgear, boxing gloves, chest pads, elbow pads, and shin guards. Participants must be cleared to fight and must be checked medically after the match. As soon as their match began, the opposing recruit began pummeling Carty. He knocked Carty down at least twice with blows to the head during the first two rounds.
Link: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/062905dntextrooper.55c5551f.html