USPSA Cheating scandal

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loudshirt

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Since this looks like the best place to put this. I found a story about a RO cheating to help his friend during matches. Kind of an interesting read.

http://www.gunnuts.net/2014/06/18/r...united-states-practical-shooting-association/

Paul Hendrix is a USPSA (United States Practical Shooting Association) Range Officer, and a competitor in the same sport. Before yesterday, no one outside of USPSA’s Area 6 really knew who he was…until he was accused of doctoring shooter’s scores. It appears that Paul had been altering the scores of his friends, particularly Rob Jessee by reducing the times by whole seconds, usually 1-3. Not only that, he apparently would also increase the times of other shooters, with no clear motivation as to why.

This story originally broke on The Doodie Project Forums, and I encourage everyone to read the specific post linked here. That by and large breaks down the allegations against Paul, and makes very clear what he’s been doing. The Doodies actually deserve a lot of credit for this one, as they have done an incredible amount of legwork running this down and posting video evidence of the cheating. Perhaps the most damming is this video posted by Matt Olinchak, who goes by the youtube handle Super-Tactical.com. Here is Matt’s video, in which you can clearly see Paul at the start of the video. The comparison was done using the excellent Shot Coach app, which is capable of recording shot times and start/stops from video footage.

I also pulled one of the videos from the original link down to ShotCoach on my iPad to do a comparison. In this video, Shot Coach calculates the stage time to be 23.75, of which I grant a margin for error of +/- 0.50 seconds based off video quality. However, in this video you can see and hear Paul call the time as 20.59, which is nowhere near the 23 second time calculated by ShotCoach. You can even run it yourself using a stopwatch, and you still won’t get anywhere near 20 seconds.

There are countless other videos where you can see similar behavior. As mentioned, even if you lack the ShotCoach app, you can run these figures using a stopwatch, and still come within a reasonable degree of accuracy. But the evidence from ShotCoach that has been pulled in is pretty damning.

It would appear to be 100% conclusive then that Paul Hendrix is doctoring shooter’s scores; cheating to help his close friends win, and cheating to hurt other shooters for what appear to be completely arbitrary reasons. Closest to the scandal is Rob Jessee, the subject of our video and in whose videos Paul is frequently seen running the timer. Already, Paul has taken to social media to deny the allegations of cheating, saying

I…just became ware [sic] of some trash talking on something called the Doodie project. I was not aware that this forum if that is what it is existed. There appears to be some questions as to times called when ROing some friend of mine. I only called the time displayed on the timer.

And yet in the face of mounting video evidence, Paul has since gone silent, preferring to not speak in his own defense.

With all the evidence that’s been presented by shooters, we can only draw one of two conclusions. The first is to not assume malice when incompetence is a better solution; essentially saying that Paul Hendrix, a retired LEO is completely incapable of performing the duties of a range officer to the point that he cannot even read a timer correctly, a skill which an 8 year old child could successfully manage. Unfortunately in this case assuming incompetence stretches credulity too far. That leaves us with option 2, which is to assume intentional malfeasance on Paul’s part.

That opens a considerable can of worms. Paul Hendrix has been a member of USPSA since 1988. He is a fixture in Area 6, and has RO’d countless major matches at the state, section, and area level. His apparent cheating casts the legitimacy of every single event he has officiated into doubt. It also raises an entire bushel of questions, starting with “why?” Other questions raised include the legitimacy of his friend’s state championships, won while shooting on Paul’s squad. Perhaps even more importantly is the question of whether or not the shooters who Paul “helped” with his cheating were aware that their scores were being doctored. It’s obviously clear that the shooters Paul chose to punish were not aware of the damage done to their match standing until news of this broke.

How far does this go? There is little doubt that Paul Hendrix has doctored shooter’s scores, going as far back as 2011 matches. Every match he’s worked is now in doubt. People are questioning the legitimacy of titles won by his friends. Word on the street is that the USPSA Board of Directors convened an emergency meeting specifically to address this issue.

We’re not in the lynch mob business here. I try to report the facts. The facts, in this case, appear to be damning. Paul Hendrix has been cheating, fixing scores in USPSA. To what gain we don’t know, and that is perhaps the most puzzling aspect of this whole affair. It all raises the question, why? Why cheat at USPSA?

Personally, I’d like to extend Paul the opportunity to speak with me directly. I’d like to hear your side of the story, Paul. My direct email address is [email protected] – please feel free to email me directly.
 

SMS

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If humans are involved, there will be fraud. Period. Doesn't matter what their record is, how long they've been a "member", or how swell a guy is. You ever know until you know.
 

Rod Snell

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Which is why I show the timer to the RO with the score sheets, or insist on seeing the timer if I'm the one writing the score sheets.
Corrects "mistakes" and has put one "careless" RO on notice.
 

BadgeBunny

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If humans are involved, there will be fraud. Period. Doesn't matter what their record is, how long they've been a "member", or how swell a guy is. You ever know until you know.

This. When I competed there was a time or two that I thought I wasn't being scored properly. I simply watched this particular RO, caught him marking my 'A's as 'D's and called him on it right there. Other RO said, "Looks like an 'A' to me." Never had the problem again and I consider this person a casual friend ...

Some folks just NEED to win ... and it doesn't matter how ... Not saying it's right, just that it is so ...
 

Johnny

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"Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud"

This x 1000.

There is a better way to say this than what I can muster but. By cheating you are hurting only yourself. Deminishing your need to improve only makes you worse. Regardless of what the nature of the competion is. I would much rather make up that 3 seconds by practice. If you aren't trying to improve what's the point of even going to a match.

There are some folks that really feel the need to argue over a non combatant hit or a miss on the line. Even at practical rifle match at oil capital. To me that match is the equivalent of meeting your buddies at the driving range. You are only there to practice and make your self better. Not to prove you are better than the guy beside you. Like BB said. I guess some people have to win even if they have to cheat. Just like most things in life I don't understand it.

Not to say I am not competitive because I am. Just don't feel the need to be better/best
 

BadgeBunny

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This x 1000.

There is a better way to say this than what I can muster but. By cheating you are hurting only yourself. Deminishing your need to improve only makes you worse. Regardless of what the nature of the competion is. I would much rather make up that 3 seconds by practice. If you aren't trying to improve what's the point of even going to a match.

There are some folks that really feel the need to argue over a non combatant hit or a miss on the line. Even at practical rifle match at oil capital. To me that match is the equivalent of meeting your buddies at the driving range. You are only there to practice and make your self better. Not to prove you are better than the guy beside you. Like BB said. I guess some people have to win even if they have to cheat. Just like most things in life I don't understand it.

Not to say I am not competitive because I am. Just don't feel the need to be better/best

This times infinity!

I went from being an unclassified shooter to being a "B" class shooter during my competition years. It took me a lot longer to do that than some of the guys I shot with that started at the same time I did ... Why? Because while it was important to me to improve, I didn't compete against anybody but myself. I got a lot of GREAT instruction from some of the best shooters in this area and I will be forever grateful for what those guys taught me, not only because I am a more confident, more able gun handler now but also because I developed friendships with people I would have never known had it not been for USPSA.

Like Johnny, I'm competitive ... but I don't understand the drive to cheat ... because in the end, if you cheat, you really don't have anything you can call yours ...
 

Glocktogo

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I was in NC (Area 6) shooting a major match when this story dropped. It was all anyone could talk about and it kind of took away from the match we were shooting at the time (Hendrix was not in attendance). Hendrix has since issued a half-assed apology and he's been banned for life from USPSA. I hope he doesn't try to cross over, because he will not be welcome anywhere.

I'm also a member on Doodie where the scandal broke. That thread is 85 pages long! The Paul hendrix Meme Thread is biblical. That place is not for the faint of heart and any signs of butthurt will get you piled on quicker than a loose donut at a squad meeting. :)
 

BadgeBunny

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I was in NC (Area 6) shooting a major match when this story dropped. It was all anyone could talk about and it kind of took away from the match we were shooting at the time (Hendrix was not in attendance). Hendrix has since issued a half-assed apology and he's been banned for life from USPSA. I hope he doesn't try to cross over, because he will not be welcome anywhere.

I'm also a member on Doodie where the scandal broke. That thread is 85 pages long! The Paul hendrix Meme Thread is biblical. That place is not for the faint of heart and any signs of butthurt will get you piled on quicker than a loose donut at a squad meeting. :)

Hmmmm ... I might have to check that place out ... sounds like my kinda spot! (The way they deal with butthurt ... :P)
 

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