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The Danger List

There are classic mistakes that get officers killed. You should memorize them, write them down, and keep the list handy.

One of the first lists I had in law enforcement is still one of the most important ones in my mind to this day and should still be on every crime fighter's refrigerator door and patrol car visor, and it should be posted on every department's roll call bulletin board.

Back in 1975 a buddy told me about a new book by the famous LAPD detective and Lakewood, Colo., police chief Pierce Brooks. It was called "Officer Down, Code Three," and I promptly managed to get my grimy rookie hands on it and read it like a pirate reads a treasure map.

And like a map, it was filled with directions backed by tragic examples of how officers go down a path to injury or death and how we should, and could, avoid that path. In fact, this book made such an impression on me I used its list and examples as a guideline for our officer safety training when I was assigned to the academy as well as an inspiration for several of my "JD Buck Savage" videos.

Over the years I have seen many variations on "deadly errors" officers make to get themselves hurt but the version that is still my favorite is the first one I learned, and I think it is time to do a quick review. I invite you to draw up this list in your own words and post it where you think it will do the most good. It isn't just a good reminder to you but to everyone who reads it and many of its points can make all occupations safer and more aware.

Enough said; let's get into the list with comments:

1. Failure to maintain proficiency and care of weapon, vehicle, and equipment. How many officers do you know who are trying to prove they can go several qualifications without cleaning their firearm? Ask almost any rangemaster in any agency. They'll tell you some incredible "dirty gun" stories.

2. Improper search, no search, and improper use of handcuffs. I was recently researching a young officer's death where he had been killed in a booking area by a hidden weapon that had been missed even though the suspect had been in the custody of numerous officers. Since that death the booking officers have reported that several hundred weapons have been recovered from arrestees not searched properly, in that same county.

3. Sleepy or asleep. In the era of 12-hour shifts and off-duty jobs taken to ease financial stress this is more important than ever. Tired cops are a danger to themselves, and to others. Get your rest.

4. Relaxing too soon. "Yes" people can become "no" people in an instant, and it is important to make sure the whole scene is safe before you kick back and savor another great arrest.

5. Missing the danger signs. Many people "leak" anxiety to us merely because they are stressed, but they could be planning to hurt us. Pay attention, know the difference, and listen to the verbal cues as well as the nonverbal hints.

6. Taking a bad position. Since when is a rose bush cover or a high-risk stop distance 10 feet? Tactically sound positions and real cover can make a huge difference in your ability to win.

7. Failure to watch their hands. When my alter ego Buck Savage told Rookie to "watch the hands," he was dead right and yet how many times do officers fail to do this simple task?

8. Tombstone courage. Many lists call this failure to wait for back-up or "The John Wayne Syndrome." I call it foolish and a good way to get others hurt as well as yourself.

9. Preoccupation. Science now confirms that if we are focused "inside our head" we have a very real chance of getting hurt, if we are doing anything more than sitting on the couch.

10. Apathy. This bad boy kills us like Raid kills bugs. It is caused by things like routine, familiarity with the suspect, years of getting away with bad habits, or simply losing the love of the job. Worse, this is a tough one to see when it's in the heart of someone you care about. Apathy is such a passive trait, and it often causes one or several of the other nine deadly errors on this list. Watch for it in yourself and in others.

Write this list using your terminology, your impressions, your own experiences and then post it wherever you think it matters. Challenge others to make their own lists. But whatever you do, don't make the mistakes on this list.

Dave Smith is an internationally recognized law enforcement trainer and is the creator of "JD Buck Savage." You can follow Buck on Twitter at @thebucksavage.

The End of Professional Policing?

Bargain-basement policing may sound the death toll for professional policing.

by William Harvey – Reprinted from Police magazine

It is practically impossible to scan the headlines without finding yet another city or county that has declared that they are in financial distress. Detroit's bankruptcy filing means police pensioners and current officers will probably suffer draconian cuts. So let the slapping around of their cops and firefighters over budget cutbacks begin!

The vogue term in headlines now is "distressed cities," which means hang on to your hats, here it comes. All of emergency services are told to "do more with less." This motif from the elected dais is the new way of business and the command staff's marching orders. It's hard to say when this will cease, and we return to normalcy.

Elected officials seeking reforms seem to lack the respect for the men and women of emergency services. As one said recently to me, "There is no difference between a police officer and ditch digger, you are all my servants." This set me back in trying to find some reasoning in his off-handed statement. We're both citizens and taxpayers but the ditch digger, as he so fondly referred to a public works employee, does not run toward the trouble. They also call 911.

This depersonalization of first responders makes it easier to treat them with disdain. Callused public statements will garner support with the tax-paying public. Our counterpoint is the reeducate the public about the services we provide them.

One thing that allows this depersonalizing environment to take hold is an old statement from the community policing days. The average citizen has three-plus contacts with police in their lifetime. One is usually a traffic citation; the second will be their involvement in a motor vehicle accident; and the third comes when they are the victim of a crime.

None of these encounters are pleasant, and if the citizen could obtain their pound of flesh from the evil copper who gave them a speeding ticket, then so be it. These elected cop-berating officials now feed into a mindset wanting cop-payback time. Just as it was in the late 1980s, we need to win the public's hearts and minds all over again.

Most of professional administrators use various methodologies to determine departmental effectiveness in addressing criminality. Many chiefs use the CompStat method in some format. Elected leaders then question police leaders about the trends. While trying to extol the successes of my agency, I was asked why I wasted all that money solving crimes. When I asked what that meant, I was told that most crimes in this elected official's view were not important to him or his dais. He said just take the report; if they have insurance then it's taken care of.

I retorted that this validates criminal behavior and gives petty criminals the green light to go free-ranging with their crime sprees. Still, if it's not him (or someone important to him such as family or a political supporter) then all go free.

I'm observing "bargain basement policing" in some areas where a report is taken (for insurance purposes and tax write-offs) with no follow-up. Unless it's a violent crime, it doesn't get a second blush. The real victims will be the citizens who applaud this now. As the pendulum swings off its hinge, their safety and insurance rates will also become unhinged.

Community policing and other forms of outreach will be another passing fancy without philanthropic assistance or the support of a community foundation. Community policing is labor, time, and investment intensive. If you still want safety programs and citizen police academies, offer them online. Forget the personal touch.

It's imperative that all of us, from the youngest street copper to the crusty old chiefs, need to reeducate the public. As I have always said, "If you don't blow your own horn, someone else will use it as a spittoon."

Give real answers and real service. Don't shortchange our customer base. They can defend us, when they're told that the officer who helped them was no different than some elected official's idea of a servant. We must seize every opportunity to regain trust and loyalty from our customers. They're also voters.

Gathering Intel for Dynamic Entries (2 of 2)

Consider this scenario, and respond with your proposed plan of action.

by Bob Parker

Reprinted from Police Magazine

Here's the answer:

The contain-and-callout option didn't seem to be working. No answer on the phone. There was reluctance to use a bullhorn/haler. This noise would wake the neighborhood, bringing out on-lookers and forcing patrol to deal with an additional problem.

Also rejected was the idea of using the key to open the front door and turning a police dog loose inside the residence. The looks of disbelief on the faces of the other command personnel in the CP caused the sergeant who made the suggestion to quickly retract it. Yep, great thought. Let the K-9 tear up anybody they encounter, then the operators can stay safe and pick up the pieces. Even a dog on a long lead was extreme when considering the intell the commander had at the time.

The detectives and patrol cops had re-interviewed the daughter, son-in-law and other neighbors who were at the CP. The only negative comment was from the daughter who said, "Well, dad sometimes raises his voice to mom."

The commander decided that an entry team of 10 operators would make a controlled entry through the front door using the key obtained from the daughter.

At approximately 4 a.m., the entry team made its approach to the front from a neighboring backyard. Some of the perimeter personnel were assigned to over-watch with the snipers. They were instructed to also watch for any threats in the houses and yards that the entry had passed enroute to the target. Ambush, however unlikely, was a consideration. The team stacked off the small porch as best they could, and all involved personnel were advised entry was in progress. The door opened into a split-level home. From the foyer, a team sergeant shouted, "Police, anyone in here, show yourself with your hands up."

After a few seconds, here they came. Two elderly people, male and female, in their sleepwear came into view. Their demeanor was so calm it was somewhat disconcerting to the team operators. This was around 4:30 a.m. on Easter morning. No Easter Bunny at the door. Ten men in black, helmets, subguns, and carbines in the house and no startled reaction?

It didn't take long to clear the house. No crime scene. No one really pointed their weapon at the old folks. We sat down with them in the kitchen. They stated they had been asleep, and they get up very early in the morning. (A side note here: the elderly can be very sound sleepers and awaken at some unusually early hours.) They stated they had a phone extension by the bed and neither had heard it ringing when 911 had attempted to call back.

This is usually the point in a callout where SWAT makes an exit and leaves the follow-up investigation to the detectives and patrol. They would handle any evidence, arrests, and the crime scene. There was some thought that the husband might be taken for mental evaluation. The patrol commanders and detectives were still working with the theory that the husband had to be the one who made the initial threatening call.

Just as SWAT was about to leave, a young patrol officer asked the SWAT and patrol commanders if he could show them something outside. They followed him the rear of the home. He showed them the telephone junction box where the outside line connects with the phones in the house. The bolt securing the cover was hanging out by at least an inch. He carefully removed the cover and pointed out to the connecting wires. Both leads had been unscrewed and disconnected.

The phone would still seem like it's ringing and working from the caller's end, but would not ring inside the house. That explained the mystery. Who had called from the address? The answer: anybody with a lineman's phone. It's a handset that is used by phone companies to check on connections. Simply attach it by alligator clips to the two lines and a call will appear to emanate from inside the residence.

Back in the house the detectives were alerted to this new information. The routine question was posed to the couple, "Do you have any enemies who would do something like this to you?" After a short pause, the couple stated that there was an ongoing problem with a young male neighbor (in his 20s) over parking on the street between the houses. He also had a loud car and would sometimes awaken the couple because their bedroom was close to his house. He had awakened them shortly before midnight the night before. The call was placed at around midnight. The 911 operator had stated the caller seemed to be whispering. The junction box was below the old folks bedroom window.

The follow-up investigation never did result in an arrest. But thanks to some good intelligence gathering, primarily by patrol officers and detectives, the wrong arrest wasn't made. No innocents were subjected to the trauma and resulting damage of a dynamic entry. No one was hurt; no bangs deployed; no shots fired; and without those elements no media showed up.

I was the SWAT commander. For several years now, in the classes I teach, I have used this incident as an example of the importance of patrol and detectives in a SWAT operation.

Can Police Officers Search a Suspect’s Cellphone? Supreme Court May Soon Decide

In the coming months, expect to see several cases in the U.S. Supreme Court that revolve around privacy rights, technology and the Fourth Amendment’s rights regarding search and seizure.

A recent article in USA Today points to two such cases that the Supreme Court may take on about whether or not police have the right to search mobile devices without first obtaining a warrant.

It’s clear that police have the right to search a person during an arrest, but do they have the right to search the contents of the cellphone that is on that person and is that data usable in court?

Back in December, I spoke with Kevin Metcalf, who is a former law enforcement officer with more than 20 years of experience as a police officer, Border Patrol agent, SWAT team member and Federal Air Marshal. He is currently a deputy prosecuting attorney in Arkansas as well as a professor at American Military University, teaching courses in public safety and legal studies.

Metcalf said the laws and standards for search and seizure of such digital evidence are constantly evolving and it can be extremely confusing for police and prosecutors alike. For example:

What information can police legally access from a suspect’s device?
Can they pick it up and look through it?
Is the phone analogous to a box?

In regards to the third bullet point, a common legal argument is that a phone or laptop is just like a box an officer finds in a suspect’s vehicle. During a stop and arrest if an officer legally has the right to search a box in the car that may have evidence associated with the arrest, does that right carry over to a laptop or a phone? After all, isn’t a laptop or phone just a digital container?

The issue of whether or not police can search the contents of a cellphone (and use it against a suspect in trial) is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to privacy rights and the law.

As a law enforcement officer, have you received training about how to treat cellphones during an arrest? Do you consider the contents of a cellphone potential evidence?