Instilling Hesitancy

An officer shouldn’t have to contemplate whether or not their agency will support them if they do the right thing.

 By Kevin R. Davis |

Reprinted from Law Office Magazine

Advising officers to approach dangerous locations and suspects cautiously is a wise recommendation. Waiting for backup is a sound tactical suggestion and advisement. Far too often officers overextend themselves in situations, handling the call themselves instead of waiting for back-up officers to arrive on scene to provide cover and additional sets of eyes, ears and guns in a worst-case scenario. A supervisor who encourages the officers in his charge to slow down and arrive to the call alive vs. driving too fast and exposing themselves and the citizenry to risk is certainly a life-saving responsibility.

Yes, sometimes officers “Colonel Custer” it—that is, rush headlong into a problem and are up to their rumps in alligators before they know it and get hurt in the process. Certainly officers drive too fast, and in many cases, too recklessly and should be reminded that such actions are stupid and will be disciplined if continued. Such recommendations as exercising caution, calling for back-up and waiting until they get there and slow the heck down, are all sound advice for supervisors to reinforce to their troops.

But in this case, we’re not talking about safe and wise admonishes to officers. We’re instead talking about instilling hesitancy in officers that may get them hurt or killed.

Back In the Old Days

I know you may hate hearing it but in the old days when force was necessary, most officers applied it quickly and aggressively. Yes, back in the day we didn’t have dashboard or cellphone cameras, or YouTube or news websites so that our encounters could be viewed by thousands of folks, second guessed ad nauseam and used by groups to further their political agenda. The reality: It’s hard enough being a LEO in this current politically driven climate, but do agencies, police administrations and supervisors have to make it worse?

The Law

The law on use of force is defined by the Supreme Court of the U. S. It states that officers aren’t restricted to the “least amount of force” nor “only that amount of force that is necessary.” The standard, as set forth in the Graham v. Connor decision, is that officers may use that amount of force that’s objectively reasonable in light of the totality of the circumstances. The Supreme Court didn’t say hesitate to use force or recklessly endanger yourself or call and wait for your supervisor to show up before you use force. In fact, the Supreme Court noted that officers must often use force in circumstances that are tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving.

Some of the use-of-force issues surrounding a situation include the severity of the crime and whether the suspect is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by fleeing. The Supreme Court noted that these factors aren’t the only ones to be considered when evaluating use of force. The objective standard means that reasonableness isn’t determined based on the officer’s intent, motive or emotions (whether the officer was angry, for instance). According to the Court, the biggest factor is that “reasonableness of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight.” The Court further stated, “With respect to a claim of excessive force, the same standard of reasonableness at the moment applies: ‘Not every push or shove, even if it may later seem unnecessary in the peace of a judge’s chambers,’ violates the Fourth Amendment.”

Howard Rahtz writes in Understanding Police Use of Force (2003, Criminal Justice Press), “Certainly, reasonable officers may disagree about the constitutional ‘reasonableness’ of police action in various cases. Thus, in expounding on the notion put forth in the Graham case that ‘objective reasonableness’ is not subject to precise definition, the court in Malley v. Briggs (1986) said: ‘The objective reasonableness test is met if officers of reasonable competence could disagree on the legality of the defendant’s action.’”

All of these factors and case law from the Supreme Court and lower court decisions since Graham have given officers a fair amount of leeway in use of force. Former F.B.I. Special Agent in charge and use-of-force legal expert John Hall has stated, “The case law dealing with the use of force by law enforcement is so deferential to the officers that when they learn of it they are shocked.”The legal standard for use of force isn’t that “officers may use that amount of force that looks good to me in hindsight in the comfort of my office and that will cause no political backlash or fall-out.”

Shouldn’t departmental brass know use of force law? Sadly, too many administrators and supervisors don’t know the legal parameters of use of force, despite the fact that this is a “core critical task” in law enforcement that they must know.

Even agencies with decent policies on use of force frequently violate their own guidelines. Why is it that an officer is disciplined for violating an agency policy, but the management doesn’t follow and nothing happens? If an agency isn’t going to follow their own policies, why bother to write them down? Save the trees and don’t waste the paper if that’s the case.

Why are agencies, administrators and supervisors so intent on restricting officers’ use of force? Why not give the officer all the tools he or she needs out on the street to not only survive, but win? Why attempt to micromanage officers’ use of force? Why fail to support officers when they use reasonable force? Why instill hesitancy in your officers about using force?

Improper Focus

Police liability expert Steve Ashley has noted that over the past 10 years or more, agencies, their administrators and supervisors have had an improper focus on police liability. Instead of properly training their officers in the legal parameters of use of force and the skills they need to save their lives, they have instead been overly consumed with civil liability and avoiding being sued. This improper focus, notes Ashley, hasn’t reduced officer deaths or injuries.

For officers, the proper equation for sound decision-making skills on the use of force is the following:

• Knowledge of the law + Repetitive training on relevant and realistic skills = Competence
• Competence = Confidence
• Confidence = Control of fight or flight response or sympathetic nervous system (SNS) reaction
• Control of SNS = Good decision-making skills

The result: Competence and good decision-making skills reduce officer injuries and deaths.

End Game

Improper focus on liability, improper training, ignorance about the use-of-force law and failure to follow your own policy all lead to poor morale and officers who won’t aggressively enforce the law or are hesitant due to fear of the fallout. An officer shouldn’t have to contemplate whether their agency will back them up and support them if they do the right thing at zero-dark-thirty in a dark parking lot.

If an officer’s oath of office includes the line, “… support and defend the constitution, the laws of the state of _________, and the ordinances of the city of ________,” perhaps an administrator’s or supervisor’s oath of office should include the line, “I will support and defend my officers,” as well.

Micromanagement, as well as instilling hesitancy, trepidation and uncertainty in line officers in the application of force is mismanagement and certainly not leadership—and worst of all, it can get officers hurt or killed. Know use-of-force law, train your officers and demand that they and the agency administration follow the law and policy. And by all means, raise the bar for your officers’ conduct in the use of force and support and defend them as well.

Don't Be A Sitting Duck
 

3 skills for shooting while moving By Dave Spaulding Reprinted from Law Office Magazine The lateral movement: 1. Stop and get stable. 2. Draw while taking a step sideways. 3. Stop and stabilize the upper torso; then deliver the shot. Illustration Daniel DiPinto  Some firearms trainers classify shooting while moving as an advanced skill. Nothing could be further from the truth. It's an essential, lifesaving skill we should consider one of the fundamentals of combative pistol craft, right alongside grip, body position (I don't use the word "stance"), sights, reloads and malfunction clearances. We all know hitting a moving target is harder than hitting a stationary one. Sitting ducks in a gunfight get hurt or killed. So, don't just stand there move! Here are three techniques to help you out. Shooting While Moving Forward The most commonly taught shooting-on-the-move technique is moving forward, but unless you serve on a SWAT or entry team, this is the least desirable movement in a fight. Take a moment to think about what you do when you perform this technique: You move closer to your opponent. Unless you relocate to a more strategic position, moving closer to your opponent reduces your skill advantage and makes his ability to hit with lucky shots far less lucky and far more likely. That said, moving forward is the easiest of the three shooting movements to master. Let's look at what's required to accomplish shooting while moving forward. Have you ever filled a hot beverage cup to the very brim in an effort to get your money's worth only to discover it's hard to walk away with the drink? What did you do in order to get on with your day? You lowered your center of gravity by bending at the hips and knees, and you walked heel-ball-toe in order to smooth out your stride. You held the cup at shoulder level and away you went. Holding a gun steady is no different than holding a hot cup of coffee steady. The better known shooting schools instruct you to shoot from the waist up just as you would if you stood still. The secret to stabilizing the gun lies in the hips, knees and feet. When you use your hips and knees like shock-absorbing pistons and walk heel-ball-toe, the upper body stabilizes and the gun doesn't bounce on target. The deeper you bend your hips and knees, the flatter your gun on target. It's quite easy, actually. Some instructors advise you to "toe out" while walking in a "Groucho Walk" (after the legendary comedian Groucho Marx). I've never found this helpful, but if it works for you, do it. While I normally shoot with my arms straight, I find I can hold the pistol steadier by bending my support arm in a Weaver-like position. If you use an MP-5, M-4 or shotgun, which give you four points of body contact (cheek, shoulder, shooting hand, support hand), the drill is even easier. Sorry, I don't teach the secrets of the Ninja here, just the ability to walk smoothly with a hot drink or gun in your hand. Lateral Movement Now let's talk about the two movements that prove more difficult to accomplish while providing accurate return fire. But first, note: You cannot run and return accurate fire. While some disagree and actually teach running and shooting, I'm concerned you'll merely fall, trip or slip. Also, don't try to shoot and run with the intent to offer cover fire; this justification won't hold water. The courts do not consider hosing down an area with pistol fire in an effort to keep your opponent's head down as a justified use of deadly force. Who knows where your errant rounds will end up? Stay behind cover unless you need to move to better cover. If you are going to run, run; if you are going to shoot, shoot. It's that simple. The most common and best-utilized movement in a gunfight is the lateral movement. In fact, you should incorporate the lateral movement just about every time you practice the draw. Consider this: You confront an armed suspect in the act of committing a crime. You both zero in and decide to draw your weapons. He draws and attempts to deliver his gun in your direction, but you aren't there. You've side-stepped (i.e., moved laterally), which gives you just enough time to get into his reaction/response loop, creating lag time for him and allowing you to deliver the first accurate shot. Match point, game over, and you win just as you should. This isn't wishful thinking. This move has saved cops and legally armed citizens time and time again. It's a valuable tool worth having in your personal skills toolbox. The secret: Get stable and stop moving before triggering the shot. It doesn't take much muzzle movement to miss the human torso, even at relatively close range. Drawing while moving sideways is acceptable, but try to stop and stabilize the upper torso before delivering the gun to the target. You can accomplish shooting while moving forward and backward because you remain on the same linear plane as your opponent, but lateral movement entails moving outside of a straight line, which makes delivering accurate shots problematic. Try to stop, if even for the slightest moment, before pushing the gun to the target, and deliver the most accurate shot possible. If you need to make a lateral movement of more than a few steps, don't try to shuffle-step sideways; this will only result in a slow, convoluted movement that won't get you out of the line of fire. After a few steps, turn sideways and walk as if you are shooting on the move going forward, but turn your body and shoot with either one hand or an extreme Weaver-style arm position. Moving Backward Shooting while moving backward (what I call "attacking to the rear") remains the most difficult move to execute correctly. Some instruct you to simply walk backward in a toe-ball-heel stride, which you can accomplish on a flat range, but it won't likely keep you upright if you need to move fast. Walking backward turns into running backward if a fight develops, and no one can run backward. Your butt overrides your feet, you lose balance and you fall. Most of us have seen the video of the Ohio deputy sheriff shooting it out with the white supremacist Kehoe brothers. During this fight, we see the deputy move off camera around a cruiser. Many think he's taking cover, which is not the case. He fell while trying to run backward on a flat, paved street. The deputy told me his fall was the scariest part of the whole fight: "I just knew I was going to take rounds up through my rectum," he said, "and those would be non-survivable wounds." Take it from him: Don't try to walk or run backward. A better way to move to the rear in a controlled fashion is to either shuffle-step or step-and-drag. Either of these allows you to move back quickly while remaining upright. Like moving forward, the shock-absorber effect of the hips and knees is necessary to keep the upper body stable. The shuffle-step allows you to use your feet in the conventional motion of one foot preceding the other, while the step-and-drag requires one foot to step back while the other then catches up. Both enable the feet to stay in contact with the ground, making a fall much less likely if you must move rapidly to the rear. You can disengage surprisingly fast when using one of these two techniques; it just takes practice. Moving away from an opponent proves important because every step you take greatly increases the likelihood an untrained opponent will miss. Take a look at these statistics showing the degree 1/8 inch of muzzle movement affects on-target accuracy at increasing distances: 5 yards: 1/8 inch changes the point of impact by 41/2 inches; 7 yards: 1/8 inch changes the point of impact by 61/4 inches; and 15 yards: 1/8 inch changes the point of impact by 87/8 inches. Take into account an untrained opponent who grabs a pistol and slams on the grip and trigger, and it's not hard to see how someone can miss by a couple of feet. The distance you create between yourself and your opponent translates into your ability to prevail. Check 360 often and move quickly to the rear.

Firearms Safety for a Crimefighter’s Family

BY SGT. BETSY BRANTNER SMITH

Reprinted from Officer.com

It takes very little strength to pull the trigger on a gun, so we must be diligent in the safe handling and storage of our own firearms, beginning in our homes.

There are few topics in the news today as hot as firearms.  Guns and ammo are flying off the shelves even as others are calling for stricter gun laws and less access to firearms for the average citizen.  Wherever you stand on the “gun debate,” as a law enforcement officer firearms are a part of your everyday life.  We all know that owning and using a gun comes with incredible responsibility, but cops also need to see themselves as role models, advocates and resources for firearms safety.  About 600 people die each year in the United States from accidental gunfire, including police family members, primarily children.  It takes very little strength to pull the trigger on a gun, so we must be diligent in the safe handling and storage of our own firearms, beginning in our homes.   

Gun safety starts at home.

In the academy we all learned the basic rules of firearms safety.  Those are the same rules you should be sharing with your family, and you need to do it early and often.  If you have young kids in the house, you must make sure that they do not have unsupervised access to a loaded firearm.  Several times each year a cop’s kid is killed with that officer’s firearm.  Because we are so comfortable with guns, we can become a bit too relaxed, leaving a loaded gun where little ones can access it.  This has lead to tragedy for more than one police family, including criminal charges against the officer.  You have to balance your own accessibility to a loaded gun so protect your home and family with safe, “kid-proof” storage. 

Recognize that kids are crafty.

They’re also tenacious and unrelenting when trying to access something they’ve been told is “off limits.”  A 1990’s study showed that most kids could access their parents’ “secured” firearm within a matter of minutes, whether it was in a lock box or secured with a trigger lock.  More recently, a tragedy in Texas occurred when a police officer’s two children accessed his off duty gun from his department-issued gun safe.  The younger of the two children was accidently shot and killed; the safe was found to be easily opened just by shaking it. Think like a kid when it comes to securing your firearms at home.  And again, keep in mind that the more mysterious firearms seem, the harder your kids (or any other kids in your home) are going to try and find it.

Remove the mystery.

I just read on an Internet child health site that “guns in the home should be kept hidden at all times from children.  They should never know that a firearm is in your house.”  I find that statement not only ridiculous but downright dangerous.  The more mysterious you make guns, the more temping they become to kids.  You can teach your two-year-old not to stick his finger in an electric wall socket, so start teaching him about gun safety too.  Using age appropriate terms and details, explain to your kids how a firearm works, why you carry one, what they are used for, and how dangerous they can be. The more children know, the less curious they are.  If you are comfortable doing so, sit down with your kids and take your handgun apart and explain what each piece is.  Let them look through the barrel, properly hold the frame, and see how all of the pieces fit together.  Help them understand that a firearm is a tool, not a toy. 

Make shooting a family activity.

Presuming you keep firearms in your home, you shouldn’t be the only one in the house who is familiar with them.  Your spouse, partner, older kids and close friends should be familiar with what you own, where you store them, and ideally, how to safely and properly operate them.  One of the best ways to accomplish this is to make shooting a family activity.  If you’re not comfortable being the family instructor, there are great courses and camps for both kids and adults to learn the basics of firearms.  Very often in this profession we struggle with our relationships.  Getting involved in something fun together is a great was to bring our family and friends into “our world.”

Off duty officer safety.

One of the many advantages of teaching firearms safety, skills and awareness to your family and friends is that it tends to lead to better off duty officer safety for you.  If your spouse and kids understand where, when and why you carry an off duty gun, they’re more likely to be supportive.  Encourage your civilian spouse or partner to obtain a concealed carry permit.  On every outing, let the family know which firearm you’re carrying and where.  Make it part of your family routine.  Remember, the word “ethos” means “habits.”  Bring those “warrior ethos” home and share them with your family and friends.  Your family, your community, and our country will be safer. 

Prescription-Drug Epidemic: Building a Case Against Potential Pill Doctors   

By Leischen Stelter, American Military University

The drug landscape has shifted dramatically in recent years and law enforcement agencies now find themselves battling the legal system. Prescription drug abuse-the intentional use of medication without a prescription or taken in a way other than as prescribed-has skyrocketed in recent years.

One of the primary issues for law enforcement is that many people are obtaining prescription drugs through legal channels. “Unfortunately, there are more of these pill doctors out there than most people realize,” said Jim Deater. During his 24 years in law enforcement, Deater spent 15 years in the Homeland Security and Intelligence Bureau. He investigated large-scale national and international drug trafficking organizations, homicides and gangs. He found that the average case involving doctor prescriptions and illegal drug prescriptions took about 18 months. Read more about a 10-month investigation that resulted in $1.4 million in cash deposits from illegal prescriptions as well as Deater’s recommendations for police officers pursuing cases of potential pill doctors.  more >

 

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