"Let someone come handle it...but you don't get to leave."

A point I made in discussions with people over what cops do. If we're in a mall and someone starts shooting, you will do the logical thing. You will RUN!

I get to move to him.

Denver Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall went through a simulator and found it's not as clear cut as Black Lies says.

...Marshall’s relationship with the Denver Police Department has clearly continued, as witnessed by a video posted yesterday on the DPD Facebook page under the headline “SUNDAY MATINEE: BRANDON MARSHALL GOES TO THE ACADEMY.”

The introduction to the video reads: “Earlier this week, our friend, Denver Broncos’ Brandon M. Marshall gave our VirTra V-300 simulator a spin. Equipped with over 100 virtual scenarios, the simulator allows officers to train in rapidly-evolving, life-like situations. WATCH how Brandon did….”

In the clip, a cheerful Marshall goes through the simulator, weapon in hand – and in one sequence, he can be seen pointing it at a black man armed with a pistol. Marshall doesn’t shoot, and orders the man to “put the gun down,” which the simulated suspect does.

“Some of the situations these officers have to go through, with the stress levels – their life being threatened and other people’s lives being threatened, the various decisions they have to make – I think it’s very difficult,” Marshall says in the video. “And I think this is the perfect simulation to give people insight on what really goes on.”

He adds, “I don’t know everything that goes on as far as police officers go. But it’s a hard job.”

It’s too soon to know if the video will rehabilitate Marshall’s image with Broncos fans who took issue with his previous protests – or if he will be accused of selling out the cause by those who agreed with his previous actions. But the contrast between last year’s controversies and the new clip couldn’t be sharper...

I'm glad to see you went to the Denver Academy and got to see how we see the situation. Good luck next year.

The Human Factor…

I’ve just returned from the excellent film, Sully, starring Tom Hanks in the title roll and directed/produced by Dirty Harry, excuse, Clint Eastwood. If you see only one film this year, make it this one. It covers the crash (or water landing, if you will) of US Air 1549 in January 2009, but concentrates on the investigation afterwards by the National Transportation Safety Board. In a critical scene, the importance of the human factor, on the location, versus the “judgment” of computer simulations and second-guessing by bureaucrats in a comfortable chair, is discussed. I won’t go into more detail to avoid spoilers.

I’ve recently been linked to a great video on how quickly a life or death decision can be made by a cop (or a civilian, for that matter), based on the scenario of the recent shooting of Terence Crutcher by Tulsa OK Officer Betty Shelby. The creators of the video below, Guns Across America, give a detailed example of how a person must decide to shoot or don’t shoot.



Notice in one scenario after another, the target has the initiative. He will make the decision to shoot or not shoot first, and the cop will react to his actions. The officer has a fraction of a second to go though the OODA Loop (Observe, Orient, Decide and Act):

Observe what is in your field of vision.

Orient is focusing on select items in your field of vision.

Decide is simply, what are you going to do.

Act, based on the three previous steps, you take your chosen action.

Going back to the video of the shooting of Mr. Crutcher by Officer Shelby, at .06 seconds you see him with his hands up, the officer pointing her pistol at his back and he is walking towards his car. At about .10 seconds the second officer approaches and at .12 seconds, he can see the Taser’s laser dots on Mr. Crutcher’s back. At .17 you see Mr. Crutcher’s right arm down and hear an apparent gunshot. At .29 you see Mr. Crutcher fall to the ground and a few seconds later you hear Officer Shelby scream, “Shots fired!”


Here is the video from the police helicopter:


At .09 seconds you see Mr. Crutcher at his door and his right arm has moved down. At .13 seconds you see Officer Shleby pointing her pistol at Mr Crutcher and Mr. Crutcher at his door, hands moving down towards the door.

I’ve been a cop on the streets for almost two decades and I’ve pointed my Sig-Sauer at more than one man. Generally they stare at the pistol, but one thing they usually don’t do is walk away. And in this situation, Mr. Crutcher is walking towards his SUV. Where he may have a weapon. Or maybe he is trying to get into the vehicle and and drive off, or drive into the officers. Blood tests have come back showing Mr. Crutcher was under the influence of PCP during this incident. That alone does not justify use of deadly force, but it does give some perspective on why he was acting this way.

Mr. Crutcher is taking action that may put the officers in a position where they have “…probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others.” This is a quote from Tennessee v. Garner (1985), for all the YouTube lawyers out there, the legal standard for the use of deadly force, as set by the United States Supreme Court over three decades ago.

Another SCOTUS ruling, Graham v Connor (1989), a few years later further defined the use of deadly force. The justices clarified that,

"The '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."

So again I go back to the human factor. From the videos we can see Officer Shelby is following the suspect, the suspect is walking towards his vehicle and she doesn’t know what he will do next. He lowers his arms and you cannot see if he is reaching into his vehicle. And you hear a TASER dart fire that may be a pistol shot. And you make a decision that will haunt you till the day you die.

I am not saying she was right or wrong, justified or unjustified. I am saying justice is a slow moving process and the accused, in this case Officer Shelby, has every right to due process and the presumption of innocence in the matter. The prosecutor, who has charged her with 1st Degree Manslaughter with a minimum penalty of four years in prison, must prove every point of the charge beyond a reasonable doubt. And Officer Shelby’s attorney will work to disprove this, or at least put the jurors in the eyes of the officer, at the moment she fired.

Go back to the original video from Guns Across America and put yourself into the position of the officer. With what you’ve read and seen here, will you shoot or not shoot? Now ask yourself, will you shoot when your suspect is moving towards a vehicle, where he may have a weapon. You have a fraction of a second to decide and your actions will be reviewed, by people not worrying about going home tonight.

Welcome to the world of a cop on the street.

Shoot or don't shoot....

One of the many issues the usual suspects have with the Harris County DA is they allow grand jurors to attend "Shoot-Don't Shoot" training when judging use of deadly force cases. And whenever a cop shoots someone, you can hear the "community leaders" say the officer didn't need to shoot him, etc.

Well, some reporters got a taste of what it's like to shoot or not shoot. It opened their eyes.

How technology can let a civilian see what a cop sees….

I am for embracing technology to improve performance, not for the sake of buying a new toy. Digitizing reports, forms and imagery is a godsend with all we do.

I have occasionally used digital recorders to take statements and I have a small body camera I bought from Amazon.com for DWI investigations. Nothing impresses a jury member like the sight of the driver at the scene, intoxicated.

With that as the background, you need to see this:

'The video is unbiased'
Daytona's police chief says the cameras prove that most officers are following the law.

In the video Daytona Beach released Wednesday, officers are captured as they kick in the front door to force their way into the home on Magnolia Avenue in Daytona Beach.

As three officers entered, Green ran into a bedroom and pulled his victim on top of him as he held a knife to her chest.

After police repeatedly told Green to let the woman go, Green shoved the knife down in an attempt to stab her. That's when two officers opened fire.

Green was shot several times, and the woman was struck once in the right arm. They both survived.

"I think they followed policy and the law," said Chitwood. "I was very proud of everything they did."

Danny Banks, the special agent in charge for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Orlando region, said this kind of video is valuable when it comes to investigating the behavior of officers.

FDLE investigators review more than 20 shootings involving law-enforcement officers in Central Florida region every year, Banks said.

In each case, agents interview officers and witnesses in an attempt to recreate the scene and determine if the shooting was justified.

"The video is unbiased," Banks said. "It's the closest that we have right now to actually giving us the perspective that the officer was seeing."

This gives one the view of how fast a cop can need to investigate an incident and then take action. Literally in seconds the officer has to decide to shoot or not shoot as a man holds a knife to a woman. A very common scenario used in training, but this is very real.

Now fast forward this to three months from now when the suspect lawyer is complaining about excessive force and of course wants a multi-million dollar settlement with the city and wants the officers prosecuted for excessive force, etc. A grand jury will look at that video and likely "no-bill" in a matter of minutes as there was reasonable fear of for loss of life or serious bodily injury on the part of the woman. And the fact this video is available (and will get presented to the plaintiff in the civil trail) may convince the defendant a civil action is a worthless effort, saving money and time.

This video came from PoliceOne.com and the referenced article shows some of the issues with body cameras (cost, storage issues, etc).

We have advanced from the days of "Press hard, you're making four copies". Now if we could come up with a Phaser! :<)

A look at how fast a shot/don't shot decision must be made

All the cop sees is a man with a knife...

Dash cam video sheds new light on Seattle police shooting

SEATTLE -- Newly obtained dash cam video shows the dramatic confrontation that ended with a Seattle police officer shooting a man in Magnolia last June.

The man was later found to have a history of mental illness, and court documents show the shooting was just one of several involving people with mental illness.

...According to court records, a young man called 911 several times to say someone armed with a kitchen knife was in front of his house. When officers arrived, they say it was the 911 caller who had the knife.

Dash cam video shows the man running toward officers with the knife. As he makes it to the side of the car, which is just out of camera view, you hear the sound of a gunshot.

The Seattle Police Department is not commenting on the court ordered release of the dash cam video. Like several other recent officer-involved shootings, records show the victim in the June 1 shooting suffered from mental illness.

The man's family asked that his name not be used. He survived the shooting and just this week pleaded guilty to assault.

Thank God the cop is alright. And hopefully the suspect is sent to a mental facility. He needs help.