I subscribe to HBO for one reason: Last Week Tonight. John Oliver has an uncanny ability to summarize the complexities of current affairs. However, his episode on policing does require some context, at least in terms of law enforcement training. John showed a short clip of a Dave Grossman seminar in which Lt. Grossman talks about killing. But John skated over the unfortunate reality police face; the reality that nearly all police officers at some point in their career will be faced with the ultimate question – do I take a life to save a life? I see many calling this “fear based” training. However, the threat of violence is real. And while no one disputes that threat of violence is something to fear, we need police to prepare for that real eventuality. Give me a moment to address the threat of violence faced by police first, then tackle the threat of violence at the hands of the police.
Violence, especially gun violence, is the reality in our country, and police are at the front lines of this reality. No one points to the police as the sole perpetuator or protagonists of this reality. But for some police, it is a reality they face regularly. The Washington Post reports that over 240,000 students have experienced gun violence since the Columbine shooting in 1999 and that public mass shootings have increased over the past few years, and have claimed increasingly more lives per incident. New York Times reported that gun related incidents of domestic violence increased 26% since 2010. In fact, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 8% of all violent crime involved firearms. I have had students in metropolitan areas around the country tell me they respond to calls for service involving violent, gun related crimes, daily. This is just a small window of the violence faced by police.
Dave Grossman, and instructors like him taught me that, as an officer, I would likely face incidents of violence, requiring me to make critical, life and death choices, and if I were going to be an officer I needed to think, critically, about whether I could make those choices. In fact, this is the very point Dave makes in the Last Week Tonight clip. Lt. Grossman explains once someone takes a life they are branded a killer. He then asks the officers if they could live with that label; could they kill to save an innocent life? If the answer to that question is “no” then they should reconsider their chosen profession. And Dave is right, all police, no matter where they work, no matter the size of their jurisdiction, or even the affluence of the neighborhood, will be faced with that life or death decision at some point in their career. Violence in the U.S. is a reality. Not even I was sparred that decision.
One day, the sheriff’s office received a call from the Emergency Department of our local hospital to check the welfare of a possibility suicidal patient. He left without treatment because of some insurance/financial snafu and they were afraid for him and his spouse based on things he had said prior to leaving. As we drove down the long driveway of his affluent rural home, we noticed the posted yardage down the driveway, and targets with spot on 9mm sized holes. Upon arriving at his home we found him in his yard, a semi-automatic handgun in his right hand. I still remember the look on his face, the 1,000 foot stare, giving me the distinct impression that he had lost hope. I was scared because he acted as if he had nothing to lose.
But at that point, however, my fear was not for myself, but primarily for his wife of about 40 years – if he wanted to shoot himself, fine, but I did not want him to try and take his spouse with him, nor did I want her to have to suffer the indelible image of his act of violence to himself. So, we devised a plan. My partners would work on talking him down and de-escalating the situation, while I spoke with his wife and encouraged her to leave with us until we could get him some additional help. However, before we could put our plan in action, he started to raise his weapon. Time seemed to slow down as we immediately changed gears. We all immediately aimed at him and started giving him orders to put the weapon down. The closer his weapon came to my partner the more pressure I had on my trigger while ordering him to put the weapon down. I was about 2# of pressure away from taking this man’s life to protect myself, my partner, and his spouse before he finally dropped his weapon. Was my response fear based? Though upon reflection, it was one of the scariest moments of my time in policing. However, my response was based on reality, if we hadn’t been prepared to respond with deadly force, that situation could have had a much different result. Because of our training and the preparation made in anticipation of such a scenario, I didn’t have to think about my response, it just happened. Dave Grossman’s type of training encouraged me to regularly imagine use of force scenarios so I could respond proactively, not out of fear, but as a method of analytically facing an unfortunate reality.
And until the culture of violence changes, we want officers who have critically considered the awesome responsibility of taking a life, who have prepared to respond as necessary to life and death incidents of violence and threats of violence, who have sworn an oath to protect the community from the wolves who live among us, and who would prey upon the innocent. Therefore, we will continue to call upon the police to prey upon the predators, to protect the community from the realities of violent crime.
But what about threats of violence from the police? First, I ask you to acknowledge that police may be justified in responding to violence with violence. However, we do have police who use force to terrorize, intimidate, and bully. Police unions must stop to think about the negative impact on all police when one violates the social contract and work with departments to address officers who can’t follow the rules. We can’t be afraid to work with our citizen review boards, to give the necessary training and perspective to understand the reality facing police, and then give them the means to meaningfully address rouge cops. And we must not be afraid to continue to rely on the police to serve the role of law enforcer, and give them the tools and training to complete that mission. Including placing a greater responsibility on the police to police themselves, because sometimes the wolf wears sheepdog’s clothing. These predators must also be rooted out as part of the mission to serve and protect.