What Citizens Should Know About Police Officers, Use of Force, and Some Challenges the Police & Citizens Face
Part 2 of 4 part article on What Citizens Should Know About Police Officers, Use of Force, and Some Challenges the Police & Citizens Face and The Answers to 37 Frequently Asked Questions About Policing
11. Why do the police not shoot guns, knives, and other deadly weapons out of people’s hands? Police Officers are universally taught to shoot center of mass. [i]They cannot shoot guns, hammers, hatchets, machetes, knives, baseball bats, screw drivers, and other such deadly weapons out of a perpetrator’s hands. Hand guns are not that accurate and when a person is under great stress, which is always the case when a police officer is confronted with a life or death or serious injury situation, accuracy is further degraded. Contrary to many people’s belief, police officers do not shoot to kill, they shoot to STOP a person from killing or seriously injuring them or seriously killing or seriously injuring another person.
The vast majority of police officers have never fired a pistol, shotgun, or rifle at anyone. In 11 years of my law enforcement career, I personally never shot at anyone, hit anyone with a baton, or sprayed them with pepper spray. I was never issued a Taser. In my public safety career, only supervisors had tasers and rifles, regular patrol officers were only armed with, baton, pepper spray, pistol, and shotgun.
It is a certainty, that the more non-lethal tools an officer has at his or her disposal the less likely anyone, police officer or citizens, will be seriously injured or killed. When police officers were issued pepper spray in the CALEA certified department that I served in the mid-1990s, the number of people who resisted arrest went down significantly and the number of officer injuries and perpetrator injuries went down by 20%.
Police officers are sprayed with pepper spray and required to defend themselves in a realistic training test in the police academy. For the vast majority of people, pepper spray is very painful and disabling for about 30 minutes or more. However, pepper spray does not work on a small percentage of people resisting.
12. Do police officers always shoot to kill? [ii]Police officers use deadly force to STOP a person and not kill that person. Years ago, police officers were taught to fire two shots center of mass to stop a person, who is about to kill or seriously injure, and then see if the suspect has stopped trying to kill or seriously injure. This process of shooting, then looking, then start shooting again was proven a faulty and dangerous protocol to follow, because many perpetrators continued to shoot or attack their victims, resulting in the death or serious injury of a police officer or other persons.
This standard operating procedure (SOP) of shooting center of mass twice and then observing has been changed, and rightfully so, to shoot an armed and dangerously close criminal, as many times as needed until he or she has stopped trying to kill or seriously injure the person(s) they are attacking. The last department the author worked for taught us to in a close quarters gun fight to start shooting the suspect in the lower torso, up to center of mass, and on up to the head until the attacker was completely stopped.
Only in the movies does one shot stop an attacker. It has been proven over and over again in military combat and police officer combat that one shot will not usually stop a person and, many times, two shots will not stop an attacker either. I know of one officer in Saint Louis who shot a criminal attacker 15 times with his service issued 9MM pistol before the attacker finally dropped his hand gun and stopped trying to kill the officer. 9MM ammunition has also been proven to be not a high enough caliber to stop many attackers, thus most police departments now use 40 caliber or larger caliber hand guns and ammunition.
Having to shoot or kill or seriously injure anyone is a police officer’s nightmare. As a minimum, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for the officer is sure to be the result of any such event. And the officer will have to write a detailed report, go through a stressful internal investigation, be placed on administrative leave, and possibly be sued in civil court and, in the worst case, charged with a crime and tried in criminal court. No other profession so carefully and strictly holds its employees accountable.
13. How does a police officer deal with a person with a knife or other edged Weapon? Many victims are killed and seriously injured by criminals and mentally ill persons with edged weapons. Edged weapons include such weapons as a knife, screw driver, eating fork, large steel nail, shank, butter knife, machete, or any sharp object that can penetrate a person’s body. The Police Training Film, [iii]Surviving Edged Weapons is used to show police recruits and police officers the dangers of edged weapons and the fact that if a person has an edged weapon and is closer than 15 feet to the police officer, the average attacker can rush the police officer and seriously injure or kill the police officer before the average police officer could draw his weapon and fire once.
The film further emphasizes that one shot center of mass, even a lethal shot will not stop an attacker before the officer is stabbed. The film further shows that it normally takes two or more pistol shots that hit the attacker to stop the attack. The film shows that the average police officer needs at least 21 feet of separation from the attacker for the average officer to be able to draw his or her pistol and fire twice.
Police seldom have more than about six to eight feet separating them and a potential attacker when they encounter and question a citizen, criminal, or mentally ill person, who may be armed with or within reach of an edged weapon. Police officers quickly ask domestic violence suspects in a kitchen, where many edged weapons are handily available, to please move out of the kitchen, so that the officer can more safely talk with them.
One last important point, the ballistic vest that officers wear will not stop a knife, unless the vest has a metal plate in it. These small metal plates only cover the heart and a small part of the upper lung area.
14. Why do police officers sometimes use choke holds on people? Choke Holds are dangerous and banned by police departments, with one exception. Choke holds are a high level of force and at times deadly force. Many years ago, choke holds were used sometimes to subdue persons resisting arrest and fighting (assaulting) a police officer or another person. Today, every police department that the author knows of has a policy against the use of choke holds. The only time a police officer should resort to a choke hold is if they believe that they, the police officer or another person, is in imminent danger of being killed or seriously injured ---- and no other form of force or action will safely work.
[iv]There are two basic types of choke holds, the Air Choke and the Blood Choke. An air choke (or tracheal choke) specifically refers to a true choke that compresses the upper airway (trachea, larynx or laryngopharynx), hence interfering with breathing and leading to asphyxia. Although less effective at inducing unconsciousness than its vascular counterpart, the air choke causes excruciating pain and air hunger, and in combat sports a fighter will usually submit to such a submission hold. Air chokes have been associated with fractures of the larynx or hyoid bone, and are considered less safe than blood chokes to practice.
Blood chokes (or carotid restraints/sleeper holds) are a form of strangulation that compress one or both carotid arteries and/or the jugular veins without compressing the airway, hence causing cerebral ischemia and a temporary hypoxic condition in the brain. A well applied blood choke may lead to unconsciousness in 10–20 seconds. Injury or death is possible if the arteries remain constricted for more than 20 seconds. Compared to strangulation with the hands, properly applied blood chokes require little physical strength.
The Los Angeles Police Department banned chokeholds in 1980, and was soon followed by police departments nationwide. Choking suspects was widely banned by American police departments by the early 1990s, when New York City strengthened the force of an earlier ban on chokeholds.
So, any police officer who decides to use a choke hold and, he or she or another person is not in imminent danger of being seriously injured or killed, should not use a choke hold. Even if an officer is imminent danger of serious injury or being killed, it would still be wise to use any other tool the officer has available to stop the attacker ------ if another tool, baton, pepper spray, taser, or gun is available, would do the job, and can be safely used.
Since a very few officers are continuing to use choke holds despite the fact, they are prohibited by department policy, it is long past time for Police Departments (and the criminal justice system if needed) to hold accountable any police officer who violates this policy. Officers who uses a choke hold in violation of department policy in a non-lethal encounter with a person should be disciplined severely and prosecuted if needed. This is one policy violation that should result in a minimum of the firing of the officer and removal of his or her certification.
If a citizen could imagine being a police officer in a fight, on the ground, with an enraged attacker, who might be high on drugs, for what you (the police officer) believed was going to have your pistol taken from you, or if the attacker was so large and powerful that the police officer believed he or she would be killed with the attackers bare hands ----- a choke hold may be all the police officer could do to survive.
15. What is positional asphyxiation (suffocation)? [v]Positional asphyxia, also known as postural asphyxia, is a form of asphyxia, which occurs when someone's position prevents the person from breathing adequately. Positional asphyxia also may be a result of the policing technique, "prone restraint" used by police, corrections, military, or health care staff. People may die from positional asphyxia accidentally, when the mouth and nose are blocked, or where the chest may be unable to fully expand.
Police academies and departments stress the importance of watching a restrained person continuously and carefully to ensure the restrained person does not suffocate. Laying a cuffed and sometimes foot tied perpetrator on his or her stomach, especially if they have been drinking alcohol, taking drugs, or have underlying health problems (like asthma, COPD, and heart disease), is especially dangerous for the restrained person and could cause death.
16. Why do police officers hit people with that stick or pipe they carry? [vi]The police are issued an expandable or non-expandable baton to use, if the situation they are in requires a defensive and intermediate level of force. Non-lethal baton strikes are below the neck, normally in the arms or legs, are authorized. However, in a situation where the police officer believes that he or she or another person was in imminent danger of being killed or seriously injured, an officer could strike a person in the neck, head, and other lethal or seriously injuring areas, if no other solution of less force or action is available and will work.
17. Why do the police not shoot every person who is holing a hostage and threatening to kill the hostage?[vii] Hostage and bystander safety are a police officer’s top priority. Police officers would almost never try to shoot a hostage if the attacker (criminal or insane person) is armed, holding onto the hostage, and threatening to kill or seriously injure the hostage. The goal is to always to attempt to negotiate a person into stopping endangering anyone.
18. Why do police departments need armored cars and other military types of equipment?[viii] Police officers are facing much better armed criminals, including criminals (and terrorists) with assault rifles, extra capacity magazines, ballistic vests, and more. There is much talk about police departments turning in their tactical equipment, like armored cars, mine protected and ambush protected vehicles, sniper rifles, and other such special use equipment. However, more and more this equipment is needed to deal with terrorists, barricaded and dangerous felons, deadly bank robbers, and dangerously mentally ill persons. Armored vehicles are also used to recover and medically evacuate wounded and injured officers who are under fire.
A few examples of the many times, police needed better armor, better weapons, and armored vehicles include:
· The two bank robbers who killed two FBI Agents and seriously injured six other FBI agents in Miami, FL in 1986 were much better armed than the FBI Agents. The bad guys had pistols and high powered and rapid firing rifles, with high capacity magazines, and the FBI Agents had pistols and some shotguns.
· The two heavily body armored and armed with assault weapons bank robbers, with high capacity magazines, in North Hollywood, California in 1997, where two police officers were seriously wounded, were much better armed than the dozens of police officers who responded. The police had to commander an armored car and go to a gun shop to get rifles to be able to stop those two bank robbers.
· The mentally ill 74-year-old veteran who ambushed, killed two police officers and seriously injured a half dozen other police officers, with a high powered M1 rifle, in Florence, SC in 2018.
In most police departments the armored vehicles and other militarized equipment are under strict control of the highly trained SWAT unit. The use of armored vehicles and special weapons have also been very restrained and carefully controlled by police departments. The call for taking this needed tactical equipment from police departments is unwarranted, based on no facts, and would place police officers and citizens in grave danger.
19. Why do the police not read everyone their Miranda rights? [ix]The Miranda "warning" should be spoken to you when you are arrested and will be interrogated by a police officer. However, this should not be confused with a police officer’s right and duty to find out what is going on prior to an arrest or other action. When a police officer arrives at the scene of a crime, accident, or complaint, the officer has every right to ask people, without giving the Miranda Warning, at the scene, what happened, what is going on here, who is involved in this incident, were you a witness, etc.?
However, when a police officer places a person under arrest, that officer or other official must, by law, give you the full Miranda Warning to warn you about your rights to not say anything that might make you look guilty. If the police officer plans to ask you specific and incriminating questions, the Miranda warning gives you the following rights:
1. You have the right to remain silent
2. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law
3. You have the right to an attorney
4. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you
One comment, when police officers read a person their Miranda warning at lightning speed, that is not understandable to a reasonable person, which a few police officers have done, a court could possibly be convinced that the person’s Miranda rights were not properly given and were not understandable. Hurrying through the Maranda warning at light speed and making the warning not understandable may later in court, be ruled as not being properly given. Officers should be especially loud and clear and talk in a normal voice pace when giving Miranda Warnings to a person under duress, has English as a second language, under the influence, or is perhaps injured.
Whether a person is read the Miranda warning or not, if that person makes a voluntary statement, with or without the Miranda warning, that statement can and probably will be used against that person in a court of law.
20. Why do many police officers have second jobs? Police officer pay is often too low to support a family and sometimes the benefits are sparce too. The majority of officers in every police department that the author served in had to hold second and sometimes a third job to make ends meet.
When an officer has to work too many hours at a part-time job or two part-time jobs, it hurts the officer’s performance at the full-time job. These secondary jobs also keep officers from their families and puts significant strain on the officer’s family.
21. How much training does a police officer get? [x]The five and one-half-month-long Saint Louis County and Municipal Police Academy that the author graduated from in 1998 was ahead of the times in providing detailed, high quality, and realistic police recruit training. Most police departments are quite small, the level of training given by each state is non-standardized, and sometimes too little training is given. The duration of the training in the Police Academy varies for the different agencies. It usually takes about 13 to 19 weeks on average but can last up to six months.
All of the police officers I know believe that it takes at least five to six months to properly train a new police officer to be prepared to go to work in a police department. Rookies must then go through three or more months of training with a Police Department Training Officer before being released to work alone.
END OF PART 2 of 4.
About the Author: Larry Dandridge was a certified police officer in Alabama and Missouri. He is an honors graduate of three police academies. He has served as a Police Officer, Deputy Sheriff, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) Reengineering Consultant, and he led the re-engineering of the Fort Hood, Texas Provost Marshall’s police department, customs, dispatch, administrative, investigative, and detention organization.
Larry Dandridge is also a certified Business Process Reengineer, Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, successful non-fiction and military history author, and the CEO of Tigers, Vikings, and Vipers Publishing LLC. His latest popular (over 150 five-star reviews), award winning, military-history, and action book, BLADES OF THUNDER (BOOK ONE) has raised over $70,000.00 for FISHER HOUSE CHARLESTON. The book has also served as a catalyst to raise more than $5.5 million dollars to buy the land, build, and support Fisher House Charleston. Mr. Dandridge has had professional articles published in over a 23 US, German, Canadian, and British professional journals, magazines, and newspapers and three books.
He has a California Community College Teaching Credential in Aeronautics, Business, Industrial Operations, and Military Science. Larry has worked as a College Instructor for Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, University of Maryland, Chapman University, and Lassen Community College. An FAA Certified Flight Instructor in Airplanes, Helicopters, Instruments, and Basic Ground, he has worked as a Multi and Single Engine Commercial Pilot.
He is also a past Regional Manager, Program Manager, Proposals Manager, Quality Manager, and Logistician with QinetiQ North America (QNA), Inc. He is the Founder and ex-Chief Operating Manager, and ex-Board Chairman of Community Loving Care Hospice, LLC, in St. Louis, MO.
LTC (Ret) Dandridge is an Army ex-enlisted Infantryman; ex-aviation Warrant Officer; ex-combat Helicopter Pilot, Fixed Wing Pilot, Flight Examiner, Maintenance Test Pilot, and Instructor Pilot; and a retired Army Master Aviator. He is a past Scientist and Program Manager with Battelle Pacific North West Labs and past Region Manager with McAdams Technologies, Inc. He is an honor(s) graduate of three police academies and served meritoriously as a MO and AL police officer.
He served in Vietnam in 1968 and1969 with the 121st Assault Helicopter Company and the 235th Aerial Weapons Company flying TIGER slicks, VIKING Gunships, and VIPER Cobras. He was wounded seriously in Vietnam in March of 1969 and is now a 100% service and combat disabled veteran.
He is a graduate of Charleston, SC's Murray Vocational High and he has a BS degree in Aeronautical Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and an MS degree in Transportation Management from Florida Institute of Technology. He is a graduate of the Armed Forces Staff College, Army Transportation Officers Advanced Course, and over 20 other military schools, including instructor pilot, academic instructor, contracting manager, German language, command and staff, and many others.
Larry is very proud that he is known as the volunteer Ambassador of Good Will for Fisher House Charleston. He also works tirelessly as a Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center Volunteer, Patient Advisor, Customer Service Council Member, Patient & Family Advisory Committee Member, Strategic Planning Team Member, CEO’s Veterans Service Officer (VSO) Council Member, and a Patient and Family Centered Care (PFCC) Instructor. As the Past President and current VP for Veteran Affairs for the Charleston, SC Chapter of the Association of the US Army he is active in supporting our military men and women, veterans, and their families.
Larry Dandridge played a speaking role as Corporal Arnold Sodowski on the Army Wives TV show and is a member of the Screen Actors Guild. He is married to Judith Ann (Siegel) Dandridge. He is the father of five children, including two Nurse Practitioners, one dietitian, one lawyer, and one computer programmer. He is also the proud owner of an Italian (miniature) Greyhound. He likes to write; play tennis, pickle ball, and basketball; fish; swim; read; and spoil his nine grandchildren and one great grandchild and his dog.
Larry has given more than 175 speeches and book signings in the past five years. He speaks on the following topics:
· Leadership and Lean Six Sigma.
· What Every Citizen Should Know About Police Officers and Use of Force.
· Business Process Re-engineering, Quality, and Continuous Improvement.
· The Helicopter War in Vietnam, The RHJ VA Medical Center, and Fisher House Charleston.
· BLADES OF THUNDER (Book One).
You can contact Larry Dandridge at LDandridge@earthlink.net, cell phone 843-276-7164, office phone 843-573-9657, and FAX 843-573-9241
END NOTES:
[i] See https://www.ajc.com/news/national/here-why-police-don-shoot-wound-the-case-deadly-force/IV4ohtIm6r8FaEMj78u1bO/ . Article by Debbie Lord, in National & World News AJC – Atlanta News, dated June 13, 2019, titled: Why not “shoot to wound†instead? “For a couple of reasons: First, shooting to wound someone may not stop the threat. If a person is shot in the leg, the threat may still exist as a suspect could still use his or her hands to fire a gun or stab with a knife. Second, and most importantly, it takes a skilled marksman to hit someone exactly in the arm or leg, and, most officers are not skilled marksmen. In fact, outside of an old-fashioned TV Western, few people can make that shot, no matter the training. Dr. Bill Lewinski, executive director of the Force Science Institute, explained in a position paper for the Institute the physics involved in the notion of training officers – who are often running after suspects – to "shoot to wound." "Hands and arms can be the fastest-moving body parts,†Lewinski said. “For example, an average suspect can move his hand and forearm across his body to a 90-degree angle in 12/100 of a second. He can move his hand from his hip to shoulder height in 18/100 of a second. "The average officer pulling the trigger as fast as he can on a Glock, one of the fastest- cycling semi-autos, requires 1/4 second to discharge each round. "There is no way an officer can react, track, shoot and reliably hit a threatening suspect's forearm or a weapon in a suspect's hand in the time spans involved.â€
[ii] See https://educational-film.fandom.com/wiki/Surviving_Edged_Weapons?file=Surviving_Edged_Weapons-_1988
[iii] See https://abcnews.go.com/US/police-trained-shoot-wound-experts/story?id=40402933 . Experts on Why Police Aren't Trained to Shoot to Wound, By Julia Jacobo, July 7, 2016,
[iv] See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chokehold .
[v] See https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Positional+asphyxiation. A form of asphyxia which occurs when body position prevents adequate gas exchange, such as from upper airway obstruction or a limitation in chest wall expansion.
[vi] See https://www.policemag.com/340095/do-we-still-need-batons, POLICE Magazine, article by Dean Scoville, dated March 1, 2009, in “…five important roles that batons serve: They serve as a positive and professional visual deterrent. They allow officers to strike harmoniously with greater knock down power. They can be used as a restraint weapon. They easily transition between blocking, striking, and restraining. They allow for transition from a non-lethal scenario to a lethal scenario.
[vii] See https://ntoa.org/pdf/swatstandards.pdf . The National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA), Tactical Response and Operational Standards for Law Enforcement Agencies, dated April, 2018.
[viii] See https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2017/08/31/police-need-military-equipment-combat-rising-crime-rates-and-police-deaths-alfred-regnery-column/613471001/. USA Article, dated 31 August 2017, by Alfred S. Regnery, titled, Police need military equipment to combat rising crime rates and police deaths.
[ix] See https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/miranda_warning . Published by Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute. "Miranda warning" refers to the constitutional requirement that once an individual is detained by the police, there are certain warnings a police officer is required to give to a detainee. Miranda v. Arizona: The requirement to give Miranda warnings came from the Supreme Court decision, Miranda v. Arizona, 384 US 436 (1966). In Miranda, the Court held that a defendant cannot be questioned by police in the context of a custodial interrogation until the defendant is made aware of the right to remain silent, the right to consult with an attorney and have the attorney present during questioning, and the right to have an attorney appointed if indigent. Fifth and Sixth Amendments: These warnings stem from the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and the Sixth Amendment right to counsel. Exclusionary Rule: Without a Miranda warning or a valid waiver of the Miranda rights, statements made may be inadmissible at trial under the exclusionary rule, which prevents a party from using evidence at trial which had been gathered in violation of the United States Constitution.â€
[x] See https://golawenforcement.com/articles/how-long-does-it-take-to-become-a-police-officer/, which states The duration of the training in the Police Academy varies for the different agencies. It usually takes about 13 to 19 weeks on average but can last up to six months. See https://sccja.sc.gov/training/basic-law-enforcement, which states the SC Police Academy is 12 weeks long. See the Saint Louis County and Municipal Police Academy (SLC&MPA)basic law officer training requirements at https://stlouisco.com/Law-and-Public-Safety/Police-Academy/Basic-Training/Notices . The SLC&MPA police academy is five- and one-half months long (24 weeks).