What Citizens Should Know About Police Officers, Use of Force, and Some Challenges the Police & Citizens Face (Part 4 of 4)
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 Part 4 of 4.
A military veteran of many deployments to the war in Afghanistan once said, “I feel for the COPS in America. In the military we got deployed a number of times. But a COP is deployed every day or night and he puts on the uniform and proudly does his duty.”
31. Should I stand my ground, argue with police officers, be belligerent, be impolite, and not answer their Questions? Most of the time, a police officer does not know you when you meet him or her. The police officer does not know if you are armed or not armed, sober or not sober, under the influence of drugs or not, a criminal or good citizen, sick or well, happy or sad, mentally ill or not, have a police record or not, have just committed a crime or not, like or dislike police officers, or taking your pregnant wife to the hospital to have her baby.
For goodness sake please be polite when encountering a police officer and follow his or her instructions. Officers are trained to politely introduce themselves, tell you why they are stopping (detaining) you, and ask you questions. For example: Good afternoon, I am Officer Friendly with the XXXX Police Department. The reason I stopped you is you were driving 75 miles per hour in a 60 mile per hour zone. Is there some reason you are driving so fast?
Police are people too and have great authority and latitude on whether you get a verbal warning, written warning, written citation, arrested, or not arrested. Why would you be impolite or not comply with a police officer?
If the officer is impolite or does something you do not approve of, ask for a supervisor to please respond or take your complaint up with the Police Department Leadership or the judge. You can also always get a lawyer and take legal action. The vast majority of Police department leaders, prosecutors, and judges are very good about discipling, retraining, and, when necessary, firing officers or charging them with a crime when valid complaints are made.
32. How do Police Officers handle mentally ill persons? Police Officers have become the first responders and repeat responders to the mentally ill in our nation. However, the police cannot be expected to treat mentally ill persons. The need for every state to increase outpatient and inpatient mental health care is over whelming.
The Police do get some training on how to deal with the mentally ill but not enough. COPs have few tools to provide any kind of long-term help for the mentally ill. A police officer can take a mentally ill person into protective custody for one night and provide a hot shower and hot meal in the jail. However, the mentally ill person has to be released the next day. If the mentally ill person is a veteran, COPS may be able to get the local VA Medical Center to help, if a VA Hospital is nearby. The states have done away with in-house mental health facilities to the point that only the wealthy can get long-term, inpatient, mental health care.
As a friend of mine, Joe Zealberg MD, a clinical psychiatrist with four decades of experience including 12 years directing an emergency psychiatry/mobile crisis program said to me recently:
“I have seen many good, well-mannered people change, much like the fictional transition of Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde, while under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, or due to extreme psychosis from many causes. They are no longer their normal selves. Due to severe acute brain alterations, they may be immune to the traditional techniques of being “talked down,” through de-escalation, and may be suicidal and possibly homicidal as well. And it is true, that people in that condition may sometimes have the strength of “ten people.” They may resist being cooperative or properly secured, may be immune to empathy, words, holds, pepper spray, asps, clubs, Tasers, or even several bullets.
Often, on weekend nights in ER’s across the USA, people are brought in psychotic, or high on drugs, or with unbelievably elevated blood alcohol levels. Prior to being brought in, while on the street, and even sometimes inside the hospital, they may fight with cops, paramedics, nurses, doctors, security staff, family members, and others. Once secured and treated, perhaps twelve hours later, they may have completely forgotten what happened and have returned to their nice, cooperative, polite selves. They’ve recovered from what I call their “acute brain attack.” But while under the influence of acute psychiatric illness or drugs or intoxicants, these normally fine people can seriously injure or even kill themselves or others. Sadly, the public does not get this, because most have never been exposed to these realities the way police officers and first responders are. It’s not like a weekly fictional television show or a Hollywood film. Those folks are actors with scripts. In the real world, there are no scripts.”
Doctor Zealberg’s remarks apply to serious changes of behavior in ANYONE, not just those with a history of mental illness.
33. How dangerous is police work? According to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund Web site at https://nleomf.org/facts-figures:
· There are more than 800,000 sworn law enforcement officers now serving in the United States, which is the highest figure ever. About 12 percent of those are female.
· There have been more than 22,000 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. Currently, there are 22,217 names engraved on the walls of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial.
· A total of 1,627 law enforcement officers died in the line of duty during the past 10 years, an average of one death every 54 hours or 163 per year. There were 135 law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in 2019.
· According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report 2018 LEOKA report:
There have been 58,866 assaults against law enforcement officers in 2018, resulting in 18,005 injuries.
· The deadliest day in law enforcement history was September 11, 2001, when 72 officers were killed while responding to the terrorist attacks on America.
· There are 1,181 federal officers listed on the Memorial, as well as 720 correctional officers and 44 military law enforcement officers.
· There are 365 female officers listed on the Memorial; 11 female officers were killed in 2019.
· Most officers killed in 2019 were killed by firearms, in automobile accidents (including being hit in the road).
34. What kind of risks are involved in police work? Besides deadly assaults, heart disease, vehicle accidents, being hit by vehicles, falls, trips, trauma, and suicide take a heavy toll on police officers. As a past police officer, people ask me frequently, “Were you not scared of being shot or stabbed to death by someone, when you served as a COP?” My answer was always:
“No, I could handle persons trying to hurt me with a gun or other hand held weapon through my training and experience. It was driving and riding in vehicles, which accounted for more than half of my duty time, and standing in and near roads that scared me terribly. That is because I knew if someone crashed into me while I was in a vehicle or decided to drive under the influence, recklessly, texting, or too fast for conditions, I could do almost nothing to prevent it. I also always worried about not getting enough sleep and exercise, as they are both hard to find time for in a law enforcement career.”
AUTOMOBILE CAUSED DEATHS & INJURIES TO POLICE OFFICERS
About 40% of fatal occupational injuries among police are from automobile and other motorized vehicle crashes and being struck by automobiles being driven by careless and imprudent drivers. Many of the drivers who run over police officers are driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol or both.
Even with all emergency lights flashing on the police car and even with dayglow orange cones or flares placed in the roadway back to about 150 feet behind the police car and incident, US drivers continue to run over officers and others in and near the road. Even with strict laws requiring drivers to slow down and move to the lanes away from the side of the road where the police officer is parked and working, US Drivers continue to run over police officers and innocent by standers every year. And even with thousands of pedestrians, road workers, and police officers getting run over or hit by cars, US Drivers continue to run over police officers and innocent by standers every year. As a retired police officer, I tell everyone who will listen, “Standing in, walking in, standing near a highway or street is extremely dangerous.”
PHYSICAL AND MENTAL DISEASE IN POLICE OFFICERS
COPs are also at increased risk for many physical and mental diseases. Police officers have one of the poorest cardiovascular disease (CVD) health profiles of any occupation. As compared with the rest of the population police officers are at increased risk for obesity, heart disease, and suicide. Police officers are constantly pressured to miss meals or gobble down fast food. These poor eating habits are caused by the officers’ high workloads and receiving frequent service calls, they have little time for eating, especially eating healthy. No police officer wants to be out of service and leave his or her area of responsibility (beat) and leave the area without police protection or needing to be covered by another police officer in another area.
Some of the reasons police officers have more health problems, are a high risk for heart disease and strokes, and die younger than many other occupations include:
? Policing is also an occupation that requires unpredictable and stressful bursts of intense and strenuous physical activity, which places high demand on the cardiovascular system.
? Police officers have a hard time fitting in regular physical exercise when they are off-duty due to secondary work, the need to rest, and take care of family needs.
? Patrol and spend so much time in a police car they do not get enough exercise.
? Many Police Officers eat less nutritious meals and miss many meals.
? Police Officers wear hot and uncomfortable body armor and other heavy equipment.
? Most Police Officers work multiple shifts preventing their bodies to adjust to a standard work and sleep schedule, which is vital to a strong immune system and good health.
? Many police officers are out of cardio shape and overweight.
? Police officers experience high levels of job-related stress and experience violent and tragic events.
? Nearly half of the police officers work a non-day shift compared to less than 10% of the U.S. workforce. Policing is a 24-hour occupation and shift work is a necessity. Night shift work can have considerable consequences on health and safety.
Because of the above listed occupational hazards and conditions, many police officers are at an extremely high risk of a heart attack when they are suddenly required to chase on foot or fight with dangerous criminals and mentally ill people or rush to help injured people in car wrecks, fires, and other emergencies.
SUICIDE AMONG POLICE OFFICERS
In 2019, 228 current or former officers died by suicide. It is well-known that the effects of the job stress police officers are subjected to result in increased levels of psychological disorders such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and physiological conditions including hypertension.
The good news is that police academies and departments are recruiting men and women in good physical condition and including a healthy physical fitness and nutrition training program. Nutrition is an important subject taught in many police academies and part of continuing education at some police departments. Police Departments almost always have gyms, athletic programs (softball, boxing, weight lifting, and others). Some police departments also encourage and reward officers for getting out of their cars and doing more walking on duty.
35. What is Qualified Immunity? Qualified immunity stems from the Civil Rights Act of 1871. Qualified immunity is a defense frequently invoked by government employees, including police officers, accused of violating a person's constitutional rights. Qualified immunity applies to civil suits brought against police officers and other government employees. Qualified immunity applies only to government officials in civil litigation, and does not protect the government itself from suits arising from officials' actions.
Qualified immunity is not unqualified or total. There is no such total immunity that prevents a police officer from being internally disciplined, re-trained, fired, losing his or her certification, or being criminally charged.
Critics say that qualified immunity makes it nearly impossible to hold officers accountable in civil court. Supporters of qualified immunity argue that it is needed to protect officers who have to make snap judgments, under tremendous stress, while in danger, sometimes in low visibility conditions, and with limited information, in the line of duty.
The Supreme Court has set a high standard for pursuing lawsuits over official misconduct. Officers' behavior must violate "clearly established" laws or constitutional rights, and courts have found it seldom does because almost every specific allegation is different.
THE NEED FOR A NATIONAL POLICE REFORM ACT
To improve the safety and quality of policing and to improve trust and confidence in police officers, the congress needs to Pass a Police Reform Act that:
· Creates a National Registry of Police Misconduct, which should require reporting all validated complaints, disciplinary actions, dismissals of COPs.
· Provide in that Reform Bill penalties of repeat offenders and the barring of bad actor COPS from just leaving one department and going to another.
· Provide in the Bill the requirement for all police departments to report to the FBI use of force incidents that result in serious injury and death.
· Provide a requirement for all NO KOCK warrants to be reported to the FBI and provide the FBI authority to investigate departments with abnormally high uses of NO KNOCK warrants.
· Provide penalties for any Police Department that has a history or practice of hiring bad police officers to be held responsible and sued in civil court.
· Reestablish the Department of Justice Reviews of Police Departments, that were used in the Obama Administration, whenever they are requested by a police department or deemed needed by the Department of Justice.
36. Isn’t the killing of African Americans by African Americans a much bigger problem than Police Officer Abuse of Deadly Force? We do have a huge problem in this great nation of people killing each other. And the United States has the highest prison and jail population (2,121,600 in adult facilities in 2016), and the highest incarceration rate in the world (655 per 100,000 population in 2016).
According to FBI statistics, roughly, 68 to 71 percent of all individuals arrested are White, 25 to 27 percent are African American, and 3 percent or so are of other races. White individuals are arrested more often for violent crimes than individuals of any other race and account for an estimated 57 to 60 percent of those arrests. About half of the people shot and killed by police are white.
However, African American and Hispanic Americans are shot at a disproportionate rate. The US population today is about 331 million. Black and Hispanic people together account for approximately 24 percent of the U.S. population, but are killed by police at more than twice the rate of white Americans.
According to the FBI Crime Report 2018, Expanded Homicide Data, Table 8:
· Whites kill whites at the rate of 10.84 per 1 million people in the USA;
· Whites kill blacks at the rate of 0.95 per million;
· Blacks kill whites at the rate 11.30 per million; and
· Blacks kill blacks at the rate of 57.14 per million.
These murder rates of citizens and police officers and incarceration statistic are depressing and beg the question, “How do we lower these tragic numbers?”
Many would use the extremely high number of black-on-black murders (over 90% of blacks violently killed in American are killed by blacks) and the extremely high numbers of blacks in prison to distract us from needed law enforcement, judicial, educational, health care, and other societal reforms.
According the FBI UCR data base found at https://ucr.fbi.gov/leoka/2019/topic-pages/officers-feloniously-killed, in 2019, 49 alleged offenders were identified in connection with the 48 law enforcement officers feloniously killed. With African Americans making up about 13% of the population and killing about 31% of police officers in 2019, the rate of blacks killing COPs is also disproportionately high.
Of those 49 offenders, the following characteristics are known:
? The average age of the alleged offenders was 31 years old.
? 48 alleged offenders were male and 1 was female.
? 28 (58%) of the alleged offenders were White, 15 (31%) were Black/African American, and 1 (2%) was Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander. Race was not reported for 5 (10%) of the alleged offenders.
? 12 of the alleged offenders were under judicial supervision at the time.
? 9 of the alleged offenders were under the influence of alcohol and/or a controlled substance at the time of the fatal incidents.
? 36 of the alleged offenders had prior criminal arrests.
37. Do police officers’ really use profiling? One of the best studies done on profiling is the study done by Minnesota House of Representatives Research Department dated June of 2000. The study is titled Racial Profiling Studies in Law Enforcement: Issues and Methodology and can be found at:
https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/hrd/pubs/raceprof.pdf.
The term profiling refers to the police practice of viewing certain characteristics, reports, and behaviors and stopping a person based on the officer’s training and those observations and reports. Suspicious behavior and circumstances might include a citizen’s description and report of a crime in progress or recently committed (drunk driver, bank robber, etc.), as indicators of criminal behavior.
Profiling also is used to legally identify suspicious activity or signs such as a person: with a bulge on a person’s waste line that may be a gun; who is standing in a high crime area, where guns are often used in crimes; who has gang tattoos and wearing gang colors of clothing; who quickly turns away from the police officer and begins walking away from the officer; who is a known convicted felon; who drops something on the ground while walking away; who is acting nervous; who is sweating heavily on a cold night; and who may have just been observed by the officer jay walking ------ and it is 2:00 AM in the morning.
Profiling is an established law enforcement practice throughout the nation, having evolved during the past few decades with the incorporation of social science theory and statistical methodology into law enforcement’s crime solving and crime prevention strategies. Although not a panacea, profiling has been shown to be a successful supplement to older and more fundamental policing strategies.
Most would agree that profiling is a lawful and useful tool when it is not based purely on race. On the other hand, racial profiling occurs when a police officer stops, questions, arrests, or searches someone solely on the basis of the person’s race or ethnicity. Critics typically use this definition when condemning racial profiling, as do law enforcement agencies when denying the existence of racial profiling.
Few things are more important to the vast majority of police officers and more on their mind than proving they are race-neutral in their public safety duties. Officers know they do use profiling to identify suspected criminal activity and to stop reported criminals and reported suspicious persons. Police departments and academies certainly train and direct officers to use their skills, training, citizen reports and complaints, community requests for close patrol, shift briefings, wanted information, reports, statistical information, experience, knowledge of criminal activity, the time of day or night, the weather, a person’s behavior, and other information to help them identify criminal activity.
Unfortunately, there have been cases where, police officers have stopped, questioned, arrested, and searched someone solely on the basis of the person’s race or ethnicity. This history of racial profiling calls for enhanced training for law enforcement personnel to better sensitize officers to the subtle and unintended ways in which broad-based racial assumptions and stereotypes may lead to racial profiling and other racially skewed justice outcomes. Racial profiling has also led to the redoubling efforts to recruit minority persons into positions of responsibility throughout the justice system.
However, because it is hard to find qualified minorities, who are interested in low paying police officer jobs and the fact that minority officers frequently are tougher on minorities than other officers, more long-term strategies aimed at the earlier preparation and encouragement of children of color for careers in the justice system are needed.
38. What makes a good police leader? Good police leaders are visible, reliable, influencing, and accountable at every level. Nothing makes more of a difference in the quality, continuous improvement, and performance of a police department than having well-trained servant leaders. Good leaders know what the standards and goals are and ensure those goals and standards are met.
Good leaders find out quickly if a police officer is a problem and either retrains or disciplines (or both) or fires and, if needed, prosecutes that officer. Good leaders have zero tolerance for cruelty, excessive force, discrimination, disrespect, dishonesty, bullying, racism, hate, lewd or lascivious behavior, and other forms of insensitivity and favoritism.
Good police leaders treat men and women equally without regard to race, color, creed, religion, age, custom, sexual orientation, or political party. Good leaders never compromise the integrity of their word, deed, or signature. Good leaders ensure that every police officer and employee in the department knows that leading is more than just “follow me”, but also, and maybe more importantly, “follow my orders and Standard Operating Procedures”.
Good leaders and community partners reward a police officer, civilian employee, or helpful citizen with the appropriate recognition, immediately after exceptional service or deed. Good leaders command, advise, mentor, ride-along, show up at incidents, and manage. Good leaders are not reluctant to get dirty, muddy, or physically tired with his or her police officers. Good leaders make the citizens, communities, houses of worship, businesses, other partners, and other customers in their community a part of the police department.
Good police leaders need advanced public safety skills, communicative skills, motivational skills, and management skills. They also need brain storming, root cause analysis, problem solving, and mistake proofing skills.
39. Is there institutional and personal racism in our police departments? The short answer to that question is police departments are not unlike all other parts of our society in being made up of people of all races, colors, creeds, religions, ages, and sexual preferences.
The evidence is convincing that 99% of police officers are trained and dedicated to serving and protecting. The records show that the vast majority of COPS do their best to suppress and eliminate all forms of prejudice and discrimination they may have. Because of training, continuing education, close supervision, and applicable laws, police officers certainly should be aware that they cannot let any of their personal negative feelings or personal cultural bias influence the fair treatment of citizens and immigrants in this country.
Like the military, police departments encourage, train, and lead men and women to be kind, compassionate, empathetic, polite, and fair with everyone they come in contact with. However, no one is foolish enough to believe that there is no prejudice or discrimination in the police.
What the police leadership can do and mostly do tell their COPS, “We all come to this great melting pot of America with our own cultural strengths and weaknesses. Police leaders cannot change everyone’s mind to being a fair, anti-racist, anti-Sematic, understanding, polite, cooperative, law abiding, and team player. However, the department expects and commands police officers to not show those negative traits in anything they do on duty, off duty, and on social media or they will be punished to the letter of the law. That punishment will include discipling, and, if needed, firing and prosecuting.
The point is, the police departments may not be able to quickly change everyone into an honest, non-prejudiced, honorable, non-discriminatory, polite, and understanding person, but the department can certainly, swiftly, and strictly enforce our laws and constitution and weed out those who are do not meet the high standards of policing.
There is some evidence of some institutional prejudice and discrimination in a few police departments. However, there is undeniable evidence that police departments do many good things to try and eliminate institutional prejudice and discrimination. The Department of Justice Police (DOJ) Department Reviews that were began in the Obama administration, which were eliminated under the Trump administration, are needed more than ever. DOJ reviews were perhaps the most objective way available to review police departments, find problems, and come up with corrective actions. State level reviews of county and municipal police departments and internal affairs, and CALEA Certifications are also very valuable in eliminating institutional prejudice.
Police Departments are not unlike businesses, other government organizations, and other groups in our society when it comes to having problems with discrimination and prejudice. What is different from much of American society and is better in police departments includes:
· Police Departments have the screening, testing, interviewing, police academies, internal controls, and leadership, including many senior minority police officers, minority officers, and minority chiefs of police, to continuously improve.
· Excellent reviewing agencies, body and dash cameras, Live PD and COPS TV shows, and other forms of transparency. And detailed policies, procedures, processes, and laws governing police conduct.
END OF PART 4 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) Lean Six Sigma and Re-engineering 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 [email protected], cell phone 843-276-7164, office phone 843-573-9657, and FAX 843-573-9241