When Cops Take The Bait

When Cops Take the Bait
Written by Daniel Linskey

I recently joined the team at UniformStories to share my thoughts, ideas and insights on issues facing law enforcement in America today. I retired a year ago after spending just under 28 years with the Boston Police Department. The last 5 years I served as the chief of the department. Before that I was a cop out on the streets arresting bad guys and helping people. Now I have many things that keep me busy, including being an on air news analyst and contributor for Fox News. Today I felt compelled to write about an event that is front and center in American policing today.

By the time I was asked to Monday morning quarterback the officer's actions by FoxNews, over a million people had already watched the video of the McKinney, TX officer’s response to an out of control group of teens at a pool party.

I watched the video over and over to make an informed assessment with the information that was shown. I started with the appropriate caveat that we do not know what transpired before the video started, but I was able to quickly come to a conclusion as to what went wrong.

The video starts with chaos. People are screaming, running, and the police officer, McKinney Police Cpl. Eric Casebolt — chasing after someone — trips and flips over. He gets up and continues to run after whomever he was chasing. When he fell, he dropped a flashlight from his belt, which several of the teens observed. Do they pick it up and try to steal it, as has happened with many dropped pieces of police equipment? No, they pick it up and want to return it to the officer. They approach another officer who is calmly talking with the teens, trying to gain their cooperation and mitigate the issues. The officer who fell and dropped his light returns to the very group who had found and returned his equipment and starts yelling at them, demanding that they sit down on the ground.

He then lectures several teens who are complying with his directions to sit on the ground saying, “You all wanna make me F#$%ing run around in the heat with 30 pounds of gear on?” He's clearly upset. He then directs others to get their asses out of here under the threat of arrest. They move away and one teen girl clearly says something that for which the officer took offense. He brings the girl back, pushing her to the ground and appears to be taking her into custody.

Several in the crowd take action and rush the officer. Some appear to touch him and others appear as if they are about too. The officer pulls his firearm and points it at a teen. That action has been the source of comment from across our nation and the globe.

I believe the drawing of the firearm is not the problem. Instead, I see it as a symptom of the problem.

The problem, as I see it — with full benefit of 20/20 hindsight — is that when that officer fell to the ground, chasing the initial suspect who escaped, he lost another piece of equipment from his gun belt that no one noticed. No one saw it on lying on the ground and tried to return it.

And it is the most important tool a police officer could ever use on the street. Not OC spray, handcuffs, or a Taser. That tool was a Perfect Command of Temper. Once he fell, the officer lost his perfect command of temper. At that point, when confronted with obstinate young people who were disorderly in their behavior and speech, he perceived they were dismissing his authority. He then responded with emotion.

I have seen this type of behavior by officers before. It is called "Contempt of Cop." Someone has challenged a police officer and pushed their buttons. I know this behavior well because not only have I seen it, I have lived it. I have, in the heat of the moment, taken the bait from those who wanted to see me lose control and act unprofessionally. I have made arrests on emotion when disarmed of my perfect command of temper. Any law enforcement officer who says they have never experienced this is not being honest.

We recruit from the human race, yet expect cops not to have human reactions.

As chief, I always resented those in the media or the public who judged a situation before all the facts were compiled and the investigations were conducted. There are always 3 sides to any situation. In this case, the officer may have observed the young woman he took into custody commit an arrestable offense that he chose not to take action against in hopes of not escalating the situation. Maybe he decided that since she was in his opinion mouthing off she would face the consequences of her actions. (Although, I think that fact would have come out in the media if it existed.)

There could be a host of reasons for the officer’s actions, which occurred before the video started rolling. If so I would encourage the officer and his representatives to get those facts out quickly. If that is not the case and the officer reviews the video and realizes that he was without his perfect command of temper during the encounter, I suggest he deploy the most effective tactic any cop who has been in his situation can deploy. If the facts and circumstances justify it, stand up and say, I’m sorry I had a bad day yesterday. I reacted out of emotion and my actions were wrong.

What a lesson that could be to our future officers who are challenged to take the bait to act unprofessional or to those who feel the need to bait our police officers. I think all sides could learn something.

Update: As of this morning we've learned that McKinney Police Cpl. Eric Casebolt has resigned. It's unfortunate that it ended this way, as one Youtube video has shaped public perception of the man's entire career. As I said, we recruit from the human race, yet expect cops not to have human reactions.

www.Uniformstories.com