3 Reasons Why Excessive Force Will Always Be A Problem In Law Enforcement
Before I begin, you should understand that I am not speculating on this topic. I am only providing you with what I have seen in my past career as a police officer. With that being said, racism is not an element of this article. That doesn’t mean that there is not racially motivated force being used on citizens in America, I just have not witnessed it in person. This segment really doesn’t need to be broken down into three categories. The reason for excessive force is simple really and it’s all based on science. Which refers to an individual’s Sympathetic Nervous System and how it reacts to adverse situations. That of course varies widely among each officer and their experiences prior to becoming a cop. In law enforcement we have color codes to identify an officer’s awareness while on duty. As a Field Training Officer, part of my job was to observe a new officer’s behavior and determine what stage they were in during different situations. From driving and patrolling neighborhoods, to placing handcuffs on someone, to chasing a suspect while trying to communicate on the radio and more. Stage White was completely unaware of one’s surroundings. Like asking a rookie to tell me the name of the intersecting streets we just passed and he or she wouldn’t know. Yellow was some awareness, but not much. May see a naked man dancing on the sidewalk but miss a citizen waving him or her down for help. Next was Orange, which was solid overall awareness, where good patrol officers operate in. Then there was Red, which was over vigilant, constantly on edge and maybe accusing and/or shouting at someone for doing something that would otherwise be normal to another officer. Red stage usually is a precursor to an officer with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Lastly there is condition Black. A stage that no officer wants to be in, which is either death or complete state of shock, totally unaware of their surroundings. Anyway, here are the following contributors for excessive force.
1. The Officers Ego
Clearly body worn cameras are not enough to stop officers from using excessive force, as seen in the most recent Tyre Nichols incident. The individual ego is what makes or breaks that officer and for most of them, they aren’t going to change. One of the first statements made to me in the academy was to check my emotions at the door. That was such an important statement and I think most overlook. With that being said and before my time as an officer, the old school mentality was if you run from police and you’re caught, it’ll be followed by an a** whooping. Unfortunately today, a lot of officers want to continue to uphold that legacy and have that image as the “tough guy”. Other officers took it personally when a suspect avoided apprehension and ran from them. However, officers fail to understand that it isn’t personal, the suspect just doesn’t want to go to jail, after all, who would? I had many people run from me and when it came to foot pursuits, I caught them all. However, I didn’t take it personally and would often laugh while running parallel to the suspect while engaging in some friendly trash talk, like “where you going man” or “you ain’t fast enough”. Now I of course didn’t compromise my officer safety, instead I remained calm and was prepared for any potential deadly encounter and was confident of what to do if that situation were to arise. The majority of my foot pursuits ended in the suspect falling onto the ground and surrendering with no stamina left. Vehicle pursuits are a bit different. Officers especially take it personally when a suspect fails to yield to their emergency lights and siren in an attempted traffic or investigative stop as the criminal takes off at a high rate of speed. Vehicle pursuits have been a huge debate among Police Departments for a long time. When to chase and when to let them go. Letting them go makes most officers enraged, as it did me when I first started. But I eventually understood that it wasn’t worth innocent people’s lives in order to catch someone who you observed run a stop sign after leaving a drug house.
2. The Hiring Process
This shouldn’t be a surprise, but this is where it starts. And because Police Departments are short nationwide, those egotistical applicants are slipping through the cracks and suiting up for the next academy. To be honest, even before hiring was a problem, catching those bad applicants was still an issue. It is nearly impossible to determine how that particular applicant will respond to adverse situations. Regardless of all of the testing, like the Polygraph, Psychological Evaluation, Physical and so forth. But did you notice a portion of the process I left out? It’s the Oral Board Interview. This is usually where a panel of Police Commanders (Lieutenants Captains Majors and so on) interview you. Those commanders are usually from the “a** whooping era” and instead of asking in depth questions about the applicants past, how they were raised, how many physical altercations have you been in, or to describe a life or death incident in your life, the interviewers ask standard human resource questions. Like, describe a time at work when you dealt with a co worker you were having issues with and how you handled it. Questions that you might be asked if you were in the hiring process at your local fast food joint. The majority of those commanders are present for the pay check and to fill those empty, spider webbed seats at the police academy. They could care less about your life or your personality and will more than likely forget your name as soon as your cheeks come off that warm seat.
3. Lack of Hands On Training
I almost left this one out. I’ve been through a lot, and I mean a lot of police training as it relates to use of force situations. And I can honestly say, the training is pretty darn good. However, the hands on portion needs improvement as there isn’t much of it anymore. With liability and injuries being almost unavoidable, departments are still more concerned with eliminating the potential for liability and injuries, than making sure officers are prepared for the streets. Which is a catch 22 and only negatively impacts departments in the long run. Which would you rather have, an officer with minor injuries or a broken bone at most during training, or a dead civilian as a result of excessive force. The answer is obvious.
During basic training in the Marines, they would have soldiers gear up and wallop each other with Pugil Sticks. Now, I believe they even allow them to spar with boxing gloves, utilizing only body shots. As I am no Marine, I was an amateur boxer prior to my law enforcement career. And I can tell you this, without my journey as a boxer, I wouldn’t have been the officer I became. One that never used excessive force and often deescalated incidents before they became physical. Utilizing the hands on, force on force scenarios like the Marines do, is a must. Like Mike Tyson once said, “Everyone has a plan ‘till they get punched in the mouth.” and that couldn’t be a more truthful statement. So how do you eliminate that egotistical mindset? You eliminate it in training and let it be known, there is always someone bigger and stronger than you and just because you’re a police officer, doesn’t mean you’re invincible.
In addition to what I have already provided, being in shape is paramount in law enforcement. It’s just like a game of tag, or cops and robbers. The robber's job is to get away and the cop's role is to catch them. So be prepared to run and run a lot. And don’t be mad at the suspect for running, that’s part of the game. So get in shape!
