Man Shoots and Kills Officer Wearing Body Camera

Man Shoots and Kills Officer Wearing Body Camera

http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2015/01/16/newday-cuomo-officer-bodycam-fatal-shooting.cnn

This is a very sad video to see.  This is how quick your life can end as an Officer.  This video explains why Officers will treat you like shit when they encounter you.  They are in constant fear for their lives.  Especially in Arizona, concealed carry is very common and in Chicago, it’s the #1 murder capital of the nation.  Officers are always on guard.  Anything can happen at any moment and now your life is gone.  People are very quick to judge Officers on why they are so trigger happy and always on guard, this video explains why.

This is actually an incident of white on white crime.  Race is not a factor in this incident.  It was not a minority who killed this Officer, it was another white man.  This Officer was treating the suspect very calmly and professionally.  This Officer was treating the suspect with great respect.  This Officer was very trusting of the suspect.  This Officer you can tell was a good guy, he didn’t want to violate this person’s rights.  This Officer was very trusting, and the outcome is that it cost him his life.  Now you wonder, if the suspect was a black man, would have this Officer been on more of a guard? 

Would this Officer have treated the suspect differently?  Would this Officer be in fear of his life as soon as he encountered this black suspect?  You don’t know how this Officer would have treated the black suspect.  Would the public have labeled this white Officer a racist for treating the Black suspect with great caution and suspicion?  Did this Officer feel at ease with this White suspect because this suspect was white and did not look like a violent criminal? 

This indicates why white Officers may treat minority suspects the way they do and why they may appear to be racist, because they truly are in fear of their lives, they are in fear that this incident could happen to them any day of the week.  I deeply understand this fear, but what I say is that if they have this fear with minority suspects, they better have this same fear with ALL suspects, including the white suspects, as this video indicates, it was another white man who took the life of this white Officer, it was not a minority who took the life of this Officer. 

This video should open the eyes of all Officers to be on guard with all suspects, no matter what skin color.  I see that there would be much less criticisms coming from civilians accusing Officers of racism, police brutality, and racial profiling if you would actually see White Officers treating other white men and women with great suspicion and aggressiveness.  If you have a group of white Officers that beat down another white man the way they beat Rodney King down, that would at least indicate that their fear has nothing to do with the suspects race but their fear is genuine fear of the entire public at large.  They must be on guard against everyone, not just the minorities.  I see that this video indicates how comfortable and courteous white Officers will be towards white suspects, and in this case, the white suspect exploited this opportunity to take the Officers life away. 

Several things could be learned from this video as valuable lessons for all Officers.  First, whenever you deal with anybody, especially when it comes to domestic disturbances, always have a backup Officer with you before you approach the suspect.  Never allow the suspect to leave your field of vision.  If the suspect is going to his bedroom to get something, you follow the suspect, you don’t allow the suspect to get what he needs to get himself, you tell the suspect to stay where he is while you get it for him after you put him in handcuffs. 

Be aware of others in the household that may possibly grab a gun and shoot you as well.  Never let the suspects put their hands in their pockets no matter how cold it is, you always need to see where their hands are at all times, never let them reach into their pockets.  Once you have decided that you will be arresting this person, make sure your backup is there.  Once you notify this person that he is under arrest, you should immediately expect that there may be a struggle, the suspect may run, he may shoot, he may attack you. 

Before you tell this person that he is under arrest, you need to see his hands.  If he keeps having his hands in his pockets, then in this specific situation, the Officer should have backed away drew his gun, pointed it at the suspect and told the suspect to remove his hands from his pockets.  If the suspect would have drew his firearm at that moment then the Officer would have had a much better chance of survival.  If the suspect takes his hand out of his pocket with no weapons in his hands, then the Officer should tell the suspect to turn around with this hands up, now the secondary officer is supposed to keep the gun pointed at the suspect while the primary Officer goes in to cuff the suspect and then proceed to search the suspect for weapons. 

There is absolutely no need to ask the suspect if he has any weapons, the suspect is not going to tell you anyway.  In addition, asking this suspect if he has weapons already places the suspect on guard.  Once an Officer decides to arrest a suspect, he must immediately get the suspect cuffed as soon as possible, then he should search the suspect for weapons.  The mistake this Officer made was that he never told this suspect he was under arrest, he just asked him if he had any weapons and then he started to pat the suspect without being in a position of control.  In all cases, when you plan to arrest an individual, anytime an individual has his hands in his pockets, you must assume it is a firearm, you must respond accordingly. 

All the advice given is easier said than done.  It is much easier to see the mistakes after the fact.  But the reality is that Officers deal with suspects thousands of times.  You might deal with 5000 suspects and nothing happens, and you end up taking your safety for granted, and then that one time you were not aware, your life is over.  This new body camera technology allows for all Officers to learn from the incident as if it has happened to them, but difference is, they have a 2^nd chance in life.  It is like getting killed in a video game, now you are revived and now it is your chance to do it right the next time around.  This video can save the lives of thousands of Officers, to take better precaution when dealing with all suspects, no matter the race.  This video also shows the reality of an Officers line of work and how difficult and dangerous his job really is, it shows the other side of the fence that you are not really used to seeing.  Also, deeply realize that this sort of survival training is extremely different that what you see in combat sport.  This is the sort of street survival training that not just Officers, but real Martial Artists need to be prepared for.