Police Discretion Scenarios Worksheet

La w Enforcement ►

O FFICER-INDUCED jeopardy oc­ curs when a police officer has the option to take an alternative ap­ proach to achieve a desired out­ come, but instead forces a situation, which ul­

timately produces an unnecessarily negative result. However, with proper training and a solid understanding of the importance of self- control, officers can avoid such situations.

The following example reveals how a dual understanding of the law and my own nature allowed me to avoid escalating a situation and causing additional problem s for everyone, myself included.

In this particular case, a woman called to ask us to check on her mother’s well-being. The mother supposedly was meeting the caller’s brother at the mother’s residence, and the wor­ ried caller said her brother was a drug user. She gave me his date of birth, and I soon discov­ ered that his driver’s license was revoked, but that he did not have any active warrants.

When I arrived, the front door of the resi­ dence was open, but the glass storm door was shut. While walking up the driveway, I felt the exhaust pipe of the vehicle in the drive­ way. It was still hot, indicating it had been driv­ en recently, so I recorded the vehicle and plate information.

I asked who else lived at the address, and the man did not respond. I asked again, and he mentioned a name I did not understand or rec­ ognize. Since his behavior was odd and aggres­ sive and his actions suggested he was under the influence of drugs, I requested a second unit as backup and for medical to stand by.

I asked the man where his mother was, and he stated that he did not know. He said he did not touch her or talk to her. I asked if she was still located at the residence, and he said no. I asked if he knew w here she w as, and he yelled, “No! I told you I didn’t talk to her!”

When backup arrived and another officer began speaking with the male, I retreated to my vehicle and called dispatch to request the cell phone number of the mother. After reach­ ing her, I confirmed that she was not at the residence in question and that she was fine.

While in my cruiser, 1 heard an officer yell, “Don’t pick up the hatchet!” It was clear the subject was increasingly agitated by our pres­ ence, so I took the opportunity to diffuse the situation and approach it from a different angle.

I returned to the house and asked the male if he would talk to medical. He said no. I told him I had reached his mother and that she was fine, and he thanked me. Since the well­ being of the mother no longer was a concern,

neighborhood and waited for the man to dri ve away. However, before I could catch him de­ parting, I received a call in progress that re­ quired my immediate attention.

Had I forced the situation at the residence, there was a very good chance the subject would have attempted to attack me or one of the other officers on the scene with the hatchet. In such an instance, the likelihood of him being shot surely would have increased, and I could have been held liable for creating the situation.

Self-control on my part and a clear under­ standing of my duties and obligations allowed me to avoid escalating a situation that quickly could have become tragic.

In another instance, I had to make a split- second decision while serving a mandatory protection order with a kick-out. This means I was going to an individual's home, serving him with a protection order, and making him leave his home, all within roughly 15 minutes.

The protection order was a no-contact or­ der with an added clause that the individual could not own or possess any firearms. The individual in this case had a criminal history of violence and gang activity that I was aware of before making contact.

I knocked on the individual’s door in the morning, waking him up. When he came to

COPS SHOULD NOT PLAT JEOPARDY

b y D a r r o n S p e n c e r

W hen p olice officers "fo r c e " a situ a tio n , negative results usually fo llo w .

Through the door, I spoke with a very edgy and aggressive male who did not identify himself, but who answered to the first name of the brother. It was hard to hear him through the door, so I told him I was going to open it, but I am not sure he heard or understood me.

When I opened the door and held it open against my back, the male raised his voice and became increasingly aggressive. This was cause for concern because I could see various tools on the floor about five feet away, includ­ ing a hatchet.

I calmly explained that I had been asked to check on the well-being of the residents. The male stated that he was fine, but his eyes were bloodshot and he never stopped pacing or waving his arms.

I cancelled medical and left the scene. We had been contacted to check on the mother’s well­ being, and we had done that successfully.

I could have articulated a medical hold for the individual, but I had limited legal grounds, given that he was on private property. Since officers who escalate a situation unnecessarily can be held liable for any negative outcomes, my best bet was to implement a better plan that initiated contact with the man elsewhere.

It was apparent he had arrived at and intend­ ed to leave the premises in a motor vehicle. Since I suspected he was under the influence of drugs and I knew his driver’s license was re­ voked, seeing him behind the wheel would give me legal reason to stop and arrest him.

To that end, I parked at the exit o f the

the door, I saw that he was about six feet tall and weighed more than 300 pounds. He was wearing shorts and a tank top and had numer­ ous visible gang-related tattoos. He was not fully awake nor alert yet and, after I intro­ duced myself, he invited me into the single­ wide trailer house. We walked down a narrow hallway to the main bedroom.

1 stopped at the door of the bedroom and looked inside. The room was very cluttered, and the oversized bed took up most o f the space. The man’s girlfriend was sitting in the far com er o f the room. To my right was a dresser, and on top of it was a pistol pointing in my direction. 1 could tell from the bore size that it was either a BB or pellet gun, neither of which is classified as a firearm.

32 USA TODAY ★ SEPTEMBER 2017

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I explained the protection order and kick- out along with the stipulation that he not own or possess any firearms. The protected party in this case w as an o th er w om an, not the man’s girlfriend.

Without warning, the man turned and pulled another pistol out from under the pillow. I saw it in the gap between his side and arm as he turned back to face me. He was holding it by the base of the handle with it dangling upside down between his thumb and index finger.

If his hand had been wrapped around the grip o f the pistol in a normal fashion, I would have drawn my gun and shot him in the head with little to no warning. Even without his hand wrapped around the grip of the pistol, I would have been completely justified in shoot­

ing and killing him, but I am thankful I made the decision not to take his life. In this case, it was the correct choice.

As he finished turning toward me, he ex­ plained, “It’s just a BB gun.” He wanted to know if he could take his BB guns with him when he left. I stated that he could because they were not classified as firearms. I then ex­ plained how close I had come to shooting and killing him. He was taken aback and apolo­ getic. Still half asleep, he had not considered what he was doing. I told him never to reach for a gun without telling the officer beforehand.

Accidents occur every day. Some are a nui­ sance and take up your time, while others alter your life permanently. I have responded to a lot o f accidents, and I confidently can say that

properly fastened seat belts and child restraints are very effective in saving lives and minimiz­ ing injuries. Excessive speed usually is a con­ tributing factor in most injuries and fatal acci­ dents, and most accidents occur because the driver is distracted or impaired. If everyone wore a seat belt, slowed down, and focused on driving, the accident rate would plummet.

One particular accident caused by an ex­ hausted driver deeply impacted me. As al­ ways, I did my best to go beyond the basic re­ quirements. Two vehicles were involved, and the sleep-deprived driver was dead. After tak­ ing pictures o f the scene and vehicles and completing a rough drawing o f the resting po­ sitions o f the vehicles, I headed to the hospital to speak to the driver who had survived the

USA TO DAY ★ SEPTEMBER 2017 33

La w En f o r c e m e n t

T e c h n o lo g y t o t h e R e s c u e ? by A drian A umen

"Researchers in the new Complex Social Interaction. . . laboratory are using body-worn cameras and advanced scientific tools and

techniques—such as data analytics, biometrics, and machine learning—to examine the complex factors th a t shape

interactions between police and community members."

A s the nation grapples w ith policing and security issues, crim inal justice special­ ists at W ashington State U niversity are

developing technology to im prove police-com ­ m u n ity re la tio n s , o ffic e r tra in in g , a n d p u b lic safety. R esearchers in the new C om plex Social Inte ra ctio n (C S I) la b o ra to ry a re u sin g body- w o rn c a m e ra s a n d ad va nce d scie n tific to o ls a nd techniques— such a s da ta analytics, bio­ m etrics, a n d m a c h in e le a rn in g — to e x a m in e th e com plex factors that s hape interactions be­ tw een police and co m m unity m em bers.

T h e interdisciplinary, intercollegiate C SI re­ s e a rc h te a m , led b y D a vid M akin, a s s is ta n t professor of crim inal justice and criminology, is th e first to explore police officer decisionm ak­ ing and interpersonal interaction by exam ining data from b ody-w orn cam eras, ‘T h is research and te ch no lo g y will provide insight into police practice a s well as real-w orld applications for im proving o rg a n iza tio n s a n d de cisio n m a kin g at the individual level,” he stresses.

T h e C S I te a m is using th e inform ation to d e s ig n a lg o rith m s a nd new s o ftw a re to help p u b lic s a fe ty a g e n c ie s im p ro v e p o lic e -c o m ­ m un ity relations; reduce conflict, cost, a nd lia­ bility; a n d e n h an c e th e health and w ell-being of law o fficers a nd th e ir com m unities.

S ince its launch e a rly this year, th e lab has a n a lyze d m ore th a n 2 ,0 00 police-com m unity interactions a n d num e ro u s reco rd s from law e n fo rc e m e n t in cid e n ts to identify, code, a nd ca ta lo g key variables associated w ith a range o f o u tc o m e s , p o s itiv e to negative. Lo ca tion , lig h tin g , tim e of day, n u m b e r o f p e o ple p re­ sent, gender, race, verbal and physical stress, and intensity of th e interaction are a m o n g the m yria d c ontextual fa cto rs assessed.

T h is a p p ro a c h c o m b in e s a u to m a te d and m a n u a l c o d in g to g e n e ra te m o re o b je c tiv e a n d holistic descriptions of police-com m unity interactions th a n o ther existing m eth o d s pro­ vid e , M akin co n ten d s. P re lim in a ry resu lts of th e s tudies have been published in th e Jour­ nal o f Research in Crime an d Delinquency.

To a id th e C S I research, A riz o n a -b a s e d A x o n (form erly T ASE R International) is e q u ip ­ p ing th e lab w ith its latest b o d y -w o rn c am era h a rdw are a n d softw are. T h e don atio n w ill e n ­ a ble th e rese a rch e rs to undertake a range of e xp e rim e n ts exploring th e situational and d y ­ n a m ic fa c to rs a s s o c ia te d w ith d e c is io n m a k ­ ing a n d th e e ffic a c y o f p olice training.

‘T h e re s e a rc h th a t D a vid M a k in a n d his te a m a re d o in g at W S U is groundbreaking,” says R ick Sm ith, A xon C E O a nd founder. ‘‘It rep re se n ts a n o th e r exciting a venue fo r body- w o rn c a m e ra usage, potentially leading to the d e v e lo p m e n t o f to o ls th a t w ill m a k e b o d y - w o rn c a m e ra footage m ore useful fo r training a nd for understanding pa ttern s o f behavior."

‘T h is is an excellent exam ple of a w in-w in public-private partnership with potential to gen­ erate cost savings for police departm ents and bring new products to the market," relates Brian Kraft, director of Business D evelopm ent for the C ollege of A rts and Sciences and director of In­ novation and Industrial Research Engagement for th e Office of Research. T he CSI lab also re­ c e n tly c o n tra c te d to w o rk w ith th e A p p lie d Physics Lab of John H opkins University on fur­ ther research related to body-worn cam era use.

A specialist in police training and technolo­ gy, M akin especially is interested in identifying th e situational and dynam ic factors associated w ith key perform ance indicators and th e deci­ sion to use force. W hile statistics relating to po­ lice use of force long have been collected and m ade available to the public, M akin points out that th e inform ation provided by those statistics has been limited, indicating only w h ether use of force o ccurred and th e type of force used.

“ U s e of fo rc e is n ’t in h e re n tly n e g a tiv e — th e re a re tim es w h e n it ne e ds to occur, a nd w e m ust c o m e to understand not ju s t w hether it ha p pe n s, but how it happens. O u rs is th e first study I’m aw are of th a t attem pts to c o n ­ textualize use of force, su ch a s how quickly it o c c u rs a nd th e severity a nd duration.”

A d d s D a le W illits , a s s is ta n t p ro fe s s o r of crim inal ju stice a nd c rim in o lo g y a nd a m em ­ b e r o f th e C S I re s e a rc h te a m : “O n e of th e great c h allenges of stu d yin g policing is th a t it is hard to tran sla te research results into prac­ tice. T h e a g e nc ies w e ’ve talked to a nd w o rk ­ e d w ith a re incredibly excited a b o ut th e w o rk w e're doing in th is lab.”

T h e s oftw are being developed by th e C S I te a m c o u ld b e u s e d in c o n c e rt w ith o fficia l a g e n c y d a ta to h e lp s u p e rv is o r s e v a lu a te th e ir o rg a n iz a tio n s ’ a p p ro a c h e s to o ffic e r train in g , p olicies, a n d p ro to c o ls a n d identify a reas for im provem ent.

T h e diversity o f th e researchers’ expertise a reas provides im portant add ed perspective, n o tes c o p rin c ip a l in ve stig a to r R achel Bailey, assistant p rofessor in th e C ollege of C om m uni­ c a tio n a n d d ir e c to r o f t h e C o m m u n ic a tio n Em otion and C ognition Laboratory. “B y using m ultiple m etrics from interdisciplinary lenses, w e m ay be able to understand m ore accurate­ ly h o w o ffic e rs a re in te ra c tin g w ith d iffe re n t publics in circu m sta n ce s that are so m e tim e s v e ry stressful.”

B ryce J. D ietrich, assistant p rofessor o f s o ­ c ia l s c ie n c e in fo rm a tic s at th e U n iv e rs ity of Iow a, is a n o th e r p ro m in e n t m e m b e r o f th e C S I te a m of faculty a n d g raduate students.

Adrian Aumen is assistant director o f public relations in the College o f Arts and Sciences a t Washington State University, Pullman.

accident. After returning to the scene, I gave a written statement and completed a variety of paperwork with the deputy who was the pri­ mary on the case, then left.

While I was pulling away, an adult female standing in the road waved me down. After identifying herself, she started asking ques­ tions about the vehicles involved in the acci­ dent, and I told her to let me pull my car off the road. I parked on the eastbound shoulder and got out. She asked me about her husband, and I told her he had died in the car crash.

Before 1 was able to say I was sorry, she col­ lapsed. I caught and held her and helped her to the back of my car. 1 opened the back door and she sat down in the vehicle with her legs out­ side. I handed her some tissues and knelt in front of her, holding her hands, before request­ ing dispatch to send a victim’s advocate.

She told me her daughters were in her car, parked on a county road nearby, and that they were four and six years old. She gave me her mother’s name and number, and I called the woman and explained the situation. The moth­ er stated she was on her way.

When the victim’s advocate arrived, she spoke with the woman and went to check on her daughters.

I told the woman I had arrived on scene less than three minutes after the call came out, and I assured her that her husband did not suf­ fer. I told her she needed to focus her attention on her two wonderful children.

I spent 20 to 30 minutes with her and, when she was ready, I took two stuffed teddy bears out of my trunk to give to her daughters and walked with her back to her vehicle.

Her parents arrived about 15 minutes later and helped transfer their granddaughters’ car seats to their vehicle. The woman completed a consent to search form on her husband’s ve­ hicle, locked her vehicle, and left with her kids in her parents’ vehicle.

I returned to the accident scene, gave the primary deputy the consent to search form, and left once again, but I could not stop think­ ing about this accident. The woman and her husband were about my age; their children were only a few years older than my son. The husband worked the night shift on an oil and gas rig. He had stayed up to spend Christmas day with his wife and kids and then worked all night. On his way home, he had fallen asleep at the wheel and drifted into oncoming traffic.

I can still see this woman’s face, and 1 still get emotional when 1 drive past the scene of the accident. What if my wife had been in her shoes? What if my son had been the child in the car? How would 1 have wanted the law enforcement officer to treat my family? These questions drive my behavior. ★

Darron Spencer, a fo rm e r Marine, was a corrections o fficer with C o lo ra d o ’s Weld County Sheriff’s Office, and is the founder o f Humane Policing, Broomfield, Colo., and au­ thor o f a book by the same name, from which this article is adapted.

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