You’ve no doubt read or watched the national coverage about the off-duty law officer in a one-stoplight timber town in Wisconsin’s North Woods who recently burst into an early-hours pizza party of high school friends…slaughtered 6 of them, including his ex-girlfriend, with his AR-15…opened fire on a responding fellow officer, a friend of his…eluded authorities...Read More
The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin has added its voice to the growing concern about police fatigue, with an article in its August issue characterizing the problem as “an accident waiting to happen.” Among other things, the author, Spcl. Agt. Dennis Lindsey, a senior instructor at the DEA Academy and an international fellow at the Australian...Read More
To the outrage of community activists and some politicians, a Los Angeles officer who is the central figure in a nationally spotlighted police shooting has been exonerated of wrongdoing, with the help of findings from the Force Science Research Center. LAPD Officer II Steven Garcia, accused of using excessive force in killing a 13-year-old African-American...Read More
Thumbtack this to your mental bulletin board. It may help you survive intact the next time you’re involved in a controversial OIS or other high-profile use of force. These tips are the distilled wisdom of 6 distinct voices from the trenches of street combat, sounded during a 2-hour panel discussion for chief executives at the...Read More
Do police officers really have to kill people when they shoot them? Couldn’t they be more humane and just aim for arms or legs? As we reported in a previous FSN [2/28/06], a New York state senator in pondering these questions decided there’s way too much needless death being inflicted by cops these days. So...Read More
A New York state senator has introduced legislation that he says would force police officers using deadly force to try to shoot violent suspects in the arms or legs to stop them. His proposed law also requires that officers stop firing at an attacker as soon as a threat is neutralized, or face felony charges...Read More
A comment by a plaintiff’s expert witness during the trial of a civil suit against a Rhode Island police department has led a private law enforcement training organization to conduct an informative survey regarding off-duty policies and practices. The witness was testifying in a case in which an armed off-duty officer intervened in an altercation,...Read More
How do you think an officer should be treated after he has shot and killed an offender: A. Like a suspect or a civilian witness–required to give a statement ASAP…isolated for fear he’ll collude with others to concoct a self-serving fairy tale of what happened…interrogated rather than interviewed, with every discrepancy and hole in his...Read More
Part 2 of a 2-Part Series A large insurer of law enforcement agencies has issued a position paper on Tasers that cites 10 “risk management considerations” for their safe and effective use and directly refutes concerns of activist groups that allege these popular control tools are dangerous and inhumane. In contrast to intense criticism from...Read More
Part 1 of a 2-Part Series Just as recent reports from a major sheriff’s department and a large insurer of law enforcement agencies are describing the Taser as one of the safest and most effective subject-control tools in the street cop’s arsenal, police use of the device is coming under renewed attack by civil liberties...Read More
