I am a 5-foot-1-inch, 115-pound female who is eligible for a discounted movie ticket. I’ve worked with law enforcement for 30 years — first as a state and federal prosecutor, then as an international law enforcement trainer and writer. I’m also an adjunct instructor at the Alaska Department of Public Safety Academy, where I’ve been teaching for the better part of these thirty years.
The following is an account of how I single-handedly overpowered four recruits at the academy — male twenty-somethings in fit condition — using a weapon nearly every citizen in America carries with them at all times.
Names have been changed to protect the innocent.
The Setting and the Scenario
The Alaska DPS Academy is residential. It has areas that are public during business hours and a second floor of the main building that is not a public area.
The recruits had been instructed by the corporals to “challenge” anyone they didn’t know in the private areas of the academy or the public areas during non-business hours. They were to determine the unknown person’s identification and the nature of their business.
I arrived on a Sunday to begin instruction the next morning. By prearrangement, the recruits were not expecting me. They expected me to comply. I didn’t. And they didn’t think ahead about what they might do in that situation. That’s when the “teachable moment” began.
I made it upstairs where I encountered four recruits in the lounge. They all faced me. One politely asked my name and business at the academy. I just continued to walk around. They looked at each other, walked over to me, and the self-appointed spokesman repeated his inquiry. I replied by asking each of them their names, which they politely gave. I then asked them what they were doing and they politely told me.
Recruit Smith — the spokesman — again asked me my name, which I did not provide. He asked me what I was doing and I said I was looking around, it was a public building and I was a member of the public. Smith started talking about some statute or regulation defining public buildings. I started walking again and they all followed me. Two of the recruits began a side discussion about calling a corporal.
Recruit Jones asked, “Ma’am, is there anything we can say or do to get you to tell us your name and what you’re doing here?”
I replied, “Excellent professional communication, Recruit Jones,” and headed toward a VIP suite. That’s when Smith gently placed his hand on my forearm.
I stopped, and asked in a raised voice: “Smith, do you want to be named in a lawsuit before you’re even a sworn officer?”
I hadn’t planned that statement. I just went with “the moment.” Smith’s hand flew off my arm like it had burst into flames. He started backing away. The other three recruits followed suit.
Shazam! I had discovered a new super power.
Scenario Training for Today’s Policing
The next morning, we replayed the scenario in class. I asked the four recruits if they would’ve backed off if I’d pulled a knife or a gun. “No, ma’am.”
“So, why’d you back off when I threatened a lawsuit?” I asked.
Smith reddened, smiled sheepishly, and said, “Well, Ma’am, I didn’t want to be named in a lawsuit before I’d even become an officer.”
Recall that an Alabama officer let himself be pistol whipped with his own gun rather than shoot the attacker because he didn’t want to be the next day’s headlines.
We need to start preparing officers — as recruits — for the threats of lawsuits and media headlines. Add these modern challenges to your scenario training. Whether your scenario is a pursuit, armed confrontation, traffic stop, crash scene, domestic incident, or even just “routine” contact with the public, consider adding the one or more of the following five elements:
1. Have journalist and/or bystander role-players record recruits during scenarios.
2. Have bystander role-players yell at recruits that they’re recording and other provocations.
3. Have bystander and media role-players press the perimeter and require the recruit to communicate with them as part of the scenario.
4. Play the video after the scenario as if it were a news story and ask the recruit what he or she is going to do now.
5. After de-briefing a use of force scenario, posit a next scenario for the recruit: “An investigation of your use of force concludes you performed exceptionally well. Now the person or their family sues you and the department and your department settles and pays them more than you’ll make in a couple of years. How’s that going to make you feel? Will that affect your next police-citizen encounter or need to use force? What will you do to ensure it doesn’t?”
In debriefing my four recruits and their classmates, I explained that they could do everything perfect and still get sued. And their departments might pay to make the nuisance suit go away rather than spend more money in attorney fees and risk a runaway jury. If they can do it right and still get sued, their focus shouldn’t be on not getting sued. It must be on training to be as safe as they can as they intentionally go into harm’s way to keep the rest of us safe — and then performing as they train. That is what makes them noble.
Keep recruits and officers informed of new technology. Discuss the impact such technology may have on their work. For example, YouTube has launched a resource to help citizens learn more about how to report the news, straight from the experts. It’s called the YouTube Reporters’ Center.
There’s a smartphone app called Hands Up that lets users record police without their knowledge and uploads the video automatically. Its website explains:
“Once pulled over by a police officer, turn on the app, click front facing camera and begin recording. The best position for this is to place the phone on the dashboard between the windshield and middle of dashboard with a slight tilt towards the driver’s side window. By using the forward facing camera you can see that the camera is positioned correctly right before the screen goes black.”
After the app is turned on, the screen will go black within 10 seconds, even though the app is still recording and uploading video. The app costs 99 cents.
Cell phone cameras and the threat of lawsuits are weapons nearly every citizen is packing. Officers must be prepared for them.
