By Police1 Staff
SCOTLAND — Several American officers flew overseas to learn from U.K. cops techniques to avoid deadly force, Sky News reported.
Former Boston Police Department hostage negotiator Chuck Wexler brought some officers from his team across the world to learn how to avoid using deadly force with violent suspects.
The four-day visit presented officers with a variety of training scenarios and demonstrations from Scotland police on how they respond to incidents. U.K. police offered their tactics on how to de-escalate situations or use shields and vehicles for protection instead of weapons.
Language and negotiation tactics showed differences in communication between the agencies and their communities.
“Nobody’s going to die from learning de-escalation techniques,” Wexler told the news site. “It’s about time that we step up and this is our chance.”
Scots firearms officers have only used deadly force twice in the last decade, and their last officer to be killed was in a 1994 stabbing.