This article is a continuation of the 2015 BSD Challenge where we challenged officers to view at least one officer involved shooting (OIS) video per week. In an effort to spur that challenge we’ve decided to add our own videos from time to time. We will include instructional discussion points that we hope officers will ponder and perhaps implement to make themselves safer in the performance of their duties.
Our hope is that BSD readers will accept this challenge. By constantly refreshing ourselves on the dangers that are ever-present we will gain valuable insight and understanding into the dynamics of lethal force encounters. In so many shooting scenarios the events explode into action in mere fractions of seconds, and all too often the officer was just moments before involved in duties that appeared to be routine.
Scenario Synopsis
In this video an El Paso, TX police officer has conducted a traffic stop on a busy roadway at night. The driver of the stopped vehicle is simply Joe Citizen who was driving without his headlights on. However, what the officer didn’t realize is that murderous scum were lurking nearby and decided to take the opportunity to attack the officer when he was distracted with other duties.
As the El Paso officer returns to his patrol car after making contact with the originally stopped driver, he is suddenly confronted with a second vehicle the has approached from behind and slowed enough to allow the driver to fire upon the officer, striking him several times.
First Contact
During the initial contact with the stopped driver the officer performed several good officer safety techniques. These included:
- The officer selected a straight section of road, with street lights and large shoulder
- Positioning his patrol car far enough behind the stopped vehicle for reactionary gap
- The stopped vehicle appears to have been lit from headlights, spotlight, etc.
- Standing at the B-pillar providing some safety from the driver
- Looking over his shoulder as he returned to his patrol car.
Using the B-pillar provides some safety to the officer and requires the driver to awkwardly turn around to face the officer.
However, there are a few observations that warrant additional consideration as well. Even when the focus of our actions has provided no indication of threat, officers should maintain officer safety standards. This includes being on constant, vigilant watch of the subject and their surroundings, but also safety standards about car placement and carrying objects (made particularly more difficult at night).
- His patrol car is positioned in the straight behind method (no protection on a busy road)
- The officer is seen holding his flashlight in his weapon hand
- He grasps the stopped driver’s documents in his other hand (both hands occupied)
- The officer is juggling with all the items as he goes to place his flashlight back on his belt.
Safety Considerations From First Contact
Busy roadways require a higher level of attention from the officer to maintain as safe a work area as possible. Any enforcement action has the potential for confrontation up to lethal threats, but enforcement actions at night present even more safety considerations. The BlueSheepDog Crew recommends the following points to provide the safest work area on traffic stops:
- Increase observation ability by placing the spotlight on the stopped vehicle’s interior
- Use high beams and take-down lights from the light bar if feasible
- Select the off-set or angled method police car positioning method
- Use the passenger-side approach as much as possible
- Keep your weapon hand free of any items or obstructions
- Tuck your flashlight under your arm or use your off-hand
- Maintain 360-degree awareness (Condition Orange on enforcement actions).
The Passenger Side Approach can be a critical component of officer safety during traffic stops.
Drive-By Shooting
The El Paso officer was confronted with an almost no-win situation. He was in the middle of an enforcement action, and simply returning to his patrol car gave an entirely new set of suspects the opportunity to shoot him by surprise.
The shooting is not on video, but the audio provides some insight. Only moments after stepping out of the video the officer is involved in a shooting at close range. The murderous thug fires four shots at the officer, striking him multiple times, before fleeing the scene like the coward he was.
The officer had the presence of mind to put out a radio call for assistance, “shots fired … I got shot”. Amazingly, the driver of the stopped vehicle and several passing motorists stop to render aid to the fallen officer – there are still good people out there!
Aftermath
What the officer did not know about the vehicle that was slowing as it approached him, was the driver had murdered another person not long before. The coward would be found dead of a self-inflicted wound the next day. The officer still continues to recover, and his status to return to duty is unknown.
Expect the unexpected. Keep your head on a swivel because danger is a 360-degree job.
Like the heart attack commercial on television, officers often do not get advanced warning before a lethal threat encounter. Our only defense is a good offense of tried and true officer safety techniques. Perhaps the most important of all is to remain vigilant in our awareness of our surroundings – particularly when our duties may be distracting us. As I’ve told my officers on numerous occasions – “keep your head on a swivel”.
Keep your weapon hand free, and practice drawing your weapon until you can accomplish the task in about one second every time. Use the passenger-side approach, and park your patrol car in a manner that makes approaching vehicles move over. Finally, do not let your guard down or get target fixated on the particular activity you are doing at that moment. Danger often does not present itself in the obvious direction, and Murphy is danger’s close companion.
Stay Safe!