Posted on 04/22/2021 11:16:53 AM PDT by Impala64ssa
When I was a local TV reporter, I’d try to be the first on the scene of a DC police-involved shooting in the post Ferguson era. I was one of the few (or maybe the only) reporters who had shot a gun. I also know the use of force continuum and police training, so I could get a quick study of the situation and ask the relevant questions in the live press conference when the public would first hear the details.
I tried to pre-empty the other reporters’ inevitable questions about why the officer didn’t use a taser or didn’t shoot the bad guy in the leg. Unfortunately I wasn’t in Columbus, Ohio on Wednesday to play that role.
A reporter asked Columbus Police Chief Michael Woods these questions about the case of an officer shooting a knife-wielding, 16-year-old named Ma'Khia Bryant:
“Can an officer shoot the leg?”
“Could he have just shot her in the arm?”
“Can they shoot somewhere that would not result in a fatal wound?”
“Should the officer opt to use a taser rather than a service weapon?”
“Does Columbus Police Department policy state that the officer must declare he’s about to shoot before he does shoot?”
If you haven’t read about this case, Officer Nicholas Reardon was called to the scene by a 911 call. His body camera video shows that Bryant tried to stab one girl who falls to the ground. The officer yells “get down” several times to Bryant, who then lunged with the knife at a second girl. Reardon then shot and killed the 16-year-old.
The way the media has treated Reardon like a criminal reminds me of a story I did on a shooting that is somewhat similar to the Columbus one. (You can read the story here, but the video is not online anymore. I’ll try to find it and post later.)
A white police officer was called to a scene in Clay Terrace, a dangerous neighborhood in DC. There was a black woman with multiple knives coming at people on the street. She was clearly on drugs.
The officer yelled out repeatedly and even walked backwards as the woman was coming at him in the middle of a crowd. (The police do not have to back track like that, they are trained to stop a threat if it comes within about a 20 foot circle. The officer was new and so didn’t even follow his training — at a risk to his own life — because he didn't want to shoot her.)
The crowd all had their cell phones out to capture the scene and the videos went viral in the context of “another” white officer killing an “unarmed” black woman.
However, the officer followed his training. He was approached by a subject armed with a knife. He gave loud verbal commands but the woman didn’t respond. He had his duty weapon out and visible. By shooting her, he stopped countless people from being stabbed and possibly killed. But he had to carry the weight of it.
When I got to the scene, the young officer was very upset about having shot her. I found this to be the case with experienced officers too. The officers are given psychiatric treatment to help them work through the trauma of killing another person. No normal person wants to do that.
Once I got to Clay Terrace and learned how the officer did everything by his training (and more), I re-enacted his movements on TV to show the audience what actually happened. I explained it clearly, and the story pretty much died down without riots and famous basketball players saying the officer should be killed next.
Twitter avatar for @emilymiller Emily Miller @emilymiller Glad someone told LeBron James to delete his tweet threatening to kill a police officer. Twitter should suspend his account from the reports. Image Emily Miller @emilymiller
@KingJames Reported threatening violence https://t.co/N8atwvyfdu April 22nd 2021
7 Retweets29 Likes So with my experience covering multiple officer-involved shootings that were all ruled justifiable, I wanted to jump through my TV and answer the questions for the Columbus police chief. Instead I’ll put here the points the media and public need to understand about police shootings.
1. “Can an officer shoot the leg?” If a police officer shoots an assailant in the arm or leg, he made a mistake.
It’s very difficult to shoot a moving target -- a person who can go in any direction-- so you aim at center mass (the torso) because it’s the biggest part of the body and easiest to hit. This ensures that internal organs are hit and the person stops coming at you or the victim.
Center mass also helps to decrease the chance that missed rounds - which are likely in a high stress situation -- hit a bystander.
In this case, if Reardon had only shot Bryant in a leg, she would likely still be able to hold onto the knife and stab the girl on the car. (The reporter didn’t ask but that’s also why the officer shot four times — to stop her from stabbing the other girl. One shot is unlikely to stop someone cold.)
2. “Could he have just shot her in the arm?” The arms and legs are small targets and much harder to hit and also unlikely to stop the bad guy. If Reardon had tried to just shoot her moving arm, he would have likely missed and shot one of the victims or innocent bystanders in the crowded scene.
3. “Can they shoot somewhere that would not result in a fatal wound?” Law enforcement is trained for complicated scenario. They are called to a scene to stop the threat, but at the same time, they have to not kill innocent bystanders and protect their own lives. They have to try to determine what is happening in a hectic scene. There may be more than one bad guy to stop.
Officers are trained to shoot only when the threat is imminent and will cause serious bodily injury or death. In this situation, Reardon needed to stop Bryant from stabbing the second girl. Bryant was doing the opposite of the officers’ verbal commands to “get down” and stop.
4. “Should the officer opt to use a taser rather than a service weapon?” We don’t know if the officer had a Taser, but it wasn’t possible in this situation. He would have had to get close to the knife-wielding girl. He would have likely been stabbed himself if he tried to use a Taser. Then she could have gone back to stabbing the other girls.
1 Retweet1 Like Also, the concept of “force continuum “is the police need to have force above what the bad guys use. So if the bad guy is punching a victim, the police may be able to get close enough to use a wand or taser. But if the bad guy as a knife, the next level of force to contain the threat is a gun.
As one officer told me, “We don't want to go and utilize our service weapon and seriously injure someone or kill them if there is another alternative out there to preserve life.” And when a Taser can do that — if they have one - they will use it.
4. “Does Columbus Police Department policy state that the officer must declare he’s about to shoot before he does shoot?” There is no requirement on what words to say, you just need to try to stop the threat.
After the shooting at Clay Terrace, DC Officer Robert Underwood (pictured below) told me how this type of scenario is taught in the academy:
“If time permits, you’re going to give loud verbal commands. And you give the person the option to comply with your demand — ‘Drop the knife, put your hand in the air.’ And if they don't, then the officer is challenged with using what force is necessary to save his life or potentially someone around him.”
3 Retweets6 Likes We can see the officer training because the Columbus police department released the body camera video immediately to, most likely, calm the public on the day after a jury found Officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murdering George Floyd in the line of duty. Still people have been rioting and calling this a “murder” of a “child.”
As is standard procedure in officer-involved shootings, Reardon is on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated to determine if the use of deadly force was justified. I believe it was, what the police call, a “good shoot” -- meaning that it fit their training.
However, it is a tragedy both for Bryant and Reardon. A 16-year-old girl in foster care has had a terrible childhood and most likely became violent from a life of abuse and neglect. Reardon, one can assume, did not want to shoot and kill a girl and will have to live with that regret.
The public could be calmed down from rioting and protesting for the wrong reasons — this was nothing like the George Floyd/Derek Chauvin case — by very basic education to see how the police are trained to keep all of us safe.
Do they think everyone with a gun is an expert level sniper or something? Good grief!
Besides ... they’re trained to go for center mass to stop a threat. Period.
Bfl
The high crime rates and hopelessness in the black areas stems entirely from liberal social programs. Every welfare state in history had high crime rates, regardless of skin color. If there is institutional racism then one need look no further that at the DemonRAT Party. They are the true racists.
Anyone who watched Band of Brothers would know.
The Ohio cop could have shot the leg. Her leg is bigger than my center mass.
People are so stupid. If you’re going to unholster a weapon, you had better plan on using it. If you’re going to shoot someone, the reason should be good enough to aim center mass. The logic is simple, the implementation is very, very difficult.
We frequently place ROE on soldiers to only fire if fired upon
Cops in america shoot too frequently
They don't do if the suspect is one of them though
dead people don’t file lawsuits
Besides, there is the Femoral artery in each thigh.
Nick that, and the perp still dies from bleeding out and there is blood all over the place!
That is a damnable canard
My weapons have thwarted someone from firing upon me repeatedly worldwide
This notion you simply must fire your weapon if drawni is as nonsensical as if they can talk they are breathing well enough
I’m not against cops killing folks who have it coming
But I am about facts and truth
Conservatives who dump that for the narrative....are no ideological
Yep ... that too.
My question is why didn’t he bring out his elephant gun.
***..the young officer was very upset about having shot her.***
I believe it was Jeff Cooper who said that if you have to kill someone, you need be very upset and shook up.
Once the reporters leave, you pop the Champagne corks.
“Can an officer shoot the leg?”
“Could he have just shot her in the arm?”
Such people seem to think doing so is harmless, not comprehending that while the target may survive (assuming such admonitions were viable), that limb would likely be severely & permanently damaged. They’d just move on to some form of “you weren’t supposed to blow his leg OFF, you shoulda, um, you know, ... c’mon man!”
Because the police are responsible for where the bullets land. If they bounce off something and strikes a child, the police are responsible for that.
Could have shot that knife wielding girl in the butt as that was the largest target area, bigger than the torso.
Why didn’t he just shoot the knife out of her hand, like they do on TV?
Doubt it was Cooper. I took a class from him; attitude seemed more of “what is upsetting? he needed to be shot, lest you die.” He might have, context matters.
Stupid Joy Behar said the officer should have fired into the air. Not realizing that what goes up must come down.
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