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This incident debrief came out a few days ago, but I’ve seen some negative comments. Investigations are ongoing, but here are some thoughts based solely on the info at hand. Thread. https://twitter.com/PhoenixPolice/status/1349472540150824962
First off, no law enforcement officer wants a call to turn out like this, gun or no gun. Talking someone down, getting help, is the stated and very real goal. Many times it’s possible. This is a nightmare scenario.
Less lethal? The man not only told police he had a gun, but acted like he had a gun and did not waver. SCOTUS ruled in Graham v. Conner that use of force must be judged based on the perspective of a ‘reasonable’ officer, taking into account that LE must make quick decisions.
Five officers perceived the same threat based off of the information at hand, and made the exact same decision.
Officers are not required to, and should not be expected to, use a lesser amount of force than a suspect, thereby placing themselves and bystanders in unreasonable danger. In this case, these officers felt that hands-on, pepper spray, and taser were not safe options.
I believe if you listen carefully towards the end of the body cam, you hear an officer call for a stun bag = less lethal. Less lethal options, like bean bag or Super-Sock rounds, are not kept on the officer’s person, rather in the patrol vehicle.
The fluidity of “routine” calls doesn’t allow officers to run back to their cars; if required, you’re not leaving the suspect alone for a second. Officers must then rely on back-up to bring LL of that caliber. In this case, they’d contained him and back-up had arrived on scene.
My guess is that had this subject not followed-through on his countdown, it would’ve given officers time to use less lethal in an attempt to resolve the situation.
As always, the number of shots fired will be investigated as well. Here’s a thread I put together on “excessive” shots fired: https://twitter.com/720threat/status/1299865872727592960?s=21
