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June 2008

6/16/2008 1:49 PM
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 102

June 2008

Imagine yourself in Dep. Arthur Oubre's shoes. You're second-guessing your instincts at a shots fired call because your training officer has a history of not backing you up. Now ask yourself the following questions:

• Dep. Oubre suppressed his inclination to take advantage of his first target acquisition of the suspect due to a belief that his training officer would characterize the shooting as precipitous. Ironically, it was the training officer who paid the price for Oubre's reticence. Are there members of your department that you feel would inhibit your ability to successfully engage such a threat? If so, why?

• Are there people on your department who routinely take credit for the accomplishments of others? That, in fact, belittle the very people who are deserving of kudos? Do you feel that your agency does enough to not only protect the genuinely good cop, but also hold less ethical cops accountable?

• The suspect in this shooting was a rough-hewn 77-year-old man with very little body fat on him. Despite having been shot several times, he continued to be a threat. Have you considered the possibility that an extremely old or young suspect might not be immediately incapacitated? Have you considered whether or not you might initially fire fewer rounds in engaging such a suspect?
REPLY 1  -  1  of  1
6/27/2008 8:46 AM #1
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 379

RE: June 2008

I have been, and know other officers who have been, in situations where a shooting was justified and not taken due to fear of the reaction from the administration. I have seen officers who have been put through hell from a shooting due to a supervisor saying the wrong thing or jumping to a conclusion about the shooting. I can fully understand Dep. Oubre not taking the shot when he first could have because of what the FTO would have said. I do not think anyone can fault him for his behavior in this case.

But this case does show the one critical flaw in many FTO programs. If there is some personality conflict between the trainee and trainer, then the training going on is not what the department wanted to happen. The trainee must be made to feel like he can talk to the Field Training Supervisor about just such a personality problem.

I think that any department with more than three people in it will have someone who takes credit for other people's work and tries to make everyone else look bad. I understand this in my co-workers and try to not get upset by it. I don't understand why supervisors allow it to continue and do not stop it. The only thing I have learned is that it is going to happen, but the people who count usually know exactly what really happened.

As for the age and build of the suspect, I never let that be a consideration. San Antonio (TX) PD has had one officer killed by a 12 year old in the station parking lot. TX DPS had one officer shot by a 74 year old man on a traffic stop for not wearing a seat belt. And there was the 92 year old woman that shot at the officers in Atlanta when they did the raid on her house.  I have had fights with young teens and older suspects resisting arrest. Any suspect can kill you. Any suspect can hurt you. Don't let your guard down when dealing with suspects.

Last edited @ 6/27/2008 9:21 AM
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