September 2008

Put yourself in the shoes of Officers Troy Ellison and Charles Johnson of the Little Rock (Ark.) Police Department. They had recently completed training when they were confronted with an uncooperative man at a domestic violence call and decided to break down his door. Now ask yourself the following questions.

• Do you wait for additional units before effecting entry on locations in circumstances such as this?
• Can you relate to Officer Ellison’s initial reaction in the aftermath of the shooting? Do you sometimes feel as though there is too much conditioning in terms of political aspects of uses of force?
• Officer Ellison continues to wear his ballistic vest religiously. Do you? If not, why?

• Officers Ellison and Johnson were assured that there were no firearms inside the location prior to their attempting entry. Are you conscientious about asking such questions? What other kinds of intel do you request of informants prior to making entries?