Articles - Patrol

High-speed pursuits are the most dangerous of all police activities for innocent citizens, regardless of the circumstances!  In my example it was a rural setting at 0300 hours on a straight road with no one else around, except for the other vehicle that became an unwitting rolling roadblock for my pursuit.

Despite the officer's repeated pleas for him to drop the weapon, Pergament continues to advance.  Faced with the prospect his own impending death, the officer fires three times, killing Pergament.  Only later does the officer learn the brutal truth: the weapon wielded by the suspect is nothing more than a toy gun.

At least one lawman, who has participated in perhaps the only study done on these incidents, prefers to call them "officer-assisted suicides," but whatever the description, they are increasing. What can you do to help ensure that you and your colleagues don't get take down by people with a death wish?

On my drive home that evening, I remembered that first day in the police academy.  I'd been told I wasn't there to make a difference in people's lives.  I would now have to say: I beg to differ.

The value of community policing and problem solving has been clearly established by the many po­lice departments across the country. The San Diego Police Department, a recog­nized leader in this area, has discovered that to become a true community-based policing agency, all communities in a city need to be reached.

COPPS can generally be described as the reunification of the police and the com­munity they serve. COPPS is meant to be a partnership, a shared responsibility based on trust, to reduce crime, violence and fear in our neighborhoods. To many, it is the changing of policing in America.

Just as every police officer knows that it might be necessary to take a human life in the performance of his duties, every officer also is aware that saving lives is an important part of police work. The trauma in either situation, however, is only an abstraction until he comes face-to-face with the real possibility of death.

Following a person's track is learned through on-the-job training, and is not developed to a high level of perfection, given the hectic pace most police officers work under.  However, in the world of wildlife law enforcement, mantracking is still frequently used. 

I once attended an FBI class on Critical Incident Negotiations which touched on "suicide by cop" and showed videos of different actual cases where people had made the conscious decision to die at the hands of law enforcement. It all seemed fairly learnable, information that was impressive but not overwhelming. That was before Aug. 3, 1997.

The one-way conversation contin­ued until the tranquillity was broken by squealing tires and car horns. Doug looked in the rear view mirror and shouted, "Bill, wake up! We got a crazy coming up behind us, weaving in and out of traffic, forcing people off the road."