Yes, there are bad cops, especially in places outside the Pacific Northwest. A lot of cop ethics develop from local cop culture prevalent in the area of the country being policed. When citizens hear about a bad cop in some distant city like Detroit, they tend to think all cops, even their own neighborhood cops, are bad. That is faulty thinking.
In 1965, I witnessed excessive force by the Chicago Police when they apprehended two attempted homicide suspects. Because I was one of the young victims this punk and his gang wanted to rob and kill, I have to admit I experienced a moment of joy when Chicago’s finest meted out a small portion of street justice, the message being, you do not lie to the Chicago Police. I recognized the rabbit punch was not right or legal but the officer’s excessive force paled in comparison to what the five thugs did and wanted to do to me and my friends.
In 2013 while on a cross-country motorcycle trip, I was victimized by a fat, white haired, old, small-town police officer in Tunica, Mississippi up on Highway 61 who’s behavior and body language gave me a crystal clear feeling of what it is like to be black and targeted by cops who should not be cops. It was all about body language and the endless, unwavering, steel piercing, evil look of hatred that created an amazing amount of fear and stress.
We felt victimized by discrimination and hatred. I say we. My bike riding, breakfast eating pal, Kevin, was black and I was white and I still am. He was from up North in the Twin Cities area and was not use to this kind of cop on black behavior.
I am deadly serious when I tell you the southern cop put me in fear for my life. I wondered if the evil cop would follow the two of us out of town to his favorite “beat-down spot” where we might be unfairly jacked up, beat or have our brains blown out. None of my worse fears came to pass. I kept looking in my mirrors. He did not follow us.
It probably helped that we made good decisions while in this southern zone of prejudice and hatred. Kevin made, what he called, a perfunctory “Good mornin officer.” On my part, I chose to not leave my breakfast, walk across the expanse between the three of us and ask the cop, “Why are you giving us an evil stare? Is there a problem?”. I recognized that challenging a bigoted and prejudiced southern cop might easily prove to be problematic.
I admit that some cops are branded as bad cops because they deserve to be branded as bad cops like the Chicago and Tunica cops described above.
Conversely, lot’s of good cops are branded as bad cops based on public misunderstanding, hysteria, incomplete information, false information, hidden protestor agendas and lastly and most repugnantly a hidden agenda on the part of our print, TV and radio news reporting sources.
Yes, there are bad cops, just like there are bad teachers, doctors, lawyers, newscasters, and hot dog vendors. But when you think about it most cops perform their duties in a professional and acceptable manner. Most cops are good cops.
I wish to make two key points with this writing.
#1. Anytime you read about a physical altercation or shooting, ask yourself, “Before I analyze any of the information related to the use of physical force (hands on) or lethal force (shooting), what were the actions of the individual(s) who was the recipient of the force prior to the use of force?”. Did the subject fail to comply with a lawful order? This question is of paramount importance and must be answered before moving on to the typical and often necessary Monday morning quarterbacking that follows any high profile incident.
#2. Comply or die. Based on my education, training, and experience on the street, the Comply or Die principle is very clear to me, both on the street and inside my home.
Would you think it reasonable for a police officer to shoot an “unarmed” subject who refuses to comply with an order to drop a pack of cigarettes or a cell phone?
Most uninformed citizens would say, “NO, it is not reasonable to shoot an “unarmed” citizen who refuses to drop a pack of cigarettes or a cell phone or …”
I do not agree. My answer is, YES, the citizen needs to drop the cigarette pack or cell phone or prepare to die.
Why is there a life and death difference between the thinking of ordinary citizens and a retired cop?
Watch the two video clips that follow and the answer should become clear and with that, you will no longer be uninformed.
COMPLY OR DIE VIDEO #2
https://youtu.be/oeuT2unImWk
COMPLY OR DIE is simply a catchy way to say, when someone in authority such as a police officer gives a lawful order, obey the order. If you think the cop is wrong, in most cases you should comply anyway. Later, when appropriate, double back and report the issue to the officer’s supervisor or consult with your lawyer. The street is not the proper and intelligent place to argue and fight with the cops.
Believe it or not, I submit to you that if parents teach children, teachers teach students, friends teach friends to respect authority by word and action and they teach Comply or Die, a lot of trouble will be avoided and lives will be saved. Of course, the ACLU and the slanted press will not want citizens to know Comply or Die.
No one ever talks about Comply or Die. The news and uninformed citizens always leap forward to what the cop did, ignoring totally what the citizen did or failed to do that stimulated the use of force. I am not suggesting cops are always right, but most of the time, they are.
When you hear the word, “Police” followed by the words, 1) “don’t move or I will shoot”, 2) “drop the gun or I will shoot”, “drop the cell phone or I will shoot”, “take control of your dog or I will shoot”, “get on the ground or I will shoot, “don’t come closer or I will shoot”, Comply or Die.
No, I am not a trigger happy guy. I have had a number of occasions to shoot someone, both as a civilian, before becoming a cop, and during my law enforcement career. I was always able to effectively utilize a lower level of force or action and thereby avoid the traumatic experience of shooting another human being. I believe my communication skills gave anyone in my gunsites a clear message that I understood Comply or Die.
It is that simple. Comply or Die.
“It is that simple. Comply or Die.”
No, in fact, it is not that simple.
In fact, you belie your own two-option (and two options only) rather cavalier catch-phrase ‘comply or die’ in the previous paragraph where you claim to have demonstrated the ability to de-escalate situations making unnecessary a comply-or-die scenario.
If ‘comply or die’ is that simple then why are whole departments – every department in every jurisdiction statewide – not just individual officers, not good cops, not bad cops but all cops – mandated by the State of Washington to undergo extensive reviews of operations, most particularly Use of Force, and Lethal Use of Force?
This past February 16, the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs went on record for the first time as supporting the legal liability officers should have for improper use of deadly force, while continuing to protect honest mistakes by law enforcement.
Presuming Senate Bill 5073 and/or companion bills became law, courts won’t give the time of day to a ‘comply-or-die’ defense of an officer but will rather in fact do their due diligence to determine improper conduct on the officer’s part.
Far from a rather simplistic ‘comply or die’ code as doubtfully (hopefully not) exists within any respected department, the joint legislative task force appointed in 2016 was charged, among its department review investigations, with “recommending best practices to reduce the number of violent interactions between law enforcement officers and members of the public.”
‘Comply or die’ was not their recommendation. Dealing with that mentality was.
Among those testifying before the task force – which impacted several bills created for the express purpose of addressing violent interactions between the police and the public – was a name that may sound familiar to you: Marilyn Covarrubias, mother of Daniel Covarrubias, who was shot several times by Lakewood Police who thought Daniel had a gun. It was a cell phone.
Try this bedside manner of yours alongside the mother who described those last moments with her son in the hospital bed – moments she described to the task force among sobs – and tell her that her son died because he failed to comply.
It’s not that simple. And because it’s not that simple, all departments will now comply with new regulations requiring “advanced de-escalation training programs in law enforcement agencies, and provide more alternatives to lethal force and start a statewide data collection of incidents involving the use of deadly force by police.”
Mr. Anderson,
In answer to your question, when an officer uses force, there is a review system in place to make certain the force was an appropriate application in terms of the kind of force, the amount of force and the timing of the force. When the fight or threat is over, the fight or threat is over and all force must stop.
Police are trained to use the lowest level of force possible so as to avoid injury or death of the citizen and officer. A good officer is always looking for the lowest level of force as a means to eliminate a threat.
The review process is designed to either confirm the use of force was lawful or to uncover any improper use of force. If the use of force is not appropriate or lawful, then consequences will follow in the form of retraining, investigation, suspension, or termination depending on the total circumstances of the individual case.
When referring to Comply or Die, you have missed my point completely. Perhaps that is my fault for not writing clearly enough.
It has not been my intention to suggest that any police department or police officer embraces a policy of comply or die. Law enforcement does not teach or preach Comply or Die. They teach, look for the lowest level of force. At the bottom of the ladder are voice commands of lawful orders. At the top of the use of force ladder is lethal force.
Comply or Die is a common sense concept based on easy to interpret observations. If a citizen complies with lawful orders from a police officer, then there should be no use of force beyond “compliant handcuffing”.
If a citizen fails or refuses to comply, because they are obsinate, angry, drunk, doped or mentally ill, or looking for a use of force lawsuit windfall, then there should be no surprise on the part of the citizen or his relatives if the citizen’s behavior necessitates the use of force..
My message is mothers and fathers need to teach their children, before they are adults, to respect authority (police, teachers, parents, elders, school principals) and to comply with an authority figure’s lawful orders.
There is ample evidence that a great many parents are failing in this responsibility. For those, the sorrow needs to begin with their parental failure, not the victim officer who was forced to use lethal force. Yes, victim officer. For most men and women on the thin blue line, there is no joy in shooting another person. In fact many officers who are forced to shoot someone experience mental and physical problems that can follow them for the rest of their lives. I know some officers whose lives were destroyed after being forced to use lethal force. When you become a police officer, you want to help people, not shoot them. If only the citizen would have known the Comply or Die concept.
My message has nothing to do with specific cases, courts, police departments, training, or crying parents. My message is way out in front of all that. My message is all about common sense, which obviously is not so common.
Comply and there are no use of force issues including officer involved or victim home owner involved shootings.
Law enforcement cannot control Comply or Die. Parents, kids, and adult citizens control Comply or Die. Comply or Die rests on the shoulders of the individual who experiences police contact, not the police.
Police are taught and trained to use only the appropriate amount of force necessary to bring about a lawful end result. Necessary force. Comply and no force is necessary.
If only I could express myself clearly enough for you to understand Comply or Die. In your position in our community if you understood and accepted the power of the Comply or Die message, you could teach respect for authority and the intelligent benefits of compliance and thereby save lives.
In the meantime law enforcement is exploring all kinds of options to help reduce violent confrontations. I agree with you that exploring and developing new and better options to de-escalate high tension scenes is a good path to follow.
Let me share a true story that illustrates the point I am trying to make. While working the day-watch I took a serial bank robber into custody. With my gun drawn and pointed directly at him, I commanded that he get down on the sidewalk in front of the bank. He complied. He then said to me, “Okay, okay, you got me fair and square.” He complied and he did not threaten me or nearby citizens in any way. Had he refused to comply combined with any kind of threat to me or nearby citizens, it could easily have been an officer involved shooting.
Ultimately, no matter what new ideas are implemented, the citizen will need to comply by doing exactly what the officer says. Do what the officer says. How hard is that? It is not hard. It is that simple. It is as simple as Comply or Die.
We could change these three words to Comply & Live if that sounds less cavalier.
Mr. Anderson, I would be pleased to meet with you for coffee to discuss this further. After all, you and I want the same thing; the safety of our citizens and appropriate police response.
Joseph Boyle
Touche Mr Boyle. Comply or Die Mr Anderson, Yes it IS that simple.
Comply and live to later fight the matter in court.
Very interesting topic. Now lets talk about the flip of the coin when police DO NOT ACT. Such as May 1st (May Day) in Seattle. We will see them stand down as anarchists destroy store front windows, create mayhem and throw smokebombs or whatever. Who tells the cops to stand down? The Seattle Mayor? The “Seattle” Governor? Those cops in blue should stop them in their tracks and arrest them immediately! But they don’t. Your peaceful marches have already got permits but as the day progresses, these anarchists who don’t have a permit, take hold of the city and try to destroy store front businesses KNOWING that the police is just watching……….WOW…Unbelievable. Talk about common sense in what should the cops be doing!!!
When some of us were growing up in the 1950’s and ’60s, we would on occasion have interaction with law enforcement (speeding, failure to stop, drag racing, no tail lights, etc.) We would always accept authority, not question it. It was so much easier, and there was no real loss of face or embarrassment. If an officer told me to get out of my car, I got out of it. If he told me to get into the back of his car, I got into it. In this era young people are being taught to question all authority. That may be alright when it comes to laws passed by the legislature, but can be very dangerous when interacting with law enforcement. Common sense should tell all of us that we should submit to that authority, and work out the details later. It is so much easier.