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Home > Blogs > Butler County Crime and Court News > Archives > 2010 > March > 22
Monday, March 22, 2010
Shoot, don’t shoot, the decision’s not easy
We are at about the halfway point in our 12-week adventure as students in the Middletown police department’s first citizens police academy.
It is educational, eye-opening and a blast!
I recommend it for anyone out there who believes patrolling the streets in Middletown is straight out of “The Andy Griffith Show” or an episode of “Law and Order.
It’s actually something in between.
Sessions in crime scene investigation with Detective David Shortt, who I nicknamed “Inspector Gadget” years ago, running radar and Special Response Team training have given us ordinary citizens an up close and personal look at the world of law enforcement.
But by far the most realistic and gut-wrenching session was the shoot, don’t shoot exercise.
Springfield police visited a couple weeks ago with Laser Shot and classmates took turns making split second decisions about when to use deadly force.
The Laser Shot system is used in police training and it puts the “officer” in a plethora of situations, where deciding when to shoot is a matter of live and death.
I didn’t do well.
As a long time crime reporter, I know use of force, deadly or otherwise, is a touchy subject. People question if the officer made the right decision. And it ends up in headlines, often with my name attached.
As I entered the training room, Chief Greg Schwarber was waiting. He had already told me he wanted to see me shoot.
Armed with a service weapon fitted with a laser, I pointed at the screen.
Then I was driving through a park much like Smith Park on a report of a suspicious person. I saw an old woman through my cruiser windshield.
The woman stood up and placed a gun to her head. “I’ll do it,” she screamed.
I didn’t shoot.
She screamed some more then started to walk toward me. Her finger on the trigger and the barrel of the gun to her head.
I didn’t shoot
As her steps quickened and her arm started to come down, I realized she was going to shoot at me.
I fired. But she had already shot me — dead.
It was just that fast. Amazing.
I was told I could have shot, according to policy, the minute she pulled out the gun, but most certainly when she walked toward me.
Guess I will never be a cop.
I felt a little defeated until I talked with a long time detective the next week.
“Oh, that’s a tough call,” he said. “They gave you a hard one.”
And to think any of our officers out there right now might have to make that decision before their shift ends.
I’ll stick to words.
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