Landwarrior

So, let me get this straight: this so called "civil rights" movement is "protesting" what they perceive as their lack of rights...by depriving random, innocent motorists of their freedom of movement and right to travel? A movement that supposedly wants civil rights is trying to get them by denying other people their rights? How does that make any sense? 

So, let me get this straight: this so called "civil rights" movement is "protesting" what they perceive as their lack of rights...by depriving random, innocent motorists of their freedom of movement and right to travel? A movement that supposedly wants civil rights is trying to get them by denying other people their rights? How does that make any sense? 

So, let me get this straight: this so called "civil rights" movement is "protesting" what they perceive as their lack of rights...by depriving random, innocent motorists of their freedom of movement and right to travel? A movement that supposedly wants civil rights is trying to get them by denying other people their rights? How does that make any sense? 

In the aftermath of the recent events in Ferguson, MO, there has been a lot of discussion about law enforcement in the United States. It seems to me that there are a lot of misconceptions about the realities and legal precedents surrounding police use of force. I am not a lawyer or a police officer, but I do have some knowledge of police procedure from my time as a law enforcement explorer and independent research. If any lawyers or sworn police officers find anything wrong with the following information, please let me know and I will work to correct it.
 
Deadly Force
 
First, let's look at what is required for a police officer to legally use lethal force on a suspect. The suspect's actions must demonstrate three main things: means, opportunity and intent.
 
1. Means: The suspect must have a way of posing a threat to the officer. The threat must be severe enough that a reasonable person would believe that, if the attack was successful, the officer would either suffer serious bodily harm (such as broken bones, unconsciousness, loss of sight/hearing, etc.) or be killed. The means to carry out this attack could be, but are not limited to, a firearm, a knife, a baseball bat, a screwdriver, a vehicle or simply a size/weight advantage in favor of the suspect. In this specific case, Michael Brown was several inches taller and weighed significantly more than Officer Wilson. In addition, he had already assaulted Wilson and attempted to take the officer's firearm from him. If Brown had succeeded in taking Wilson's firearm, he would now be armed and have a way to shoot and kill Wilson. If Wilson attempted to use non-lethal means, such as OC spray, a baton or a taser, and those means failed, he would be fighting toe-to-toe with a much larger man who would have a major advantage in a fistfight. If Wilson lost that fight and was disabled or knocked unconscious, Brown would have been freely able to take the officer's firearm and shoot him or continue beating him, which could lead to serious injuries or death. Due to the significant size advantage in favor of Brown, and the fact that Brown attempted to take Wilson's firearm from him, the means requirement if satisfied. 
 
2: Opportunity: The suspect must have the opportunity to use his means to injure or kill the officer. In this case, Brown was approximately 35 feet away from Wilson when he started to charge at full speed towards the officer. While at a full sprint, 35 feet can be covered in a matter of seconds. Had Brown started charging from 300 feet away, and Officer Wilson opened fire from that distance, a reasonable person would not believe that Brown had the opportunity to use his fists to harm Wilson from that far distance. However, because Brown was so close and had an immediate opportunity to reach Wilson and use his size advantage to inflict harm or death on the officer, the opportunity requirement is satisfied.
 
3: Intent: The suspect must show that he has the intention of causing death or serious injury to the officer. In this case, Brown attempted to take Officer Wilson's firearm from him. The only logical reason that Brown would attempt to get access to the firearm is to use it against the officer. Also, following the confrontation at the car, Brown began running away from Wilson, who exited his patrol car and began giving Brown commands to stop running and get on the ground. Brown only had three options in this case: continue fleeing from the police, attempt to disable or kill the officer, or surrender. Had Brown's intention been to escape from the police, he would have continued running away. Had his intention been to surrender, he would have complied with Wilson's commands, stopped running and got on the ground. Instead, he turned and began charging at the officer. The only reason that Brown would attempt to take Wilson's firearm or charge at the officer would be to attempt to injure or kill him, thus satisfying the intent requirement.  
 
Please take into account that all of these factors must be judged based on the perception of the officer on the scene at the time of the incident, not with perfect 20/20 hindsight. No one will ever know what was really going on in Michael Brown's head that day, but based on the facts available to Officer Wilson at the time, it appears that all three requirements of legal use of lethal force have been satisfied, and Officer Wilson's use of force is justified. 
 
Use of Force Continuum
 
The image below is the standard FLETC use of force chart; most law enforcement agencies use this chart or have a similar one.
 
 

 
Now, I will go into depth on each of these levels. The chart on the left is the suspect action. The chart on the right is the officer's response to that action. From high to low, the level's of suspect action and officer's response are as follows.
 
Highest Level Of Force
 
1 Subject Action. Assaultive (Serious Physical Injury/Death)
The subject is actively assaulting the officer or a third party, and that assault is likely to cause serious injury or death.The means, opportunity, intent test, as detailed above, is used in order to determine if a suspect's actions are at this level.
Examples: a suspect pointing a firearm or shooting at officer, a suspect running towards an officer with a knife, a suspect driving a car towards an officer, a suspect throwing rocks at an non-shielded officer, a large suspect attempting to overpower a small officer, etc. 
  1 Officer Response. Deadly/Lethal Force The officer may use lethal force in order to prevent himself or a third party from being seriously injured or killed. Lethal force may be used until the suspect no longer presents a threat of death or serious injury. This is most often done with the use of a firearm, but officers can use any tools available to them in order to protect themselves or others. Examples: shooting the suspect with a firearm, baton strikes to the suspect's head, stabbing the suspect with a knife, hitting the suspect with a patrol car, etc.   --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   2 Subject Action. Assaultive (Physical Injury) The subject is actively assaulting the officer or a third party, and that assault is likely to cause injury, but not to the level of serious injury or death. Examples: a suspect of equal or smaller size to the officer attempting to fist fight the officer, a suspect attempting to fist fight a group of officers   2 Officer Response. Defensive Tactics The officers may use substantial force, which is likely to result in injury to the suspect, in order to prevent injury to himself or a third party, and to subdue and take the suspect into custody. Examples: the use of hand, elbow or knee strikes, baton strikes to the arms or legs, deployment of a Taser   --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   3 Subject Action. Resistant (Active) The subject is actively resisting arrest, but is not assaultive or likely to cause an injury. Examples: a subject running away from officers, a suspect pulling his arm away from an officer who attempted to handcuff him, a suspect tensing up his arms and making it difficult to put them behind his back   3 Officer Response. Compliance Techniques The officer may use force, which may, but is not likely to result in injury to the suspect, in order to subdue and take the suspect into custody Examples: tackling a fleeing suspect, the use of OC pepper spray, the use of a takedown technique to bring a suspect to the ground   --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   4 Subject Action. Resistant (Passive) The subject is passively resisting arrest, but is not actively attempting to flee or prevent arrest. Examples: a subject not complying with an officer's verbal orders, a subject walking away from an officer, a subject refusing to place his hands behind his back when told to   4 Officer Response. Contact Controls  The officer may use force, which is unlikely to result in injury to the suspect, in order to take the suspect into custody. Examples: the use of pain compliance techniques, such as manipulation of joints or pressure points, the use of disabling or escort holds   --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   5 Subject Action. Compliant The subject is compliant with officer's commands Examples: a subject putting his hands up or getting on the ground when ordered to by an officer   5 Officer Response. Cooperative Controls The officer may use minimal force in order to take the subject into custody. Examples: giving the subject verbal commands, applying handcuffs   Lowest Level Of Force     Closing Thoughts   I want to make it clear that I feel very sorry for Michael Brown's family. Any death is tragic, and it is heartbreaking that the Brown family lost their son. We will never know why Michael acted the way he did when contacted by Officer Wilson. I understand that he may have been scared. However, countless other people have been caught by police after they committed a crime and did not react in the way Michael did. In the end, Michael Brown assaulted and attempted to murder a police officer. Michael ultimately faced the consequences of his actions and he alone is responsible for his death. People need to understand that the entire incident between Michael Brown and Officer Darren Wilson took place in a matter of seconds. It is very easy to sit down in the days following the incident, look at all the facts and come to a conclusion. Officer Wilson had to make split-second life and death decisions with only the facts available to him, while under incredible pressure, in pain and while in fear for his life. I ask everyone to keep that in mind before you jump to conclusions regarding this incident, or any police shooting incident.   

I'm going to start off with the law enforcement agencies that conduct day-to-day operations in my home area, the Temecula Valley in southwest Riverside County, California.
 
Temecula Police Department  (TPD is a contract agency that is managed by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department)
 






 
Murrieta Police Department
 






 
Riverside County Sheriff's Department, Southwest Station
 



 
California Highway Patrol, Temecula Office
 












 
United States Border Patrol, Theodore L. Newton, Jr. and George F. Azrak Border Patrol Station, Murrieta, CA
 



 
Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, Reservation Tribal Government, Tribal Rangers
 



 
Next, I'm going to list some of the other agencies I have seen in the Temecula/Murrieta area. These agencies don't patrol the area, but I've seen LEO's from them in the area, either following up on investigations, grabbing a bite to eat or simply because they have take-home units and they live around here.
 
Hemet Police Department


Riverside Police Department


San Bernardino Police Department


San Bernardino Sheriff's Department


Los Angeles Police Department


San Diego Sheriff's Department


San Diego Police Department


Oceanside Police Department


Escondido Police Department


El Centro Police Department


United States Bureau of Land Management Rangers


United States Forest Service Law Enforcement and Investigations Ranger


United States Federal Protective Service


 
Last but not least: Fire/EMS
 
Temecula Fire Department


Murrieta Fire Department


California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL-FIRE)


Pechanga Reservation Fire Department


United States Forest Service Fire


American Medical Response (contracted by Riverside County to provide EMS)

I've always liked to roleplay in video games, so when I'm playing as a patrol officer, I like to take it slowly, and attempt to act realistically. I almost never force callouts or world events, and usually try to do things that a real cop might do during a normal day, such as:
 
parking in an alley or parking lot while waiting for calls to come in from dispatch conducting safety/welfare checks on houses stopping for food periodically frequent checks on known trouble/high crime spots realistic Code 3 response runs (slowing down/checking intersections before I cross them, only passing on the left unless traffic is totally at a standstill, driving at a safe speed, etc)  
Something else that I've found helps beat boredom is role playing as specialized units.  Here's a list of some of the different things I like to do: 
 
SWAT: Patrol with a four man team in either unmarked vehicles or armored vehicles, or do high visibility counter-terror/crime suppression foot patrols in busy areas (star junction, downtown Algonquin, downtown Broker, the airport). While playing as SWAT, I usually decline the lower risk calls, and only respond to shots fired, suicidal suspects or shootouts. Street Crimes Unit: Patrol in plainclothes in unmarked vehicles, looking out for officers needing assistance, road rage fights between drivers/peds, hit and runs, etc. As SCU, I'll usually only respond to drug deal or shootout calls.  Gang/Vice Unit: Similar to Street Crimes, but focusing on gang or vice related crimes. This means doing prostitution stings at night, checking out the strip clubs for any crimes, stopping "parolee" gang members or pimps and frisking them for contraband, conducting vehicle stops on gang vehicles, etc. Bicycle Patrol: (Using the BMX bike mod (http://www.gtagaming.com/downloads/gta-iv/vehicle-mods/3491) to replace the faggio and the West Palm Beach Ped uniform with the yellow bike shirt ()) When doing this, I'll usually stick to Star Junction or downtown Algonquin, and just play it similarly to a normal foot or vehicle patrol. However, I normally only take calls that are really close to my current location. It's also fun to role play as an officer in a specialist police department: (Note: some of these can be pretty slow paced and require some patience.)
 
LTA (Transit) Police: Foot patrols inside the subway/tram stations, or vehicle patrols from station to station or below the elevated rail sections. SWAT security checks of the subway tunnels, checking for intruders, hobos, or other suspicious activity. (or Ratman!) Port/Harbor Police: Vehicle patrol of beaches and shoreline areas (Broker Navy Yard, Port Tudor, pretty much any docks or piers), or ship patrol of the bay. Sometimes I'll even do Visit, Board, Search and Seizure operations on some of the docked ships that have interiors. Park Police: Foot patrols on the paths of the various parks in Liberty City, or vehicle patrols from park to park. Housing Police: Foot patrols of the housing projects, doing vertical patrols inside the high rise buildings, or vehicle patrols around the projects. Hospital Police: Vehicle patrol between hospitals, checking the lobbies for problems and the rooms for unauthorized people. Airport Police: Foot patrol around the terminal, vehicle patrol around the runway, looking for unauthorized people or cars.  

Temecula Police Department
 
Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor



 
Motor Unit



 
Segways (Used by the Promenade Mall substation team)



 
Murrieta Police Department
 
Dodge Magnum (K9 Unit)



 
Dodge Charger



 
Riverside County Sheriff's Department
 
Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor



 
San Diego Sheriff's Department
 
Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor



 
California Highway Patrol, Temecula Station
 
Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor



 
Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, Tribal Rangers
 
Dodge Ram



 
United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Law Enforcement and Investigations Division (Cleveland National Forest)
 
Ford Expedition



 
United States Border Patrol, Theodore L. Newton Jr. and George F. Azrak Border Patrol Station (Located in Murrieta)
 
Dodge Charger



 
Ford F-250