Katherine Schweit on “AP Investigation: In hundreds of deadly police encounters, officers broke multiple safety guidelines”

Research like this from a credible source such as the Associated Press informs law enforcement. But my reading of it perhaps informs in a different way than the headline might indicate. I see statistics that show how challenging the job can be when policies and procedures may, at times, be guidelines but not always rules to be followed. Let me explain.

The headline reads: AP Investigation: In hundreds of deadly police encounters, officers broke multiple safety guidelines [link to the AP article is below].

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At a glance, this might undermine your faith and belief in the work of law enforcement. But as a former law enforcement officer myself, I invite you to remember that every day officers face different challenges that come with each encounter with the people they are charged to protect.

Associated Press investigative reporters looked at more than 1,000 non-firearm related incidents over a decade where a person died during an interaction with police. They identified many failures where policies and procedures were not followed or details were not thoroughly documented after a death, such as occurred in Minnesota when George Floyd was killed and the country erupted. To be clear, I don't dismiss the seriousness of the investigators' conclusions about lives unnecessarily lost. Law enforcement officers recognize when they make a mistake, it may cost them their life or the life of another.

As we celebrate and mourn the loss of officers during the month of National Police Week, consider that reporters found "[i]n about 30% of the deaths where police went outside the guidelines multiple times, the officers or bystanders were facing imminent or potential danger." The role of a peace officer is not an exact science.

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In April, engravers began adding 282 new names to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. across the street from where I worked in the FBI's Washington Field Office. On Monday evening this past week, the names were read aloud at a candlelight vigil, as they joined the 23,785 fallen officers already there.

Though one academic opined that a federal deadly force standard was needed for clarity, law enforcement around the country is aware of the case law and deadly force policy language used, all very similar if not identical since they often mimic the language used by the FBI and other federal officials, as well as the the best practices recommended in draft policy templates offered by organizations such as the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Sheriffs' Association.

Guidelines exist, but a suggestion that they don’t always "trickle down" to beat officers is confusing policy for training. Officers need and will always take better and more training if available. Researchers acknowledged that many who died were on drugs or alcohol, or had underlying medical conditions that made them more vulnerable when force was misapplied or best practices were not followed. This is yet another endorsement for more frequent training to improve responses to ever-changing circumstances.

All research is good. This research can help improve policies and training to better equip law enforcement to successfully manage distressed civilians. The National Law Enforcement Memorial Wall was built in 1991 with a view that it would not be out of space until 2100. Sadly, this year's names fill the remaining space. Perhaps at this time next year, we'll see a reduction in both law enforcement-involved civilian deaths and law enforcement deaths.

Credit: AP - This combination of images from body-camera videos shows police encounters with, top row from left, Jeffrey Melvin in Colorado in 2018, Johnathan Binkley in Tennessee in 2019; bottom row from left, Bradford Macomber in Mississippi in 2016 and Samuel Celestin in Florida in 2019.