By Police1 Staff
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Police Protective League is accusing the Los Angeles Police Commission of telling officers to run away, not engage, if they are approached by an armed suspect.
The union wrote a blog post criticizing the civilian oversight board’s report last week that said an LAPD officer was at fault for using deadly force on a female suspect armed with a large knife.
According to the publication, the armed suspect was charging at officers, ignoring commands, and swinging the knife from side to side. She went from 70 feet to 5 feet away from the officers when the first officer decided to shoot.
The Commission stated, “It was reasonable for Officer C [the second officer] to believe, in the moment when the use of force occurred, that the subject would imminently assault him with the knife.”
The Commission had a problem with the officers’ reaction because the first officer’s “position initially provided Officer C with a position of tactical advantage” but lost the advantage as the suspect came at him.
“Suspect charging from the front. Vehicles on either side. Where do you ‘redeploy?’ Run backwards. This is absurd and it’s dangerous. What happens if the officer loses his footing with a charging suspect? What happens if the suspect runs into a nearby home or store and confronts its occupants with her weapon?” LAPPL asks.
The post continues to state that “the Commission’s finding that an officer being charged at with a weapon should run away is absurd,” and they made every officer’s job more dangerous.
“They are telling officers you can save your life or save your job, but you cannot do both.”