Authorities recently released surveillance camera footage of an OIS in Maryland has all the hallmarks of a being a suicide-by-cop incident. The officer is seen with his gun drawn, backpedaling away from the subject, who had his right hand behind his back at his waist as he moved aggressively toward the officer. At a range of only a couple of feet — bad-breath distance — the individual feigned drawing a weapon and the officer fired several shots in his own defense.
Witnesses said that “they heard the officer repeatedly giving the suspect commands to ‘stop,’ and that they heard the suspect shouting profanities at the officer,” according to this report. The NAACP had demanded release of the video, which clearly vindicates the officer’s actions as being completely justifiable under Graham v. Connor.
Be Prepared
SBC incidents are emotionally charged for everyone involved. Obviously the subject’s family will be upset, but in many cases, the officer involved will also suffer some degree of emotional distress. It’s entirely possible — likely, in fact — that the officer involved in this latest SBC incident will suffer no ill effects in the aftermath of his shooting. However, this event does remind us that officers and agencies should have strategies in place to deal with things like this, and that the time to prepare for them is now — improvising a hasty response on the fly can be counterproductive.
It is important for an individual involved in an SBC to remember that SBCs are traps laid by subjects to lure an officer into a no-choice scenario. As Police1 Contributor Scott Burhmaster wrote in this 2009 article, “Police psychologists have found that one of the most emotionally distressing experiences an officer can have is to be put into a situation over which he or she has no control. Admitting and accepting that he was not able to direct an encounter can be a difficult reality for an officer to come to grips with and in some instances, they just can’t do it.”
Burhmaster added, “Realize that painful emotions are common after SBC encounters and, most importantly, that they’re normal. Be sure you get some emotional help. If your department provides that kind of support, take advantage of it. If not, seek your own assistance. If another officer in your agency or a neighboring agency has been involved in an SBC, seek him or her out. What did they experience? How did they feel? For the sake of yourself and your career, you must take care of yourself emotionally.”
For individual officers responding to a fellow officer involved in an SBC, heed the advice of Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, who writes in Chapter Six of On Combat that “the right response to a survivor is to say simply, ‘I’m so glad you’re okay.’ That the person survived the ordeal and is okay is all that matters.”
Grossman says further that an officer involved in a shooting doesn’t need to hear “good shooting” or “the bastard had it coming” or “we’ll get you a good lawyer.” Instead, says Grossman, the message should be: “I give a damn about you, and I’m glad you’re okay.”
Calling this the “ready round,” Col. Grossman says this is the one that’s “in the chamber ready to go when you do not know what to say or do. You simply let the person know that you care about him and are glad he is okay.”
From an agency perspective, police leaders must recognize that these types of incidents are different from other OIS investigations, and need to be treated deftly. As Burhmaster writes, many officers involved in SBC situations “exhibit several of the same symptoms as rape victims. During the investigation, they’re required to relive that experience. The resulting emotional aftermath can be extremely painful and if not dealt with appropriately, can have significant and far-reaching consequences.”
In this day and age of instant video on the Internet of just about every police action, the challenges for police following any shooting can be significant — this is even more true for instances like we saw in Maryland last week. Prepare yourself and your agency now, because the next SBC could be in your jurisdiction.
