Avoiding Officer-Induced Jeopardy
It was a typical sunny day when I received a disturbance-in-progress call at a residence where the suspect was threatening to kill his parents. While en route to the residence, I spoke to the parents on the phone and learned the suspect was outside. I had them lock up the house and take cover and told them I would arrive shortly. I then requested additional officers on the scene.
The suspect was a known drug user with multiple past encounters with law enforcement, each encounter increasingly problematic. Approximately six feet tall and weighing close to 300 pounds, he had access to firearms, though it wasn’t clear whether or not he was currently armed.
Since the parents had locked themselves in the house, the threat to their immediate safety had subsided. I knew that if I rushed into the situation before my cover arrived, I would be forcing the situation with limited options and creating a situation called officer-induced jeopardy. Instead, since no one was in imminent danger, I created time and space to allow more options in the hopes of achieving a more favorable outcome.
I turned my lights and sirens off a short distance from the residence so I wouldn’t alert the suspect to my presence. I exited my vehicle and came around the corner of a detached garage, where I found the suspect sitting in a lawn chair. He was salivating profusely, drool running down his chin, and did not see me. He appeared to either be under the influence of methamphetamines or withdrawing from them.
I waited until medical had staged in the area and two more officers were on scene before I spoke to the suspect. Upon seeing me, he became confrontational and agitated, jumping from topic to topic and spouting random, made-up statutes. He did not want to speak with me, but he did not appear to have a firearm. Whenever I came within 30 yards of him, he yelled even louder and became further agitated.
I waited for more officers to arrive, both to give me more options and in the hopes that this show of force would result in the suspect’s cooperation. A half hour later, after numerous unsuccessful attempts to communicate with the suspect, I told him we were going to take him into custody and place him on medical hold at the hospital.
Upon hearing this, the suspect became even more disturbed and stood up. Noticing a deputy holding a shotgun marked with a florescent orange stock and pump, he began shouting, “What are you going to do, shoot me? Go ahead and shoot me! Come on; do it!”
A second deputy drew his tazer, a third deputy drew his firearm, and two of us readied our handcuffs. The suspect suddenly grabbed three metal lawn chairs that weighed about 15 pounds each and began throwing them at us. One struck me in the right shin. The second deputy promptly tazed the suspect, who went down to the ground. We linked three sets of handcuffs together to accommodate the suspect’s size, transported him to the hospital for medical clearance, and charged him with assaulting a peace officer.
Unnecessary injury, and very possibly an unnecessary tragedy, had been averted.
The moral of the story is that if I had rushed into the situation alone, I would have had to deal singlehandedly with an irate and irrational individual under the influence of drugs. Without backup, my only option would have been my firearm, since policy at that time didn’t allow the use of less lethal means without lethal cover. Had I been forced to use my firearm to protect myself, the situation could have ended tragically. In this scenario, having taken action without adequate cover, I would have been the one unnecessarily forcing the situation.
This textbook example of officer-induced jeopardy reveals how, with forethought, assuming safety isn’t in danger, we can corral a situation, creating time and space to allow better outcomes.
Avoiding officer-induced jeopardy means preventing tragic resolutions and is always in the best interests of the public we serve.
Darron Spencer is the author of Humane Policing: How Perspectives Can Influence Our Performance and founder of Humane Policing – Transforming Police Culture. For more information, visit humanepolicing.com.
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Darron Spencer Humane Policing - 18 minutes
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Amazon - Humane Policing: How Perspectives Can Influence Our Performance Paperback – October 2, 2017 - Darron Spencer (Author)
Humane Policing was the winner of the Book Excellence Award for the law category
Humane policing. Some would say that's an oxymoron, but officer Darron Spencer believes those words are inseparable. In his three years with a busy sheriff's office, Darron covered an enormous number of cases and arrested many individuals for a variety of crimes. Tellingly, 90% of those he arrested thanked him.
In his newly published book Humane Policing: How Perspectives Can Influence Our Performance, Darron explains his approach to law enforcement and how he worked to change perspectives, improve relationships, and induce cooperation with his fellow officers as well as with the general public he vowed to serve and protect.
By extension, Darron addresses the growing crisis in our society involving the frequently inhumane and unproductive--even when lawful--interactions between law enforcement and the public. Written for his fellow law enforcement professionals as well as the general public, Humane Policing explores why law enforcement needs to change, chronicles the experiences that shaped Darron's perspective, and offers life-changing tools his colleagues can use to better serve the public.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
It was my pleasure not only to hire Darron but also to work with him. During his 20 months under my supervision, I was thoroughly impressed with his style and approach to law enforcement. He treated everyone humanely, with respect and fairness, and his approach led to unprecedented cooperation from career criminals. This in turn led to over 40 felony arrests and the filing of numerous misdemeanor charges.
Darron is now reaching out to agencies around the country to share his talents and unique style of law enforcement so that other officers and deputies can learn how he gains cooperation rather than forces compliance in order to solve major cases. --Senator John Cooke, Senate District 13, former three-term sheriff of Weld County, Colorado
It was a refreshing pleasure to work with Darron. As a detective, I could always count on him to be complete and thorough in his duties and tasks. He was eager to learn and willing to work hard. He often, if not always, went above and beyond expectations. He has a lot to offer law enforcement even as his promising career was cut short due to illness. He never forgot that we deal with humans, often at their worst, but still human beings. He treated people with warmth and friendliness. There is a time to be abrupt and take forceful command, verbal or physical, but this is unnecessary as a general rule.
Most often, people responded well to Darron's style of policing. Using compassion, understanding, and empathy is beneficial in dealing with people, even suspects. If a police officer is angry and bitter in his dealings with people, he takes that poisonous attitude home to his personal life, too. It's fortunate that Darron is sharing his perspective. I hope law enforcement views it as the gift that it is. --Terie Rinne, Retired, Weld County Sheriff's Office 33 Years
"It was my pleasure not only to hire Darron but also to work with him. During his 20 months under my supervision, I was thoroughly impressed with his style and approach to law enforcement. He treated everyone humanely, with respect and fairness, and his approach led to unprecedented cooperation from career criminals. This in turn led to over 40 felony arrests and the filing of numerous misdemeanor charges."Darron is now reaching out to agencies around the country to share his talents and unique style of law enforcement so that other officers and deputies can learn how he gains cooperation rather than forces compliance in order to solve major cases."-- Senator John Cooke, Senate District 13, former three-term sheriff of Weld County, Colorado "It was a refreshing pleasure to work with Darron. As a detective, I could always count on him to be complete and thorough in his duties and tasks. He was eager to learn and willing to work hard. He often, if not always, went above and beyond expectations. He has a lot to offer law enforcement even as his promising career was cut short due to illness. He never forgot that we deal with humans, often at their worst, but still human beings. He treated people with warmth and friendliness. There is a time to be abrupt and take forceful command, verbal or physical, but this is unnecessary as a general rule. "Most often, people responded well to Darron's style of policing. Using compassion, understanding, and empathy is beneficial in dealing with people, even suspects. If a police officer is angry and bitter in his dealings with people, he takes that poisonous attitude home to his personal life, too. It's fortunate that Darron is sharing his perspective. I hope law enforcement views it as the gift that it is." -- Terie Rinne, Retired, Weld County Sheriff's Office 33 Years
About the Author
I wanted a fulfilling profession that allowed me to help others. After a short time in my law enforcement career, I knew I'd made the right choice. I went from corrections officer to sheriff's deputy in the patrol division for 20 months. During that time, I was responsible for 40 felony and 74 misdemeanor arrests, assisted with four death investigations, did the vast majority of my field evidence technician work, investigated most all my own cases, and was awarded Deputy of the Year and the Ribbon of Merit.
My career was my passion, but it abruptly ended when I became disabled and unable to perform my duties. Forced to find a new way to help others, I decided to teach my unique approach and techniques to my brothers and sisters in law enforcement with the goal of bridging the gap with the general public to help make our communities safer, happier places to reside. For more information on how my approach can assist your agency and law enforcement personnel. Visit Humanepolicing.com
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Amazon customer review:
5.0 out of 5 stars An officer of the law striving to make a differnce.
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2017
Verified Purchase
If you want an informative look into what an officer of the law literally goes through on call outs, this book won't disappoint! By the time I finished reading it, I wasn't ready for it to end. I wanted more. In a very entertaining manner, Darron Spencer tries to direct all of us, being those in the police field and us regular people, in the direction of humanity and respect toward ALL and the results each of us can attain if the techniques he has used are applied in our work and everyday lives. Not knowing what the circumstances are on each call out an officer makes or each car he/she may pull over, can result in a life threatening challenge for the officer him/herself. And depending on how the officer reacts and handles each situation, can bring about a totally different outcome. The outcomes that Darron Spencer was able to produce through his techniques resulted in 90% of the people he arrested thanking him. Not for their arrest, but for the way he treated them. He gave them respect and compassion.
The author is trying to bring about a change in the way that the public perceives an officer. Not just a person in a uniform but a regular person doing his job and doing that job to the best of his ability. He is also trying to reach out to other officers in teaching methods that he personally has used that has brought about good results and those witnessing his actions are proud to know him as an officer of the law.
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