Nomination For Hero Badge

The City of Cleveland is taking steps to discipline thirteen officers, firing six for their actions during a chase where two suspects were killed. Over 100 officers in sixty-seven patrol cars joined the chase.  At the conclusion of the chase twelve of the involved officers fired 137 rounds at the car. The occupants were hit over twenty times apiece. Six of the twelve officers face termination and six face suspension. To put this in perspective six officers fired 130 rounds at Bonnie and Clyde.

The article isn’t entirely clear but it appears that the firings and suspensions are not entirely tied to the shooting.  Some officers are being disciplined for policy violations related to how pursuits are to be conducted.

Most police departments limit the number of officers or cars that may participate in a chase. Some departments have instituted no chase policies and ban police pursuits entirely. Many departments require that the decision to chase or continue a pursuit be validated by a supervisor, rather than the initiating officer. To put this into a civilian context, recall the last time your dog flushed a rabbit. You could see that Rover didn’t stand a chance of catching that rabbit, but did he listen to you?

It used to be an inviolate rule among police officers that when an “officer was in trouble” every officer responded, no matter what they were doing, no matter where they were. This made sense when police walked beats and their only means of communication was a whistle. It even made sense with the advent of the radio when police units, divisions and commands operated on separate frequencies and could not communicate with one another.  It makes no sense with the availability of modern channel hopping radios, GPS and helicopters.

I suspect dispatchers, supervisors and possibly down to individual patrol units can tell at a glance the relative position of the lead pursuit vehicle to other patrol units and make a judgment as to the ability of others to join a pursuit in any meaningful way.

There is an emotional impact when you as the lead officer on a pursuit are totally involved in the chase. To be focused to the degree that as the last crook is handcuffed and the car is secured you look up and are amazed that for as far as you can see, there are patrol cars. It is humbling to know they are there because you needed help.

How does something like this happen?  High speed chases are fun.  Most cops won’t admit it but it is true. You get to drive fast and play with the lights and siren. As long as the officers involved don’t catch the crook, there is no paperwork. Some jurisdictions require all participants to write a report. “Saw chase joined same, 10-8”. When the chase is over, the officers get to hang out and visit fellow officers from other jurisdictions or precincts that they haven’t seen in a while.

A chase brings out the twelve year old in a cop. Back then he had a baseball card clipped to the spokes of his stingray bike to make it roar. He blazed through the neighborhood making siren noises as he chased another kid in a game of cops and robbers. It was fun at twelve, it was fun at fifty two, the last time I drove a chase. The only difference being I couldn’t get my Stingray bike up to 130 mph like my Crown Vic.

Under lying the “fun part” is the building conviction that with every insane maneuver by the bad guy, that this guy is desperate.  People with no insurance or an expired driver’s license wouldn’t take such risks.  They do. The longer the chase lasts the more dangerous the fleeing driver becomes in the minds of the pursuing officers. When the chase ends if there isn’t effective command and control, bad things happen.

If a gun is fired, chances are multiple officers will fire. For some who fire, their explanation will be, well officer so and so fired. During the SLA shootout in May,1974 officers from all over LA County, LAPD, LASO and various suburbs made the trip to the SLA house, fired a few rounds and then left.

When police fail to control themselves they cannot control the situation. This action by the city is a necessary first step. Hopefully, it will put the first line supervisors on notice that their job is to supervise and give them the authority with the troops to do their job. The message to the troops is that policy is a guide to define acceptable conduct, not just an excuse jack with them.

As to the two miscreants that were killed, they are just fine where they are.