CHIEF CONCERNS edited by Joshua A. Ederheimer Lorie A. Fridell Chief Concerns: Exploring the Challenges of Police Use of Force edited by Joshua A. Ederheimer Lorie A. Fridell April 2005 This report was funded by Motorola, Inc. The points of view expressed here do not necessarily represent the official position of Motorola, Police Executive Research Forum or its members. © Police Executive Research Forum, Washington, DC 20036 Published April 2005. Printed in the United States of America. Library of Congress Number ISBN 1-878734-88-1 Cover and interior design by Dave Williams. Image of police officer on front cover courtesy of Federal Emergency Management Agency, photographer: Bob Epstein. Background image of alley courtesy of istockphoto.com, photographer: Mika Makkonen. Contents 1 3 Introduction . .1 Use-of-Force Tools . .57 by Andrea Morrozoff Luna by Joshua A. Ederheimer Definitions. 4 K-9 Deployment as a Serious Use of Force: Agency Culture, Training and the Use of Force. 5 Handler-Controlled Alert Methodology. 60 by Kim C. Dine by Dennis Nowicki The Critical 15 Minutes – Perspectives of Less Lethal Weapons: Their Evolution and Chief William Lansdowne . 10 the Leadership of the Los Angeles County by Melissa Reuland Sheriff’s Department . 65 Miami PD: Striving to be One of the Nation’s Best . 12 by Charles “Sid” Heal by John Timoney Do Non-lethal Weapons Prevent Lethal Consequences? . 70 Developing an International Approach to by Lorie Fridell and Antony Pate Less-Lethal and Minimum Force Options . 15 Taser Research and Development in the by Joshua A. Ederheimer and Andrea Morrozoff Luna United Kingdom . 74 Defining Moments: Tackling Police Use of Force . 18 by Andrea Morrozoff Luna by Chuck Wexler 4 2 Handling the Aftermath of a Improving Use-of-Force Policy, Use-of-Force Incident . .83 by Beverly Anderson; Heather Davies; Policy Enforcement, and Training . .21 Joshua A. Ederheimer; and Stephan Loyka by Lorie A. Fridell Law Enforcement and Community Relations: A Community The Influence of U.S. Department of Justice Perspective from Reverend Reginald Holmes . 86 Consent Decrees on Policing in the United States . 24 by Stephan Loyka by Ron Davis Turning Controversy into an Opportunity for Change . 90 Reducing Use of Force Through Hiring Decisions: by Andrea Morrozoff Luna Effective Prevention Measures. 35 by Michael Butler Policing in Diverse Communities . 97 by Tory Caeti Reengineering Use-of-Force Systems . 42 by Stephan Loyka Communicating with the Public and Building Trust . 104 by David Bayless The De-escalation Discussion . 51 by Tory Caeti and Robert Taylor One Chief’s Perspective: A Look at Post-Shooting Decision Making. 108 by William P. McManus Use-of-Force Investigations and Tactical Assessments . 116 by Heather Davies Use-of-Force Investigative Findings . 122 by Matthew Klein Aftercare Terms & Definitions. 127 Book Conclusion . .137 References . 139 About the Authors/Contributors . 149 About PERF. 154 About Motorola . 155 Foreword Some days you just get lucky. That day in dating back to when I first arrived at PERF some December 2003 was one of those days. Bill Lans- 12 years ago. Through my friendship first with downe, the chief of police in San Diego, and I Rick Neal, Vice President and General Manager, were reflecting on the long and productive part- who later introduced me to Jim Sarallo, Senior nership PERF and the San Diego Police Depart- Vice President and General Manager, Motorola ment had enjoyed on advancing problem-orient- has stood out as a unique, responsible corporate ed policing. Together much had been partner and a true champion of the policing pro- accomplished over the years and it was now time fession. Our first collaboration—on the 21st to see if we could bring that same energy to a new Century Project—broke new ground in applying policing challenge. process mapping to policing. Jim was taken by I asked Chief Lansdowne what kept him up my observation that if we could identify promis- at night. He looked at me and said, “There isn’t a ing practices in use of force, not only would we police chief in this country that doesn’t worry save the lives of suspects and cops alike, we just about use of force.” Having led departments in might save the careers of a few police chiefs as Richmond, California; San Jose; and now San well. Jim’s boss, Greg Brown, president of Mo- Diego, Bill had experienced what every police torola’s Government and Enterprise Mobility So- chief faces—that phone call in the night inform- lutions business, enthusiastically championed ing him about a potentially “bad” shooting. Bill this project for us. wondered why each chief must face these chal- So it was early last year that we began this lenges alone. Could chiefs learn from one anoth- initiative to examine critical issues in policing, er about promising practices in this area? If beginning with the single most explosive issue PERF could bring chiefs together to share their facing police chiefs today. Under the leadership experiences and then identify successful strate- of PERF staff, Josh A. Ederheimer and Dr. Lorie gies for reducing use-of-force incidents it could A. Fridell, this massive project began. Before make a huge difference to both community joining PERF, Josh was a commanding officer in members and police officers from across the the Washington, D.C., police department, who, country. under Chief Charles Ramsey, was tasked with re- About this same time I was having discus- engineering the District’s use-of-force policies in sions with our good friends at Motorola, Inc., the wake of a Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative who were asking what they could do next to help piece on the problem by The Washington Post. the law enforcement community. PERF has had Dr. Fridell, PERF’s director of research, is an a long and successful relationship with Motorola, academic expert on use of force. Together they Foreword — i designed and implemented this pioneering ef- Exploring the Challenges of Police Use of Force you fort. We undertook a thorough review of the pre- will find many, many more. Our goal has been to vailing literature on use of force, interviewed ex- provide guidance to police executives across the perts from around the country and abroad, country on how to ensure that force is used only reviewed materials sent to us by agencies and as- when justified and to put in place the relation- sociations, and convened executive sessions ships and mechanisms for dealing openly and ap- where chiefs and other experts could share their propriately when unjustified incidents occur. We successful approaches. We synthesized all of the have focused on some of the most pressing use- information into this report. We understood the of-force topics: training, policy, policy enforce- urgency of the need for the publication. ment, investigations, tools and tactics, and officer One use-of-force incident has the potential support, among others. We are extremely grateful to dramatically alter the stability of a police de- to the many chiefs, other police professionals, ac- partment and its relationship with the communi- ademic experts, researchers, and community rep- ty overnight. An officer’s use of deadly force, in resentatives who shared their wisdom and expe- particular, can define a police executive’s career— rience with us. It is our hope that this book will or end it. help law enforcement professionals, policymak- Thankfully, in recent years a number of ers, and community leaders think through the is- strategies have emerged that have led to a decline sues, learn from the experiences and approaches in deadly use-of-force incidents. For example, of others, and advance the debate on police use of Chief Lansdowne points out in a commentary in- force. cluded in this book that the first 15 minutes fol- lowing a non-routine call can be critical. The San Diego Police Department has found that getting a supervisor on the scene within 15 minutes of Chuck Wexler such a call can reduce the chances that an inexpe- Executive Director rienced officer will use deadly force by 80 percent. PERF This is just one successful strategy em- ployed by one department. In Chief Concerns: ii — Foreword Acknowledgments On behalf of PERF staff and members, we Bureau of Police; Deputy Chief Michael Berkow, thank the many people who have worked so hard Los Angeles Police Department; Chief William on this book. It has been a collaborative effort, and Bratton, Los Angeles Police Department; Alfred the collective experience and insight offered by all Broadbent, Direcor of Security, Amtrak; Captain those involved have made this book possible. As we John Brooks, Broward County Sheriff's Office; worked on this project over the past year, we be- Captain Steve Carter, Denver Police Department; came more convinced than ever that the law en- Superintendent Philip Cline, Chicago Police De- forcement profession is filled with brilliant, innova- partment; Commander David Commins, London tive people who are committed to serving the Metropolitan Police Department; Chief Richard public. We enjoyed working with police executives, Easley (retired), Kansas City (MO) Police Depart- subject matter experts, and other people committed ment; Lieutenant Eladio Estrada, New York City to improving police services from throughout the Police Department; Chief Julian Fantino (retired), United States and around the globe. It is our hope Toronto Police Service; Deputy Commissioner that this book will aid them and their partners in James Fyfe, New York City Police Department; making informed decisions about police practices. AUSA John Gallagher, U.S. Attorney's Office, East- Thanks are due to our partners at Motorola, ern District of Pennsylvania; Superintendent Terry who shared PERF’s desire to bring valuable infor- Hillard (retired), Chicago Police Department; As- mation on how to address tough community prob- sistant Chief James Pugel, Seattle Police Depart- lems to the field.