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BY KEVIN DAVIS
arly in September just before dawn, police of cers in Camden, New Jersey, cautiously moved in on a rape suspect they were following. The man, armed with a E knife, parked his SUV in an alley, got out and slowly walked toward the of cers. “Drop the knife! Stop moving!” an of cer yelled. “Stop moving!” Still gripping the knife, the man kept walking toward the of cers, who stepped back to maintain a safe distance. “We’re trying to help you, man,” another of cer said . “I’ll stab you,” the suspect replied. The of cers, some with their guns drawn, others ready with Tasers, waited for his next move. Camden County police are trained to hold back deadly force when possible—to rst try to de-escalate situations like this. De-escalation training is becoming more common in police ABA JOURNAL | JUNE–JULY 2021 JOURNAL | JUNE–JULY ABA Photo illustration by Sara Wadford/YouTube/Shutterstock departments across the country as public pressure mounts
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to reduce the number of people killed by law enforcement Then in 2019, the Camden County Police Department, of cers. Last year, police killed 1,127 people, according to the working with New York University School of Law’s Policing research group Mapping Police Violence. Project, developed an updated use-of-force policy to comple- In most of those cases, of cers initially responded to nonvi- ment its de-escalation training. It was backed by the American olent offenses or situations in which no crime was reported. Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and supported by the local Of those killed by police last year, 180 had a knife or sharp Fraternal Order of Police lodge. At its core is the department’s object, and 80 were unarmed; about half had a gun. Of those declaration that of cers “respect the sanctity of life.” unarmed, 45 were people of color. Police use-of-force policies vary from department to de- Could police have avoided killing—whether the victims partment but have been guided, in part, by two U.S. Supreme were armed or not? Court decisions. Advocates of de-escalation believe that many such deaths In 1985’s Tennessee v. Garner, the court ruled that a state can be prevented. Yet what de-escalation means and how law allowing police to shoot an unarmed, eeing suspect was effective it is remain subject to debate as police and the public unconstitutional. try to determine whether it puts of cers at greater risk or helps The court found that the law violated the Fourth Amend- prevent unnecessary killings. ment’s prohibition against unreasonable seizure—in this case, the seizure being the apprehension of an unarmed criminal Respecting life suspect. The use of deadly force to stop the suspect, the court The rape suspect in Camden refused repeated commands to reasoned, far exceeded the state’s interest in apprehending the drop his knife, and police of cers continued to take steps to suspect—who in this case was a teenager wanted in connection avoid shooting him. Even though he had a deadly weapon, with a burglary. they didn’t consider him an immediate threat because the of - Four years later, the court ruled in another Fourth Amend- cers were able to keep their distance. ment case, Graham v. Connor, that a police of cer may only Camden’s 400-member police force came a long way to use force, deadly or otherwise, that a “reasonable” of cer reach this point. For decades, the city was once considered would use when facing similar circumstances. That case among the most dangerous in the country, beset with high stemmed from an incident in which police, suspicious after a murder rates and complaints of excessive force. In 2013, the man quickly left a convenience store, detained and handcuffed 46 city’s police department was disbanded and became a county- him only to later learn he was diabetic and was having an wide operation, instituting a series of reforms under then-Chief insulin reaction. J. Scott Thomson. Among them was de-escalation training, The policy in Camden County goes further than both cases which stresses patience and talking to suspects rather than by seeking to avoid use of force that may be considered lawful using aggressive takedowns. but not necessary. “Whenever feasible, of cers should attempt
“We do things totally opposite now. We understand that de-escalation is important.” —Chief Gabriel Rodriguez ABA JOURNAL | JUNE–JULY 2021 JOURNAL | JUNE–JULY ABA Photo by Arnold Adler/ABA Journal Arnold Adler/ABA by Photo Journal;Photos by Arnold David Kidd,Adler/ABA Governing
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Policing Project Executive Director Farhang Heydari, left, and Camden County Police Capt. Kevin Lutz, above, helped the department with use-of-force training.
to de-escalate confrontations with the goal of resolving en- “That right there, when I came on the force 18 years ago, counters without force,” the policy states. Of cers may only would have been a deadly force situation,” Rodriguez says. 47 use force “as a last resort.” “We call them lawful but awful shootings.” Camden County Police Chief Gabriel Rodriguez says when Harper, known for his cool, radioed that the sexual assault he was a young of cer, such policies didn’t exist. “The feel- suspect had a knife. ing back then was that it was better to be judged by 12 than He did not get out of the squad car. The man got into his carried by six,” he says. “This was the mentality of the police SUV and drove away. of cer back then. Get there, draw a line in the sand, and do Of cers in the area quickly located the SUV and followed not retreat. We do things totally opposite now. We understand it for several blocks until the suspect stopped and got out of that de-escalation is important, using the proper tactics is im- the vehicle. portant, creating space, giving yourself more time.” “Put your hands up!” one of the of cers yelled. Farhang Heydari, an attorney and the executive director of “Put your hands on top of your head, bro,” another said. the Policing Project, worked with Camden police and former The suspect got back in his car and drove off. chief Thompson to bring the use-of-force policy and train- In the old days, this might have triggered a police chase. ing together. But in Camden, the strategy is to avoid putting anyone’s “Training has to come hand in hand with the policy,” he life in danger, says Capt. Kevin Lutz, who leads the depart- says. “I think we crafted a policy that put Camden out front of ment’s training. many departments. It de nitely can serve as a model for other Lutz describes de-escalation as a multilayered process. “I departments.” don’t think it’s easily de ned. It’s a uni ed way of thinking through crisis,” he says. “At the end of the day, de-escalation A call for help is more of a culture of how you deal with individuals, not The encounter with the rape suspect in Camden began early just during a crisis but in day-to-day interactions. As of cers, on the morning of Sept. 14 when Sgt. Michael Harper, while we may be dealing with people on the worst day of their on patrol, heard a woman calling for help. Harper stopped and life, and we want to make sure we’re there to help them, not asked the woman what happened and had her get inside his hurt them.” squad car. She told Harper she had been sexually assaulted by But sometimes they face very real threats. “If you put a gun a man with a knife. into the scenario, it’s a completely different set of circumstanc- As they spoke, the man she said assaulted her walked up es at that point, and there are minimal things you can do to to the of cer’s car holding a knife. He swung the knife several de-escalate someone who is threatening you or someone else ABA JOURNAL | JUNE–JULY 2021 JOURNAL | JUNE–JULY ABA Photo by Arnold Adler/ABA Journal Arnold Adler/ABA by Photo Journal;Photos by Arnold David Kidd,Adler/ABA Governing times at the car. with a gun,” Lutz says.
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Camden, New Jersey, once considered among the most dangerous cities in the country, is now policed by a countywide depart- ment that instituted a series of reforms in 2013 that focus on better community relations and a “sanctity of life” policy.
Training to think di erently The program Wexler helped develop is called ICAT train- The training model in Camden was developed by the Police ing, or Integrating Communications, Assessment and Tactics. Executive Research Forum , a nonpro t police research and Camden became one of the rst test sites for the training. Since policy organization based in Washington, D.C. 2016, when the rst ICAT training guide was published , more Chuck Wexler, executive director of PERF , says the idea than 600 police agencies have attended training sessions, and came to him after he visited the United Kingdom to study dozens of agencies are using it. 48 police techniques. Other agencies teach police de-escalation techniques, and His visit came around the same time as the 2014 fatal the training can be as varied as the more than 18,000 law shooting of Michael Brown by police in Ferguson, Missouri, enforcement agencies—large and small—across the country. and the subsequent riots. The common theme is to try to avoid deadly confrontations. “It got me thinking about de-escalation, and why can police But does it work? in the U.K. arrest people without shooting them?” Wexler says. Anecdotal evidence suggests that it does, though there hav- “It’s about training, not just policy.” en’t been enough comprehensive studies to con rm it. “Despite Wexler concluded that while police departments may have vast promotion from politicians, academics, expert panels and use-of-force policies that look good on paper, they can’t be the public, we know little about the effects of de-escalation fully effective without proper training. “Changing policy is training on of cers and police-citizen interactions,” noted a easy,” he says. “We’re talking about changing culture. Chang- study last year in Criminology & Public Policy. ing culture is the Mount Everest of police reform. How do One of that study’s authors is Robin S. Engel, professor of we implement this strategy and really turn police thinking on criminal justice at the University of Cincinnati and director of its head?” the International Association of Chiefs of Police / UC Center The organization developed training that encourages of - for Police Research and Policy . cers to keep themselves out of harm’s way while communicat- “I was shocked at the lack of evidence about police train- ing with subjects . ing, not to mention The goal of the training PERF designed is to build rapport de-escalation training,” that leads to a peaceful surrender. It’s designed for situations she says. “Of cers were involving people who are unarmed or armed with weapons concerned that if they other than guns . engaged in de-escalation “The notion that cops have to make a split-second decision that they were going to is not always the case,” Wexler says. “It’s about communicat- get seriously injured or ing, working as a team.” killed. And people would De-escalation training also recognizes that many of those who police encounter may have mental health problems, may Chuck Wexler: “Why can be severely intoxicated from drugs or alcohol, and in some police in the U.K. arrest instances are seeking “suicide by cop.” (See “Calls for Help,” people without shooting ABA JOURNAL | JUNE–JULY 2021 JOURNAL | JUNE–JULY ABA April-May, page 46.) them?” Photos courtesy of Police Executive Research Forum; Camden Police Department via Getty Images A. Clary/AFP Department D; Timothy Kliem; Camden Police of Von courtesy Photos
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say, ‘You’re gonna kill cops doing this because you’re teaching Police perspective them to hesitate.’” Using de-escalation to defuse potentially dangerous situations However, Engel and colleagues took a closer look at the is really nothing new, some veteran cops say. But the formal Louisville Police Department in Kentucky, which has imple- training is a more recent development. mented the ICAT training. Their study offers one of the rst “When I rst came on 35 years ago, there was no de-escala- large-scale evaluations of de-escalation training for police. tion training. What the senior of cers did teach us was how to The examination in Louisville, where police were heavily talk to people, how to get out of cars and start conversations 49 criticized after Breonna Taylor was killed in a no-knock raid in and really communicate, to learn community policing,” says March 2020, showed that concerns de-escalation might cause St. Petersburg, Florida, Police Chief Anthony Holloway , chair more harm than good were unfounded. The data showed that of the Law Enforcement after the training, of cers had 28% fewer incidents involving Committee of the ABA use of force, 26% fewer injuries to citizens and 36% fewer Criminal Justice Section. injuries to of cers . “So maybe that was unof - Von Kliem, an attorney, former prosecutor and former cial de-escalation training.” police of cer in Topeka, Kansas, is the community relations Of cial or not, Hollo- director of the Force Science Institute, which does scientif- way believes police depart- ic research, behavioral analysis and training in the use of ments have fallen short deadly force. in teaching community Kliem says that while of cers can be trained in de-escalation relations. “I blame myself. techniques, situations often involve making educated guesses, We forgot to teach of cers forcing of cers to calculate the risk of taking action against how to talk to people,” the risk of standing back. It’s a layered and complex situation he says. “We took out the and should not be hastily judged. “Always remember there is a human part of it.” Von Kliem: “Always remember human being behind the badge,” he says. New Jersey attorney there is a human being behind Each situation, Kliem notes, requires asking what the Stuart J. Alterman, a the badge.” government interest is in stopping or arresting someone. Cops former cop who represents must be aware of the ongoing tension between demands for police of cers in use-of- law and order and demands for social justice. Will the depart- force complaints and other matters, argues police are too often ment and the community support what they do? expected to act like social workers. “We’re trained to deal with He says the edict to only use force when necessary is vague. people who do bad things,” he says. “We’re trained to deal “That’s such an arbitrary and ambiguous phrase. No one can with people who are prone to commit crimes.” determine that in advance of using force,” he says. “It sounds Alterman, who also worked as a county corrections of cer great, and we all want to use less force, as necessary. How long and prosecutor , believes formal de-escalation policies are not do you wait? Was it necessary? This is the position we put cops necessary. “I have a great deal of concern about what is being ABA JOURNAL | JUNE–JULY 2021 JOURNAL | JUNE–JULY ABA Photos courtesy of Police Executive Research Forum; Camden Police Department via Getty Images A. Clary/AFP Department D; Timothy Kliem; Camden Police of Von courtesy Photos in all the time.” espoused today,” he says.
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Cops, he says, are asking themselves whether these tech- “Taser, Taser, Taser!” one of the of cers, John Reed, yelled. niques can really work. “How long do I sit there and talk to There was a loud pop. He hit the suspect, sending him to the this person, and how effective will I be?” he says. “I think it’s a ground, groaning with pain. ne line that has to be handled with each individual case.” “You got me good,” the suspect said to the of cer. He recalls being trained in the use-of-force continuum, His name was Cesar Sanchez. The 36-year-old was charged guidelines of cers use to resolve a situation that can escalate with three counts of aggravated sexual assault while armed, when civilians or criminal suspects are not cooperative. “The aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, simple assault, idea was that you can go one step above what the suspect is possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, terroristic trying to use against you,” he says. threats, resisting by ight and restraint. Alterman says cops want more support and less judgment. “He didn’t want to die,” Lutz says. “He didn’t want to nec- “When you’re trying to push de-escalation because it’s politi- essarily kill these of cers or kill someone else. He was having a cally expedient, you also have to let of cers know that if they moment of mental crisis.” have to use deadly force, we’ll back them up,” he says. “Now The entire incident was captured by nine police body cam- we have cops second-guessing themselves all the time.” eras and has since been compiled into a training video. “We Tense situations are never easy and often require a split-sec- review body cam footage on a daily basis,” says Rodriguez, ond response, Alterman adds. Having been a cop himself, he noting that these videos also reveal their shortcomings. “We’re understands the pressure, and he says his clients feel persecut- not saying we’re the best, we’re not waving the ag and saying ed. “You’re supposed to go home at the end of your shift. You we’re the greatest.” didn’t sign up to get hurt or disabled, or worse, dead.” National progress The fi nal confrontation Katie Ryan, campaign manager for Campaign Zero , a nation- The of cers in Camden caught up once more with the sexual al advocacy organization that seeks to end police violence, assault suspect in the alley, where he threatened to stab them. says the incident in Camden is an example of how police can As the scene unfolded, the police watch commander, who had avoid escalating a situation. “There is a level of ownership law ngton Post; Andrew Burton/Getty Images been monitoring the situation on the radio, reminded the of - enforcement can take in a situation that is already volatile,” cers to maintain a safe distance and keep working to de-esca- says Ryan, who reviewed a Camden police video of Sanchez’s 50 late the situation. arrest. “They were able to employ a cooler approach.” The suspect, who was 5 feet, 10 inches tall and 200 pounds, Campaign Zero developed policies to help reduce police kept moving closer. The of cers ordered him to drop the knife. violence called 8 Can’t Wait after George Floyd’s murder “What’s your name? by Minneapolis police of cer Derek Chauvin in May 2020. “I’ll stab you.” Among the eight recommendations: require de-escalation and “What’s your name, man? C’mon, man.” exhaust all other means before using deadly force. Of cers again told him to drop the knife, but he kept mov- “We’re starting to see a lot more police departments aligned Photos by Emily Kassie/The Hu ing closer. with our campaign of 8 Can’t Wait,” Ryan says, adding that Images Burton/Getty via Getty Images; Andrew A. Clary/AFP Timothy by Photos ABA JOURNAL | JUNE–JULY 2021 JOURNAL | JUNE–JULY ABA
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Johnetta Elzie: “If the culture is for the rst time in 20 years in an effort to reduce violent inter- toxic, you can change as many actions with civilians . rules as you want on paper. It The new policy is scheduled to take effect in 2022 and doesn’t mean there will be any calls for all of the state’s 38,000 law enforcement of cers to actual people to enforce the undergo de-escalation training and outlines other strategies for change.” limiting the use of force. “That was the rst statewide whole- sale adoption of our 8 Can’t Wait policy,” Ryan says. At the national level, the George Floyd Justice in Policing one or more of their policies Act , if passed by Congress, would encourage federal of cers to have been adopted in 340 cities use de-escalation techniques when possible and create grants since June 2020. for de-escalation training in other law enforcement agencies. Campaign Zero has stud- “You can come up with policies, all kinds of reform, but if ied the use-of-force policies of you don’t instill this in the culture of the agency overall—the at least 500 law enforcement sanctity of life, all those key things we have in our use-of-force agencies, a fraction of the policy—you’re not going to get the change or results that we’re 18,000 out there, and sometimes faces resistance from depart- seeing,” Rodriguez says. ments who see the organization through a narrow lens. “We Camden County has seen real progress. Since the de-escala- get lumped into the narrative that we’re anti-police. I think the tion training began, the number of excessive force complaints criticism is ill-informed,” Ryan says. against the department dropped from 65 in 2014 to three in And there is still the challenge of overcoming bias—explic- 2020. Police have fatally shot three people during that same it or implicit—in how police handle calls and communicate period, and all were considered justi ed. with people of color, says Johnetta Elzie, one of the founders “It didn’t happen overnight,” Lutz says. “It was years in the of Campaign Zero . Elzie also believes “the militarization of making. And we’re always looking to get better every day. I police” has made some of cers see citizens, especially people of can tell you that it’s safer policing this way. We’re still getting ngton Post; Andrew Burton/Getty Images color, as enemy combatants, not humans—a culture that will the violent offenders. We’re still seizing illegal guns off the be dif cult to change. street. And we’re doing it the right way.” “As far as empathy training and anti-bias training? I per- In the case of the knife-wielding rape suspect, the of cer 51 sonally don’t believe those things work because I don’t believe who rst confronted him could have made a very different de- you can teach empathy,” she says. “If the culture is toxic, you cision. “He could have got out of his vehicle, drawn his service can change as many rules as you want on paper. It doesn’t weapon, given a command and shot him, and it would have mean there will be any actual people to enforce the change.” been legal,” Lutz says. “That’s not what we train to do here, A sign that the de-escalation movement is catching on came and [we] have seen multiple success stories.” when New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced Sanchez was one of them. They got him good, as he said. Photos by Emily Kassie/The Hu Q Photos by Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images; Andrew Burton/Getty Images Burton/Getty via Getty Images; Andrew A. Clary/AFP Timothy by Photos in December that the state would update its use-of-force policy And they got him alive. ABA JOURNAL | JUNE–JULY 2021 JOURNAL | JUNE–JULY ABA
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