Recent reporting has highlighted the prevalence of shooting by police of knife-wielding men and other edged weapons. These cases, often involving individuals in crisis, show two deadly problems: There are limits to what “de-escalation” can do. And officers are often hesitant to use non-lethal force, allowing standoffs to spiral out of control.
Across the country in recent years, officers have often appeared reluctant to use legal force to end standoff incidents when verbal efforts have failed to inspire subjects to surrender. This hesitation to use even nonlethal weapons – in situations that clearly call for them – often leads to the shooting of the police, because at some point as de-escalation efforts drag on fruitlessly, the suspect may suddenly attack.
People outside of law enforcement sometimes have the impression that if only officers consistently try to deescalate the chaos with disturbed individuals, shootings can be avoided — as if de-escalation is a panacea. But there is no magic cure.
Of course, de-escalation is an important tool for police officers. That’s one of the first things I learned as a rookie cop in 1976: Talk instead of fight, if the situation allows the choice. The hope of engaging the resisting subject in effective communication is to reduce the intensity of the incident and persuade him to submit. It works when it works (which it usually does), and it doesn’t work when it doesn’t. This is where a fatal error often occurs: recognizing that de-escalation does not work, but refusing to use lethal force for fear of administrative, legal and media consequences.
One sees a pattern when the police are in a standoff with someone armed with a knife. Officials usually have to keep their distance, talk to individuals and listen, so that communication remains an effort to resolve the situation peacefully. However, with the best of intentions, the officer “talked the man to death.” When police fail to recognize that talk doesn’t work, officers refuse to use nonlethal methods such as Tasers to subdue armed men, the result often goes the other way: The man gets more agitated, the longer he stops and charges. knife on officers or bystanders. This is when the shooting happened.
If only the officers had abandoned de-escalation on their own terms instead of waiting for the suspect to stop by attacking. If only officers had used Tasers or other nonlethal options and saved lives – not to mention avoided expensive shooting investigations and litigation – instead of “talking dead.”
As a long-time consultant on police use of force, I believe that officers should use speech in many situations, but must evaluate each case on its own merits. long will talk without action. It seems to me that the officer has become a shy gun because so many colleagues have faced backlash after shootings, but no one’s interest is served by extending this attitude to nonlethal force. Don’t let the overemphasis on de-escalation endanger the lives of civilians and officers. Do not hesitate to use tools such as Tasers and other force options when appropriate. Fewer and less severe injuries from non-lethal weapons are better than avoidable shots.
A hope that all police standoffs can end with talk is unrealistic. But what can end with words or nonlethal methods? Indeed – and in fact most of the standoffs have already taken place. The exception to the shooting is the case that made the headlines. We can make these exceptions rarer with better policies and training and cultural changes that encourage the timely use of nonlethal weapons.
Society and the media have a role to play. Just as public pressure and equipping officers with a variety of weapons has not led to a reduction in the frequency of police shootings compared to decades ago, public support can make a difference for officers and departments to use lower levels of force – before situations stop turning into shootings.
Greg Meyer, an expert on police use of force, is a retired Los Angeles Police Department captain who conducted the department’s nonlethal weapons research, testing and training in 1979-80.
