| Think tank's report doesn't hold water |
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| Written by Robert Shiller |
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Merrick Bobb and the Police Assessment Resource Center (PARC) of Los Angeles have recently released a report called “The Denver Report on Use of Deadly Force.” For those of you not familiar with it, Denver Independent Monitor Richard Rosenthal commissioned PARC, at great expense, to conduct a retrospective review of Denver police officer-involved shooting investigations. The report is broken into two themes – one deals with our use of force policies and procedures, the other covers the investigatory process and reviews of officer involved shootings. This is a lengthy report covers dozens of sub-topics; I would like to focus on only one. The report’s principal author, Merrick Bobb, has a Bachelor’s degree in English from Dartmouth College and a law degree from UC Berkeley. He was the staff attorney for the Christopher Commission, which investigated the policies of the LAPD after the Rodney King incident, and he was the first appointed monitor overseeing the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. He now runs the private non-profit PARC, which is focused on police oversight and reform. Mr. Bobb has never donned the blue suit and has never walked even one step in our boots. In the first chapter, Bobb has determined that officer safety and survival training is in conflict with the need to train officers in community-oriented policing. He also writes that Denver P.D. officer safety/survival training materials “err in an overemphasis on wariness and suspiciousness.” He states the most jarring example is the following: “The PowerPoint presentation on officer survival for recruit classes lists common characteristics of officers who were slain in the line of duty. These include: friendly to everyone, well-liked by the community, hardworking, tended to use less force than other officers, tend to perceive themselves as more public relations oriented than other law enforcement officers and used force only as a last resort.” He concludes these facts have a “highly dubious empirical validity” and goes on to recommend the Denver P.D. “eliminate from officer survival training any implication that an officer engaged in community policing is putting himself or herself at a greater risk of death.” Rather he recommends that instructors teach “community-oriented policing values.” His arrogant and ignorant opinions made my blood boil. Mr. Bobb seems to feel that political correctness is a value worth attaining even if it requires him to climb over the bodies of dead cops. No one is implying that community-oriented policing gets cops killed. This academically validated, factual information is gleaned from numerous credible sources and when taught in proper context as part of a comprehensive officer safety/survival program, just might help some cops go home safe to their families. It’s clear to me that Mr. Bobb has never attended any reputable officer safety/survival schools, nor has he read any of the materials published in the FBI’s “Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted” (LEOKA) reports, or any of the other texts on this topic. The “bible” of officer safety/survival is the Calibre Press Street Survival textbook series written by Charles Remsberg, well known to any police officer. In the book, Tactics for Criminal Patrol, there is a section on fatal tendencies of officers killed in the line of duty. They are: Operate with an unbalanced public relations/service orientation. Use less force than peers. Use force later than peers. Shortcut rules and procedures. Act without waiting for backup. Rely heavily on “reading” people. Relax when “good” is perceived. These tendencies have also been reported in studies by the FBI after reviewing hundreds of murders of police officers. We are not McDonald’s employees and the customer is not always right. On a daily basis, we contact people in a polite, respectful and even friendly manner, but we will always maintain a primary agenda to be aware, alert and prepared for any threat to our safety. These manners and traits are not in conflict and are not mutually exclusive. The principles of modern officer safety and survival were born April 6, 1970, when four California Highway Patrol officers were killed in what has become known as “the Newhall Incident.” These principles have been evolving ever since, and they are based on one simple tenet – we go home. This tenet is not subject to politics, political correctness or anyone’s naïve opinion of what a police officer should be or should think. To all of my brothers and sisters in blue who know that our job is to protect as well as serve, stay safe and cover each other. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites          Comments (1)
  written by paxton baker, June 20, 2011
Hi, I'm an explorer for the Lakewood Police Department, I think it would be a good idea for you to list the seven fatal tendencies and/or the ten deadly errors police officers make on your page. So far i have clicked on lots of websites and pages and find it interesting none of the police websites have the seven fatal tendencies... only the ten deadly errors. I think it'd be helpful to other police officers to be able to look them up and memorize them so they can practice to not to make those mistakes. Thank you and I hope you take this into consideration.
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