S.W.A.T. December 2007 - McKeesport Police Department

FRONTLINE DEBRIEFS
articulable facts of the case as the officer
views the event. I do not teach just
shooting techniques—or just tactics or
just weaponry—but rather the entire
professional package that will ultimately
be put to the test in the field.
There is a marked and distinct difference
between a shooting class and a
deadly force class. Standard qualification
does not prepare one adequately
for the events that unfold in the field.
It can’t. There is a reason that I teach in
the manner and format that I do. I know
what can happen when shootings take a
turn for the worse. It isn’t just about the
officer surviving, but rather prevailing
and doing so in sterling fashion, with
the ability to articulate what it was that
caused him to apply deadly force in the
first place. The manner in which one
explains one’s actions is equally, if not
more important than, the actions themselves
in some cases. It takes real world
experience in the courts and the judicial
system, as well as on the streets, to teach
this properly.
If an officer-involved shooting is clean
and above board, then there is no need
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we can easily delete those two
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When, however, the shooting is mired in
confusion, negative publicity and controversy,
then and only then do I come
into play. As I go through the shooting,
I am struck by the salient fact that, had
the officer received realistic training,
had he learned from someone who knew
precisely what would occur during and
after the shooting, had he known what
would be expected of him from within
the judicial system prior to the event,
then the shooting would be far, far easier
to resolve among all parties concerned.
A department that views deadly force
training as too expensive, too consumptive
of man-hours, and too remote a
possibility of occurring is seriously
myopic. None of us have crystal balls
or soothsayers on retention who can
predict when a shooting will occur on a
department. If such were the case, then
we would simply train the parties to be
involved, get them up to speed and let
things take their course. Due to the unpredictable
nature of these events, it be-
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hooves a department to prevent bad or
marginal shootings by receiving proper
training in the first place.
Just the paperwork alone for these
cases runs into the tens of thousands of
dollars. Add to all of this the expense of
the requisite experts, attorneys and the
sheer man-hours necessary to prepare
and present a case, and the bill becomes
staggering. I would venture to say that
an average case can run from $500,000
to $2,000,000 to defend. A fraction of
this funding spent on deadly force risk
management training may have easily
averted such expenditures. Many of the
departments that I have taught have experienced
shootings that turned out for
the better due to such training, and they
have told me so in no uncertain terms.
An ounce of prevention is worth a
pound of cure, and the concept of risk
management as it regards deadly force
training is no exception to this rule. §
[Scott Reitz is a 30-year veteran of the Los Angeles
Police Department and the director of the
highly acclaimed International Tactical Training
Seminars. Course information and schedules are
available at their website at www.internationaltactical.com
or by email at itts@gte.net.]
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22 S.W.A.T. » DECEMBER 2007 SWATMAG.COM
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