Jan 2024. Blues Vol 40 No. 1

GUEST COMENTARY
police law news
Daniel Carr
Officer Involved: Alivia Schwab
The case for more Taser Training.
This is a case where even the
most aggressive anti-police
activists would have a difficult
time criticizing the decision that
the officer made as he pulled the
trigger and utilized deadly force.
Also, this is a case where (under
the review of an objective
lens) there was very simple path
to avoid the use of deadly force.
The fault does not lie with the
officer who utilized deadly force
- but the other officer on scene
who’s obvious missteps were a
major contributing cause to an
Officer-Involved-Shooting (OIS).
This incident occurred on Sept
28, 2023 in Morris, Illinois (which
is a small town approximately
an hour southwest of Chicago)
and it involved a woman named
Alivia Schwab (40).
Ms. Schwab had been suffering
with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia
and had been living in
a residential treatment facility.
She had just been released from
a mental health facility and was
living in an apartment trying to
get her life back together.
THE CALL
This incident began when Ms.
Schwab’s mental health providers
called 911 and reported that
she had threatened to kill herself
with a knife.
This prompted the operator to
dispatch officers from the Morris,
Illinois police department.
ARRIVAL ON SCENE
Two officers with the Morris
Police Department arrived
on scene (Nick Pampinella and
Casie Price).
The officers arrived, exited
their cars, and started walking
towards the apartment of Ms.
Schwab.
As officers approached the
apartment, Ms. Schwab emerged
from her apartment and stood
near the front door. At this point
she was armed with a 9” knife
in her left hand and had a cell
phone in her right hand that was
up to her ear.
Officer Pampinella stated to
Officer Price “you go non-lethal”.
Officer Price then looked at
Officer Pampinella and acknowledged
this plan/force array.
COMMANDS
Ms. Schwab then (without saying
a word) started to walk towards
Officer Pampinella and he
gave the following commands,
“Hi, miss. Miss, drop the knife,
drop the knife.” “Drop, stop coming
towards me! Stop coming
towards me!”
As the knife-wielding woman
was bearing down on Officer
Pampinella (who was quickly
walking backwards) - Officer
Price just stood there - off to
the side - doing nothing. Officer
Price’s hands were empty.
She did not even have the Taser
drawn.
An obviously frustrated Officer
Pampinella then yelled, “Casie!
Tase her!” (to Officer Price).
It was at that point that Officer
Price snapped back to planet
14 The Blues - January ‘24