law enforcement administrator<\/a> who is very proud of my chosen profession, and of my fellow deputies and officers, I would like to offer a few thoughts I invite everyone to consider.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nOfficers are often placed in dangerous situations every day they are at work. Occasionally, these situations require a use of force. One thing is clear\u2014no officer ever wants to take a life.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In the movies, the \u201cbad guy\u201d is easy to see and their intent is obvious and malevolent.\u00a0 They shoot at the officer or they are threatening someone with deadly force. Real life is complex and not as clear.\u00a0 Officers are forced to make split-second decisions all the time\u2014sometimes about the use of deadly force.\u00a0 Most officers retire having never used deadly force.\u00a0 However, we all know that the circumstance or situation can arise at any time, and we may be called upon to make that judgment.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
When an officer feels he or she is in a situation that requires deadly force, that officer\u2019s primary wish is that the situation is clear, that it is easily understood by others, and that ultimately he or she made the right judgment decisions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Sometimes\u2014and appropriately so\u2014the judgment is questioned. In the circumstances that deadly force is used, it is reviewed by a series of people. This includes the department through a deadly force review panel, an inquest jury of citizens, the prosecutor who determines whether it was a criminal act, a federal jury if there is a charge of a constitutional violation, and still another jury if there is a civil suit.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
When an officer makes a mistake, he or she is held accountable.\u00a0 As well, the entire department and profession is held accountable. For the officer, there are serious and significant outcomes in terms of employment, possible criminal charges, civil and financial liability, and very importantly, an officer having to live with the decision he or she made.\u00a0 For people who enter this profession to help keep others safe, that impact is very significant.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Law enforcement officers are human beings who do make mistakes, and when we make them, they can have the most serious consequences. This does not excuse or mitigate the fact that a person has lost their life.\u00a0 That is a tragic and unalterable fact.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Officers should not, and cannot, go into every encounter worrying about whether they will go to jail for decisions made in good faith.\u00a0 That is the rationale behind Washington state law that tells the prosecutor the officer must have had malicious intent in order to be criminally charged in a shooting.\u00a0 Bad faith on the officer\u2019s part is the key. Conversely, while a mistake is tragic, it is not a criminal act.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
In 25 years in law enforcement, I have never seen us having as many open, substantive and robust discussions about our training, our policies and our expectations.\u00a0 This is a good thing and I encourage it. We must continue to communicate clearly and openly about what we do and how we do it.\u00a0 When we commit a bad faith act, we should deal with it openly and honestly.\u00a0 Similarly, when we make a good faith mistake, even if it results in the most tragic outcome, we need to do all we can to support our officers and deputies as they do a very complex and difficult job.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Recently, Sheriff Sue Rahr, Seattle Chief John Diaz and Criminal Justice Training Commission Director Joe Hawe announced changes to training, focusing specifically on how people are treated.\u00a0 You may have heard about \u201cJustice-based policing\u201d\u2013 it is about listening, explaining, ensuring equity and providing dignity to everyone we encounter.\u00a0 These are not na\u00efve or idealistic goals;\u00a0 communication is the key to good police work.\u00a0 It is also the key to officer safety; the better we work with people, the more safely we can do our job.\u00a0 Listening and communicating are not the opposite of officer safety, in fact they increase it.\u00a0 Most officers already do this, but we will emphasize it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the current public dialogue surrounding law enforcement, use of force and stories focused on extreme incidents is causing officers and deputies to feel unsupported, and the public to wonder what is going on. The fact is, the changes and balanced training that are the real answer to these questions will take time, commitment, and thoughtful discussion.\u00a0 If law enforcement is to be viewed as respected and respectful, all of us need to get out of our corners and have that thoughtful discussion.\u00a0 Let us focus on improvement where it is needed, so we can support the vast majority of deputies and officers who every day do the good, aggressive police work we need them to do.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Law enforcement and the communities we serve have gone through a lot over the past several months. Controversial and high-profile cases involving police use of force have led to soul searching and difficult questions. As a law enforcement administrator who is very proud of my chosen profession, and of my fellow deputies and officers, I would like to offer a few thoughts I invite everyone to consider.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-20055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20055"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20055\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20055"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=20055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}