RE: SC OIS
The biggest issue I saw was lack of “teamwork”/coordination. At face value a situation where two larger people each have a grip on one of a smaller and apparently stoned persons arms really “shouldn’t” end with the little guy having the opportunity to access weapons. Not that things don’t go sideways outside of practice but the poundage and numbers advantage was there.
Note: The officer makes reference to actual weed, as opposed to the synthetic shit that is sprayed with whatever chemicals are handy and causes everything from weed like lethargy to mania. Fighting someone on bath salts or meth is “not a good time”. Anyone who means me harm is hearby invited to smoke actual marijuana until they are baked stupid. I will take the pain tolerance increase for the diminished reflexes.(No, all the BJJ guys who only smoke enough to mellow are not applicable. They aren’t hitting the “hand the cop your weed while mumbling” level of high.)
Early in the video it looks like the officers are running things pretty well. The officer on the right of the screen is doing the talking/interaction and the officer on the left is “overwatch”/backup. At 1:16 things start getting more iffy. Each officer has one of the subjects arms and the officer on the right is still talking/communicating. The officers are holding their arms away from their bodies a bit more than optimal. Sure they have the subject extended, but so are they. At 1:18 the officer on the left rectifies that for a second, then gets extended again while half assing some wrist controls.
1:18-1:38 is where I think the wheels come off in terms of coordination and initiative. Prior to this the talk him into cuffs vs drop him decision is really one of “professional opinion”. I have neither the training or experience to even want to second guess the officers. I think the one doing the talking is the Sgt so he likely has enough experience that if he thought it was worth trying to get it done with words, I would take that as reasoned. If you or mapwhap tell me he was fucked up in that estimation, I trust you guys more.
At this point though the officer on the left is doing enough bending and torquing to cause pain/get someone to tighten up. This is what you want when trying standing wrist locks. Unfortunately the officer on the right is ordering the subject not to “tense up”. The subject may not have made the decision to try to shoot his way out yet. He is verbalizing about “It’s how you have my wrist/arm” and may have been doing a shit job of processing what hurt and why because of intoxication.
1:40-1:42Officer on left looks to be ramping up the wrist controls, all while the officer on the right is trying to keep it non-physical. This really is an either or situation. I honestly have a question about the decision to get the cuffs out at this point. It seems to me like handcuffing would be easier/safer when there is either “no resistance”, compliant subject, or "no ability to effectively resist, unconscious or damn near it. Otherwise the officer is tying up at least one of his hands, having to access something, and perhaps just adding a steel thing to any flailing that happens.
1:42-1:43The officer on the left is doing things to his body structure/posture while trying for the wrist control that are essentially, wrong. He is torquing his spine. When he lowers his hips he doesn’t do anything to put his weight on the subject or to slave the subject’s weight to his own. He drops, tenses, and still does everything with his arms so all the drop does is make him less mobile. The angle of the camera also makes me suspect the “weak” lines in his, not mobile enough to shift easily, stance are right where Sir Smokes A Lot is likely to bump/crash into him.
1:44-1:49Either the subject is channeling Gozo Shioda or the officers walked themselves right into something I call “accidental Aiki” when I teach. Two bigger guys get spun/dragged around by the little guy here. I think part of what happened is that the cops are pulling in different directions with no thought to coordinate efforts. So when the, about to try to kill an officer, subject starts trying to move he lucks into one of those directions himself. The end result is the officer on the right gets dragged along like he just grabbed the bumper of a rolling truck. The officer on the left is adding to the subjects strength here for a moment, then he gets bent forward, weak line in his stance, by the combined momentum. The back bumper and trunk of the car could have been an asset to the cops. IF they would have run the guy back into it a little bit it would have bent him backwards and fucked his posture up. Instead it ends up bracing the subject’s right/far side hip and preventing the officer on the left from following the spin.
1:50Subject’s right hand is free. Either the officer let it go purposely or he couldn’t hold on because he was really out of position. Either way the subject brings his arm behind his right hip and his elbow “flags” in the classic tell that a weapon is coming out. The officer on the left also starts his draw stroke. The officer on the right is still off balance, recovers at 1:51, and slaved to the subject’s left arm.
1:52Both officers are on the same side of the screen. Officer left is now far left, officer formerly right is now doing Yeoman’s work as a human shield for the subject because he is still doing his damnedest to control the one arm he started with.
1:54Subject shoots. If the officer doing the talking was the Sgt, I am not sure how this round hit the other officer in the leg, but he appears to have a hitch in his step at the end of the video. The officer who was verbalizing commands turns, runs to put the car between him and the armed subject, then draws and begins firing.
When things started to go sideways the officers were more in each other’s way than anything. The way the subject spun them is something I have seen so many times it is almost funny.
The lack of aggressiveness noted before, idaho and Zeb1, was certainly a factor. IF they would have committed to forcing him to the ground early, or spun him and put him face down on the trunk the suspect may not have even had the opportunity to get himself killed. Unfortunately, I don’t think “team tactics” get a whole lot of play in law enforcement training, outside special units, and almost no training time among patrol officers who are going to be working together.
I think that is one of the points of disconnect between street cops and some of the people who watch videos like this and offer criticism from a “I work X” perspective. In corrections the one prisoner resists two C.O.'s problem gets solved all the time. However those men and women get a lot more practice working together to solve those physical problems. At the extreme CERT teams drill a ton of problems that seem analogous to the 2+ officers vs. one asshole problem, but they practice until they know all there dance steps. Hell, even dialed in bar/event security actually gets more training and repeated “practice” working as a team than most single patrolmen who have to play “pick up ball” with whomever answers their call for assistance.
The above may read like I am being overly harsh of the two officers in the video. I don’t mean to second guess any of their decisions. That was a 100% justified/good shoot. In reality things started going tits up only 30 odd seconds before it was a full on murder fight. In that time frame both officers managed to get their timing and headspace back and fight to the win. I do mean to be harsh about the technical execution of the wristlocks/standing controls. That shit was awefull. Great “teachable” moment video.
Train Hard. Stay safe.
Regards,
Robert A
