Identifying Levels of Awareness in a Violent Police Encounter Scenario

Understanding the physical and emotional reactions during violent encounters

Please read the following scenario, and share your answer to the questions with the class in a discussion post. Then, once you’ve answered the question yourself, read at least two other students answers, and provide a meaningful response. Scenario As a police officer, it is foreseeable that you will be involved in violent encounters. However, if you maintain the appropriate level of awareness while on duty and understand the physical and emotional reactions you are likely to experience in a violent encounter, you can minimize or prevent injury to yourself and others and possibly avoid the violent encounter altogether. This learning activity will allow you to identify common reactions to violent encounters. Read the scenario below. Then answer the questions that follow. The time is 1:55 a.m. It is a very warm night. A male enters a convenience store and approaches the clerk. He draws a knife and demands the money in the cash register. While complying with the male’s demand, the clerk triggers the silent alarm. Two officers are dispatched to the alarm call. At the same time, a police officer on regular patrol duties enters the convenience store to buy a cold drink, unaware of the triggered alarm. The male, wielding the knife in his hand and screaming, runs directly toward the officer. The officer immediately draws his firearm and shoots, hitting the male in the chest. The male collapses face down on the ground. The officer shouts to the male, “Stay down! Put your hands to your sides!” The male does not move or verbally respond. The officer again shouts to the male, “Put your hands to your sides! Do it now!” The male does not respond. The officer approaches the male. He is not moving. The officer holsters his firearm and handcuffs the male. He then checks for but is unable to find a pulse. The officer turns the male over onto his back to render CPR and sees blood on the centre of the male’s chest. The officer does not perform CPR. The clerk calls 911 to report that shots have been fired by a police officer. The clerk says he doesn’t know whether the officer has been injured but tells the dispatcher that the officer is covered with blood. Dispatch advises the responding officers that there is an officer on scene who may be injured. Paramedics are also dispatched to the scene. The two responding officers arrive at the store. They enter, firearms drawn. One of the officers assists with the downed male. Paramedics arrive on scene and examine the officer. The officer is not injured. The robbery suspect is pronounced dead by the paramedics. Medical assistance is not rendered. The officer involved in the shooting is asked by a civilian oversight investigator to make a statement about the incident. The officer agrees and provides a statement at the scene. Q. Why were you in the store? A. To buy a cold drink. Q. Describe what you saw when you first entered the store. A. I saw a male running at me. He had a knife with a serrated edge in his left hand. The knife had a brown wooden handle. The blade was approximately ten inches long. I believe it was a bread knife, the kind that is used to slice bread. The blade was narrow at the tip and wider at the base near the handle. There was writing on the blade. It looked like a new knife. Q. How far away was the male from you when you entered the store? A. It took him a while to cross the store, so I guess that he must have been 20 to 25 feet away. Q. How many shots did you fire? A. I don’t remember. Q. Did the male say anything to you before you shot? A. No. Q. Approximately how long were you in the store before the incident took place? A. I think it happened as soon as I came in. Wait—maybe not. I remember looking toward the cooler where the Pepsi is kept. I noticed that there were a few different kinds of Pepsi. So I must have been in the store for a few seconds at least. Q. When did the male come toward you? A. I guess that it must have been several seconds after I entered the store. I saw him running toward me with the knife in his left hand. The blade was pointed toward me. I remember thinking that my body armour would not stop the blade. Q. What did you do when you saw the male running toward you? A. I remembered that I was supposed to try to get out of the way and to seek cover. I remember taking my firearm from my holster and aiming toward the guy. I remember thinking that this guy is going to kill me. I don’t know why he wanted to kill me. I don’t even know him. He fell down. I didn’t hear my firearm go off. I might have had a misfire. I felt relieved that he had tripped and fallen before he got to me. I told him to stay down. I think I handcuffed him. He was covered in blood. Q. How much time passed from the time that you went into the store until the male was on the floor? A. Let me think. It was a few seconds after I came in before I noticed the male. He had to cross the store with the knife. That must have taken ten seconds. I remember thinking about what I was supposed to do and about the knife going through my body armour, so that must have taken 15 or 20 seconds. I took out my firearm, aimed, and squeezed the trigger; that must have taken 10 seconds. I saw him fall to the floor, and I told him to stay down; that must have taken 20 or 30 seconds. I guess the whole incident took about a minute. The initial questioning concludes. The investigator takes the officer’s firearm and tells him to go to the station. A counsellor and legal counsel will be available. The investigator then speaks to the store clerk in the store office. Q. Tell me what happened here tonight. A. The guy that was robbing me saw the cop car pull up. He told me to hurry up with the money or he would cut me. I gave him all the money in the cash register. The button for the holdup alarm is inside the cash register. I pushed it. He took the money and said, “I’m gonna kill me a cop!” As soon as the cop started to open the door, the robber was running at him with the knife in his hand. The guy was crazy—screaming all the time he was running at the cop! The cop took out his gun and shot the guy! The whole thing didn’t take five seconds! Good riddance, I say. That guy robbed me before, but you didn’t catch him! The whole thing was recorded! The investigator tells the clerk that he is finished. He asks if he wants to be checked by the paramedics. The clerk replies, “No. I’m all right. I’ve been robbed eight times before. No problem with me. It’s not my money!” Your discussion post will be due by the end of week #2, and your minimum of two meaningful comments on other discussions, will be due by the end of week #3; or as per instructions and schedule provided by your instructor. *Please Note: Above all else – all posts must be respectful. We may agree or disagree, and explore those perspectives in an academic fashion. However, any language which is deemed to be disrespectful, derogatory, or discriminatory will not be tolerated* If you have any further questions on this, please discusses with your instructor before completing this activity. Questions: 1. Identify and explain the levels of awareness experienced by the officer in this scenario. What led you to conclude that the officer experienced these levels of awareness? 2. Which of the two persons interviewed likely provided more accurate information regarding the timelines of the incident? Explain your answer.