Police veteran and security training expert Scott Reitz – who served part of his career as a member of SWAT and was also part of the LAPD’s elite Metropolitan Division – discusses the issues surrounding the proper and improper use of deadly force by police officers.
When asked about several recent racially charged situations that arose from officer-involved shootings, Reitz says that obviously the use of deadly force should have nothing to do with ethnicity, religion, etc. “It’s based on the actions of an individual – or shall we say a suspect – at the time. The way that we train is we give you a wide skillset, a wide array of skills. The greater your skillset, the more that allows you to adapt to unforeseen problems.”
He said often times mistakes are made in deadly police shootings because the officers have not been thoroughly trained to deal with a variety of scenarios.
“We’ve trained them to one standard, when an entirely different standard was called for in the real world – and many times, that’s exactly what happens. Doing a simply combat qualification – and I use the term combat sometimes very loosely – but simply a complete qualification course, which is not going to vary over the course of time, may not be sufficient to prepare an officer for all possibilities,” he said.
“I think a lot of people think that the police aren’t accountable, and I would have a tendency to counter that slightly. Because from what I’ve seen, in having worked on deadly force cases as an expert for the last 25 years, I have seen a greater accountability, which is forced upon police officers,” he said.
“You also have Supreme Court law – the Supreme Court law that holds officers to the same standard in the application of deadly force. Do I think that departments could receive better training in many cases, yes.”
He adds that in his capacity as a trainer, he’s sometimes amazed at the varying degrees of instruction in police departments across the country – some have a high level of competency and others do not. “It astounds me that they would have training, or a theory in place that is non-applicable in the real world.”
He said that what happens sometimes when officers aren’t really prepared for a particular situation is they may react with a “panic response” and end up firing way too many rounds. “One of the things I say is that the individual that generally prevails in a shooting is the individual who exhibits the most finesse and control over his individual weapons system, and maintains his composure.”
Watch the full episode to also hear a discussion of the recent proliferation of school shootings across the United States and what possible action can be taken to try to stop them.
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