Short Story: A victim reported that he had been kidnapped by a suspect armed with a gun. He had escaped and the suspect was still inside an abandoned building. Officers surrounded the building and requested SWAT and an air unit. SWAT arrived and swapped out the patrol officers from the perimeter. In the meantime, the air unit had found the suspect’s car. Sergeant B was monitoring the car. Upon being relieved by SWAT, Officers A and B joined Sergeant B in monitoring the car. Sergeant B informed them that a witness had noticed a gate open on some abandoned property next to the suspect location. Sergeant B instructed Officers A and B to check that out in case the suspect had escaped the SWAT perimeter. No one notified the command post of this because Sergeant B felt it was beyond the area that the suspect was supposed to be in. The officers observed a shed and opened the door to check it out. The suspect was viewed pointing a gun at the shed door. The officers advised communications. SWAT responded and utilized gas. SWAT Officer N fired 3 rounds at the suspect. The suspect eventually surrendered. BOPC Finding: AD on Tactics: 1) Sergeant B and Officers A and B did not notify SWAT or the Command Post that they were going to check out the adjacent property. 2) Officer B, after viewing suspect with a weapon began giving orders to the suspect, exposing himself instead of redeploying. 3) Sergeant B violated command and control by allowing officers to search the adjacent property without sufficient resources, helmets, or notification to SWAT of the Command Post.
