February 2019 Warning Bells article

Back to basics

Metro and GED have all been recycled through a one-day training session that is essentially a review of fundamentals. Why? Probably because they conduct more observational detentions than any other units in the Department. They also took about 6,000 guns off the streets last year. The downside was that an audit of Body-Worn Videos and Digital In Car Videos turned up some problems on detentions, search and seizure, and filling out of field data reports. So, how do you correct those potential problems identified by management without killing the incentive of hardworking
officers?
Normally, the Department response is to kill an ant with a wrecking ball, but the Chief is trying something different, a refresher course. If successful, it may be rolled out to all officers.
A video from the Chief opens the training. He outlines the problem.  There are new realities in police work.  Now that everything is on video, everything can be checked—if not by the Department, then by defense attorneys, plaintiff’s attorneys and anti-police
groups.
New legislation eliminates the confidentiality of use of force and many other videos. Logs, crime reports, arrest reports and field data reports can all be checked against the videos. They should match, and sometimes they don’t. The Chiefs message is to make sure they do!
Also, stops that are listed as consensual do not always strictly meet that criteria when reviewed on video. If they don’t, state law requires that a field data report be filed. No field data report on a detention equals a violation of the law. You can see the problem.
The answer, the Department hopes, is to bring these problems to the attention of officers through training, not discipline. Considering the alternative, it is an excellent idea.
Training Division went through 75 Body-Worn Video stops and selected videos to debrief. Without condemnation, the idea was to show real field situations involving real officers and discuss how improvements could be made. After all, every action can be improved. And so, it was done.
The room was divided into three groups, each with an assignment to critique the stop. One group looked at the legality of the stop and the pat-down. A second group looked at the tactics of the stop. A third was asked to consider the public perception of the stop. Videos were shown and debate followed. Thinking was generally stimulated.
Two hours of basic law followed. Concepts, not black letter law, were emphasized. Starting with the U.S. Constitution and the observation that we all took an oath to uphold the Constitution when we were sworn in. That oath is why we are called “sworn.” Violating the Constitution is violating our oath.
The Constitution and the amendments reviewed with special attention to the Fourth Amendment. After all, that is the amendment that requires an officer’s greatest understanding. It is the violation of the Fourth Amendment that gets our cases thrown out of court, allows criminals to walk free and gets us sued.
It is critical to understand the differences between a consensual stop, a detention and an arrest. An officer also needs a firm understanding of when a pat-down and/or search can be legally done (see the League Lawful Contacts Card).
lawfulcontactscard
Video is here to stay. Video is also going to be released to the public more and more as time goes on. The message of the training was to embrace the video. Use it to your advantage. Turn it on early and record your reasonable cause. “Look, partner, that gang member is walking like he has something heavy in his waistband. See the bulge?” Then
when you end up in a foot pursuit and use of force, your observations are on tape.
Use the video to tell your story. Be a Spielberg. Make your documentary of an arrest that will hold up in court and drive the defense attorney crazy. Make lemonade out of that lemon. And most importantly, match the video with your reports!
“When you hire a carpenter,” a former commanding officer of Internal Affairs once stated, “you expect him to know how to drive a nail.” Good point. Society, in general, quite reasonably expects professional police officers to know the law and Department policy.
What keeps you out of trouble is accuracy, knowledge and articulation. Hit the books!
Be legally careful out there.