Law Enforcement

 

An officer detains an active parolee gang member for questioning, and during the detention, the grabbing into his shorts pocket. The suspect yells out to the officer that he is armed and will shoot the officer. The officer tackles the suspect, there is a violent struggle for the weapon, and the officer shoots and kills the suspect.
An officer attempts to affect an enforcement stop on a motorist for a hit and run accident. The driver fails to yield and stop at the first available opportunity, drives to a park and then suddenly foot bails into the park. The lone officer chases after the suspect into the park where the officer is subsequently shot and killed.
Foot pursuits by their very nature are highly emotionally charged and dangerous events that occur frequently in police work. Police officers must balance their obligation to enforce laws and arrest perpetrators with their personal safety. Unfortunately, this rarely happens.
Officers need to remember that at the same time that they are catching up to the suspect, they are also reducing the "reactionary gap" between themselves and the suspect. Reactionary gap is the distance between the officer and suspect, compared to the officer's ability to defensively react to something the suspect might do to them. Shorten the distance and the officer shortens his/her reaction time. This is almost always dangerous for the officer.