Guardian or warrior?
by Tom Sullivan
Photo from LifeLine Training, Inc. Facebook page. “Street Survival” seminar.
Yikes. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that the officer who shot and killed Philando Castile last week during a traffic stop had taken several courses critics say make police officers “paranoid”:
Amid intensifying demands for changes in police training in the wake of the shooting deaths of Castile and others, such “survival” courses for officers are flourishing nationally. But some in law enforcement are distancing themselves from the approach.
The Houston Police Department, for example, won’t pay for its officers to attend the Bulletproof Warrior seminar, which is put on by an Illinois for-profit company called Calibre Press.
And the leader of an international police training association said he thinks some seminars like those offered by Calibre and other firms foster a sense of paranoia among officers.
Jeronimo Yanez, the St. Anthony police officer who shot Castille, had taken several courses from Calibre. Under criticism, Calibre has renamed “The Bulletproof Warrior” training “Interaction and Influence.”
The paper cites Michael Becar, executive director of the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training. Becar believes police training has become too militaristic. He has attended Calibre classes:
“Everything they were doing made the police officers very paranoid,” Becar said. “At some point they wouldn’t even stop a car without three backups.”
The Houston Police Department will not pay for officers to attend the Bulletproof Warrior seminar, said Houston police spokesman Kese Smith. Officers can go on their own time and expense, he said.
Seth Stoughton, a former police officer teaching law at the University of South Carolina, has been a critic of the “officer survival movement.” He wrote this week on “the significant tensions that exist between the Black Lives Matter movement and the Blue Lives Matter movement”:
Both communities feel embattled and victimized. Both are angry. The sad truth of the matter is that there are good reasons for both to feel the way they do. Meanwhile, the consequences of this mistrust are draining and pernicious.
The safety of officers and civilians alike depends, in large part, on the strength of the relationship between the police and the public. Public distrust of the police can decrease cooperation with law enforcement, which can, in turn, lead to an increase in violent crime and resistance. Police distrust of the public, in turn, can lead to an increase in officer misconduct and the use of force, as well as the adoption of aggressive, “zero tolerance” tactics that further exacerbate the tension, perpetuating a downward spiral.
These days, when I hear the phrase, “Be careful out there,” I’m not sure whether to think of police or civilians.