NEWS
Deadly Force Part 1: How officers train
Meredith TerHaar
Panama City-Many police officers go through their entire careers without ever having to use their guns. But recently there have been a number of officer-involved shooting. One each in July, August, and September that resulted in the deaths of two of the suspects.
How are law enforcement officers trained for the appropriate use of deadly force? That is the topic of Part 1 of our series "Deadly Force."
Most police officers will tell you the decision to pull your service weapon is not an easy one. All agree it shlould be the last option. That's why law enforcement agencies spend hundreds, if not thousands of hours, each year training their officers when it is necessary to use deadly force.
The first thing a new officer at the Panama City Police Department learns are his or her G.O. or general orders. "It's a guideline or a synopsis of everything every officer needs to know. When you start out here you are given general order number 400. It's actually gone over with you before you even get a gun or pepper spray or any tools of the trade," explains Sgt. Jeffrey Becker of the Panama City Police Department.
They may receive those "tools of the trade" on the first day, but new officers can't use them until they experience them first hand. "You can't carry the taser without being tased, you can't carry pepper spray without getting sprayed so they train in every use of every tool yearly. We have a shooting range out back and yes you will fire a qualification round to show your proficiency with the handgun." The training doesn't stop once a new officer joins the force. "We are trained yearly on how to physically subdue people, with just our hands. We are trained yearly with our pepper spray. We train yearly with hand to hand combat. We train yearly with our hand guns."
Officers learn a number of ways to do their jobs, using less-than-lethal force. So what circumstances would dictate the use of deadly force? "According to our general order there are four basically times that it would be. That would be to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to the officer. To prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to another person. To apprehend the perpetrator of a felony which involved the use of or threatened use of deadly force and the individual who is sought poses an imminent danger to the safety of another officer or individual. To shoot a domestic or agricultural animal that has been injured and the injury has to be a point of where there is basically no other option."
The department has what's called a "FATS Machine" or firearm training simulator. Using FATS officers train for situations which might require the use of deadly force. "It's a scenario-based video game for all intents and purposes. It's a screen in front of you. It's life-like and will have you encountering people. It's interactive. It uses a gun that is very similiar to our own gun in weight, except that it has a wire attached to it that runs to the machine. We try to make it as life-like as we possibly can. You are never going to be able to train everybody for every possible situation, it's just not going to happen."
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