Deviation: The action of departing from an established course or accepted standard.
Consistency in practice, application, and procedure is a necessary element of any police department. Appearing and actually being impartial is crucial for the regular operations of law enforcement. The stakes are high in this matter because of the very nature of what is at issue: Civil Liberty. If there’s even a scent of prejudice or bias, an entire investigation is in jeopardy and the officers, and thus the department, are burdened with civil liability. This all seems like legalese that really has little to do with anything, but consider what this all really means. The time officers spend responding to a call, the safety of any victims, the costs of litigation, time officers have to spend in court and related proceedings, time taken away from regular assigned duties, and interference with home/family schedules. In short, deviations from standards and practices result in huge wastes of manpower and resources. Policing doesn’t happen magically, it requires first and foremost the labor of officers and detectives. If the results of their efforts are routinely cast aside because of failures to follow SOPs and protocols, have they not by definition failed (committed misfeasance) in their duties?
Recently a call came into 911 where a citizen reported a person was kicking over trashcans and throwing rocks at passing cars. When confronted by the caller, the subject flashed a gun at them. Maybe the subject pointed a gun at the caller, maybe he didn’t, but as officers responded to the location where the incident occurred, any reasonable person could suspect that some type of crime(s) had occurred and the offender was armed with a handgun. As it turns out, when officers arrived the subject fled into a house. As officers secured their presence around the house, the subject fired bullets at an officer who understandably, and reasonably, returned fire at the subject. The officer missed hitting the subject but struck the house. Unless the suspect was firing from within a school bus full of children, most would accept the officer’s actions as reasonable and consistent with standards and training. Considering the chain of events, the call immediately became a SWAT call-out. With an armed barricaded offender who had just committed an aggravated battery (possible an attempted murder), upon a peace officer; the offender defiantly hiding in a house, APD’s SOP clearly dictates a response by the SWAT unit. From what officers have told the Eye, Chief Schultz immediately made calls to the incident commander whereby orders were given disallowing (revoking) the use of deadly force under any circumstances and stated, the call-out will last as long as is needed. Operations then commenced over the next fifteen-plus hours where a seemingly endless amount of CS gas was fired into the house. Officers told us even as the suspect fired more rounds at officers and at the bomb squad’s robot (resulting in its destruction) officers, including department snipers, remained unresponsive because of Chief Schultz’s orders. One has to wonder where the subject’s bullets went and at what risk did he expose the community to when he continued to fire bullets into the neighborhood? Was a trained APD sniper in a position to stop the threat but denied the ability to do so because of Chief Schultz’s media grand standing orders? What if an officer or citizen had been hit and injured or killed by the subjects’ actions?
Almost a day after the event started, APD reported the subject took his own life by shooting himself. APD officers then went into the house to confirm the subject was dead after pumping more gas into the building and not detecting any more movement. It’s interesting to note that CS gas displaces the regular atmosphere in a contained structure like a house. It is likely that while Chief Schultz stated no deadly force be used to resolve the situation, displacing the oxygen from the house would surely have resulted in the subject’s death had he not taken his own life. Will the family of the deceased now file a civil lawsuit for wrongful death with mitigating circumstances of cruel and unusual punishment? After the incident SWAT cleared the house by virtually destroying it and the scene was then processed by APD’s FI personnel.
In one of the more extreme and sensational SWAT call outs in many months, APD officers were required to deviate from standard practices and training at the direction of Chief Schultz. Because the department is still under the rainfall of constant public and federal scrutiny, officers are now being placed in positions where their lives and the public’s lives are in jeopardy because of a miserable failed police chief’s willingness to do anything to remain in power. Ironically, it is these very actions that have enraged the community and brought the department’s credibility into question. Instead of relying on standards and accepted practices, Chief Schultz, Mayor Berry, and the rest of the self-anointed leaders (few have gained the rank of commander and above by virtue of merit) routinely deviate from normal operations. One has to wonder if Chief Schultz will require officers to deviate from the “norms” and expected responding personnel to be shot at. What isn’t he willing to deviate from to obscure the truth??? The local media raised alarming questions when the press released details of the event and knowingly and willingly omitted the fact there was an officer involved shooting as part of the call out. An officer’s (and the public’s) life is threatened by an armed offender firing bullets at him (and the public in general) and Chief Schultz deems it not newsworthy that this element be disclosed? Yet on the same day, APD’s public information officer released a feel good story entitled (misspelling by her): “APD takes in US Poilce and Fire Rowing Championships.”
If APD’s Chief Schultz is willing to omit information about life threatening violent actions against his own officers, will issue orders denying officers the ability to defend themselves (and the public) when shot at, and will hamstring operations of a critical SWAT incident all in the name of keeping another shooting from appearing in the news…..what is he willing to hide and conceal when matters are less visible??? What has he already destroyed and hidden from you (Mr. and Miss Tax Payer)?
