Local Police Fight Boredom By Playing Dress Up
On Thursday, a 78-wear-old man in Lindon called 911 and threatened to kill himself. Within hours the street the man lives on was on lock down as dozens of officers secured the scene. Long story short, a volley of bean bags subdued the man and all is well in Utah County once again.
78-year-old man arrested after standoff with police in Lindon (Daily Herald)
Lindon standoff ends with nonlethal force (Deseret Morning News)
These types of standoffs, where a depressed individual essentially holds themselves hostage, are very dangerous scenes for the police officers that respond. Sometimes the situation escalates into "suicide by cop" scenario. Not long ago in Santaquin a suicidal man pointed his shotgun at officers, forcing them to take lethal action.
Luckily, yesterday's story ended with the best possible outcome. The man is alive and will hopefully now get the psychiatric attention he needs. It could have been much worse.
Please induldge me and look closely at the photos I posted above.
Now the photo with the cop holding an assault rifle while a little girl looks through her window is certainly frightening, but the one that scares the hell out of me is the photo of SWAT team members in jungle camouflaged fatigues walking in front of an ambulance. Is that really necessary for one old man laying in his backyard threatening to shoot himself?
I don't pretend to be a law enforcement expert, and I am sure that this kind of response can be justified with policies, procedures and training that says it is better to error on the side of caution. I get that. Cops put their lives on the line, and as such we give them a certain amount of leway. But when the cops start looking less like peace officers and more like strike teams, especially when dealing with one disturbed individual, as a citizen I get nervous. And I would imagine that if I were that disturbed person and saw what looked like the Navy Seals coming at me, I might decide I have no choice but to escalate the situation.
It reminds me of the heady days of 2004 when then-UVSC invited Michael Moore to speak on campus. In a meeting to plan the logistics of an event that had been hyped in the media for weeks the campus police chief was asked about his preparations. He laid out the plan for traffic controls and the coordinations with other local agencies, and then mentioned that his police force would be wearing their SWAT gear. When asked why a public speaking engagement would warrant SWAT gear the police chief said that they had purchased all this gear and if they didn't use it now, when would they?
I think most people, and I'll go ahead and say most men, believe that when you purchase expensive equipment and don't use it regularly you start to look for excuses to use it. Got a big drill with all the fancy attachments? Better whip it out when comes time to tighten that loose door hinge. If not now, when?
Now imagine you are a cop in Utah Valley. The highlight of your day comes when you can do something besides write traffic tickets. Ever wonder why the simplest domestic disturbance warrants a half dozen cop cars? Sometimes it is less about procedure and more about cops playing the role of cops.
Just last month some of the same officers that responded to this incident were involved in a hostage drill that took place at UVU. The pictures taken during that event look quite familar, don't they?
UVU hostage drill (Deseret Morning News)
We want our officers trained. We want them to follow procedure and react properly when they find themsleves in dangerous situations. But part of that training should be restraint...that perception is reality, and that not every situation warrants busting out the big guns.
The gear and uniforms and weapons that were deployed in Lindon yesterday look a lot like, pardon the expression, overkill. Perhaps the officers felt that this situation called for such a response. But I think there is also a secondary effect to such a show of force...with emphasis on the show. What the local cops also get out of this is a front-page, above the fold advertisement that says "Do Not Fuck With US".
Is that what we want?
Do you think I am out of my mind when I say this incident has served a dual purpose as an advertisement? I want you to cycle through those pictures one more time. Look how close the Des News photographer got to the action...he is right on top of it! It doesn't look like he was using a huge telephoto lens either (note the depth of field, telephoto shots appear flatter). Although the situation called for dozens of officers (and one witness in the Des News comments section claims that there were at least 40) the photographer had their permission to get this close. If it was dangerous enough for full-camo and assault rifles then wasn't it too dangerous to have a civilian right in the mix snapping pictures?
