A Logical Viewpoint of these Tragedies

Spock (who quoted Sherlock Holmes) once said “Once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” This week has been very tragic and dark. I do not really submit to gloom and doom. However, one can not wonder if we will ever move beyond the race problem. I am hopeful that we will. Watching the videos of two more African American (black) men dying at the hands of police officers is troubling and disturbing. On one end, though, there is hope. Both videos offer a true glimpse into the decision cycles of those police officers who decided to take life. As an Army officer, one of my secondary duties is investigating misconduct, missing items, accidents, and everything in between. So instead of another article that attempts to appeal to the heart of people who do not understand why black America, overall, is outraged, I would like to use logic to get those who do not understand, to understand. I will use my journeyman skills as an investigator to present questions to each incident and background information that helped me formulate those questions. As an investigating officer, these are the questions I would consider asking the officers.

Let us begin with the incident in Falcon Heights, Minnesota:

• Question: When the video starts, your position shows that you fired your weapon face to face with the deceased. Is that the standard position to take for traffic stops? Background: Like any person who has operated motor vehicles, the police have pulled me over numerous times for moving violations. Every time I was pulled over, the police officer’s position was outside and behind the driver-side window. I assume this was for safety reasons. It is very difficult to fire at a police officer when he is in this position. So why did the officer place himself in a compromising position in front of the deceased? What is the policy for conducting traffic stops?
• Question: In your estimation, how long does it take a driver to withdraw a weapon from his pocket, aim it, and fire at you? Background: In the video, the female passenger states that the officer told the deceased to get his ID. The officer stated that he told the deceased to keep his hands visible. Let us make the assumption that officer did state that. Then maybe there was a misunderstanding in communication. Is it reasonable to think that the officer had the tactical advantage to assess if the deceased was reaching for a gun? In other words, did the officer have time to decide if there was a gun before immediately firing?
• Question: What is the procedure for rendering first-aid once a threat is neutralized? Background: In the video, it shows that the officer is clearly angered by the fact that he had to fire his weapon. My concern is that at what point do you decide to render first-aid. Did the officer feel that he could not control the scene alone? Could he have quickly removed the female passenger, handcuffed her, and rendered first aid? Even when more officers arrived on the scene, it appeared the officers were more concern with securing the female passenger, as opposed to rendering first-aid. Is that the procedure for dealing with injured suspects? I also would like to know if any of the officers had first-aid training.
• Question: Was it necessary to handcuff the female passenger in front of her daughter? Background: After the deceased is shot, and other officers arrive on the scene, the female passenger was handcuffed and placed in the patrol car. Her cell phone is also confiscated. It appears, by certain news account, that the female passenger’s daughter was also placed in the patrol car. Was the female passenger considered a suspect? If so, what was she a suspect for?
• Question: Finally, what did you “See”, “Think”, and “Do”. To understand clearly why the traffic stop turned deadly, I must understand your viewpoint. The only way to do that is for to you to explain what did you see, think, and do.

Let us move on to the incident in Baton Rogue:

• Question: Did you use your taser weapon to initially try to bring the deceased down? Background: When one of the videos starts, the deceased was shown clearly agitated. There was some item pointed at this man and then a “pop” is heard. However, the deceased does not fall to the ground. Then one of the officers rushed the deceased to tackle him to the ground. I wonder why this course of action was used. Was the deceased told he was “under arrest”?
• Question: What is the policy for detaining an individual? Background: As mentioned, the deceased was apparently tasered and tackled. Because the video started when the confrontation resulted in the deceased being apparently tasered, it is difficult to ascertain why the situation escalated to that level. There was a report that said the police officers were called to the scene because a man was “waving his gun” at people. The officers may have assumed this man was the deceased. If so, did they properly investigate to see if the deceased was the correct person of interest?
• Question: Why did you draw your gun, while on top of the deceased, when the phrase “he got a gun” was screamed by your fellow officer? Background: As the officers were detaining the deceased, one of the officers yelled: “he got a gun.” The officer closest to both recordings withdrew his service pistol. The video is not clear which officer fired the initial two shots or the other shots after that. One can assume it was the officer closest to the videos who fired the initial shots because it appears the other officer was busy trying to detain the deceased. My other thought is that if two (or more) police officers have a potential suspect on the ground, and they are on top of him, then they clearly have the tactical advantage. Then I wonder what is the point in withdrawing the pistol from the holster.
• Question: What is the policy for handling your firearm once it is withdrawn from the holster and pointed at a potential target. Background: In the video, it appears the officer withdrew his weapon with his finger on the trigger. Was there an accidental discharge, which was followed by a purposeful discharge, because of this decision? Initially, it appears that the weapon was withdrawn to reassert authority. As stated above, the officers already had the tactical advantage. There were two officers on top of one man, the deceased. Was withdrawing the weapon the best option? Or would have it been better to focus on turning the deceased on his stomach?
• Question: Finally, what did you “See”, “Think”, and “Do”? This is the same thought as above. However, to add to it, I would like to know when the phrase “He got a gun” was called out did the officer who shot the deceased determine that the two officers had lost the tactical advantage. Also, how difficult was it for the deceased to grab the gun, point it at one of the officers, and fire it? When that phrase was yelled out, was the deceased even reaching for the gun or did you just see a gun and was alerting your partner?

Final thoughts:

The intention of this article was to use logic to help others understand why a community is angry and frustrated at the actions of these police officers, in these two jurisdictions. When debating the subjects on public forums, like Facebook, the arguments are often rooted in emotion. One side is angry at the action of those police officers. The other side is angry at those who are angry at the police. In the end, the arguments devolve into the typical “left and right” arguments. Meaning that the people on “left” support the protesters and the people on the “right” support the police. However, the true separation is between life and death. Both of the interactions resulted in deaths. The ultimate question, therefore, is: Were the deaths that resulted from both of these incidents preventable and avoidable? From my point of view, I could not watch the videos and not have those type of questions. My experience as an officer and my limited experience as a command-directed investigator has trained me to ask the tough questions. At this moment, for true improvement to take place, we, as a society, should begin to also ask the tough questions.

Disclaimer: Major Xkoshan L. Arnold is an United States Army Officer. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.