I wanted to post this CBC show “Hold Your Fire” because once you know something we cannot unknow it. “Hold Your Fire explores the reasons why officers who signed on to serve and protect somehow end up shooting a vulnerable person. The documentary looks at how police training and response to people in crisis went off track, and shows how progressive police forces, from Rialto, California to Leicester, U.K., are striving to get onto a better path. We travel with Canadian police mobile teams to calls involving people in emotional crisis, and meet a Hamilton mental health worker who responds to 911 calls and is quite possibly the only civilian in Canada to ever send home the tactical team.”
I remember back during my training at the RCMP Academy and the instructor reminding us that the most powerful weapon police officers possess is in the ability to communicate, to listen, to use patience when dealing with those who may be suffering emotional breakdown. The use of deadly force only when there is immediate threat to the police officer or civilians. Protection of life and safety is number one, and if it takes four hours to talk an armed suspect into dropping their weapon, that is what you do. Take the time. Take the time needed when dealing those suicidal persons. Take the time. I call it effective compassionate communication. I never forgot that lesson. During my 20 years as a police officer, I know certain events would have had tragic consequences without proper training.
We never know how we would react in any terrifying situation let alone as police officers making a split second decision. However, with training, improved understanding and awareness of those in mental health crisis, perhaps, we can save lives.
http://www.cbc.ca/firsthand/episodes/hold-your-fire