Use of Deadly Force: Now is the Time to Move Forward

David CouperMarch 31, 2016police

The time for all of us to work together to rebuild police trust and legitimacy in our nation and reduce the use of police deadly force is now.

The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) of which I was an early founding member, has now expanded their narrative on the “30 Guidelines on Police Use of Force” which they released in January of this year.

I am proud of my organization and its President Chief J. Thomas Manger of Montgomery County, MD, and Executive Director, Chuck Wexler. They have provided American policing a way forward — a way to rebuild that which has been lost since the agonizing days of Ferguson.

I encourage every police officer, police chief and community leader to read this report and to work together to put its principles into policies and training methods into practice.

This fall, on September 16th, the University of Wisconsin’s Department of Criminal Justice at Platteville will be hosting the 2nd Annual Midwest Conference on 21st Century Policing. They will again be bringing police and citizens together to rebuild police trust and legitimacy and thoroughly discuss the PERF report, its implications, and how to move forward — together.

Read the report HERE.

Published by David Couper

I served over 20 years as the chief of police in Madison (WI), four years as chief of the Burnsville (MN) Police Department, and before that as a police officer in Edina (MN) and the City of Minneapolis. I hold graduate degrees from the University of Minnesota and Edgewood College in Madison. I have written many articles over my years as a police leader. After retiring from the police department, I answered a call to ministry, attended seminary, and was ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church. After 25 years leading two Episcopal Churches in Portage and North Lake, Wisconsin, I now serve as Associate Pastor in a growing, dynamic, and Spirit-filled Lutheran congregation in nearby Mazomanie. View all posts by David Couper

2 Comments

Mark Bowman says:

April 1, 2016 at 10:14 pm

What evidence exists to support PERF’s Critical Decision-Making Model?

There is evidence that should cause us to doubt the efficacy of analytical decision-making models under stress. There is evidence that supports alternative decision-making models.

Click to access Stress-and-Decision-Making-04-06-12–Approved—Pulic-Release–508-Accessible.pdf

http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA310303

And for a general literature review I recommend:

Click to access IH_054_Staal.pdf

I believe much more research into the extant literature as well as original research needs to be conducted before PERF recommends a decision-making model that should be used by police officers in the field. I also recommend involving other professions that routinely make critical decisions (aviation, health, fire service, etc….) in researching and developing an empirically supported decision making model. The only people who think outside the box are people outside the box.

LikeLike

Reply
1. improvingpolice says:
  
  April 2, 2016 at 8:31 am
  
  More important comments from Mark!
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply