This piece was published in partnership with the Influence.
Footage of American police officers shooting individuals who are unarmed, or armed only with blades, has sadly become all too common. What adds to the tragedy and anger is the fact that other tried-and-tested approaches are available to deal with many of these situations without loss of life.
The shoot-first instinct that seems so pervasive among many US police is in stark contrast to law enforcement tactics in other countries. British police, for example deal with a large number of edged-weapons attacks but almost never open fire (they don't generally carry guns). Just as there are countless online videos of trigger-happy US police, there are numerous recorded examples of UK cops intervening in violent situations without firing a shot.
In one 2014 incident, for example, Albuquerque police attempting to arrest a mentally ill man for "illegal camping" opened fire on him with assault weapons when he drew a tiny blade at a great distance from the heavily armed officers. Their approach is summed up by the fact that they then handcuffed him as he lay dying on the ground. A good contrast is a 2015 video of officers in Corby, England wresting a knife from an attacker using only pepper spray and batons at close range.
This discrepancy points to both a culture of impunity and a lack of de-escalation training among US law enforcement. I wanted to learn more about specific, practical measures that can be taken to enable US police to emulate the non-lethal approaches of their UK counterparts, so I asked three real experts.
Retired Lieutenant Commander Diane Goldstein is a 20-year veteran of California law enforcement, who is now a speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). Goldstein thinks the problem is systemic, reflecting a lack of political will to implement proper de-escalation training across the country. She also points out some major geographical discrepancies within the US.
"If you are looking at a particular state, what you need to do is go do some research for what's called 'peace officer standards and training,'" she says. "Every state will have different types of training on use of force and what kinds of tactics they use to deal with people who are mentally ill."
Often the measures in place prove inadequate. "For example," Goldstein says, "in North Miami Beach there was an autistic kid who left the group home and he had like a toy silver truck or train in his hand. Someone in the community called the cops and said he was threatening suicide and had a gun." In that incident earlier this year, a 47-year-old social worker was shot by police from a distance as he tried to calm down the autistic man.
Goldstein believes that more thorough training in crisis intervention and working with mentally ill and developmentally disabled people would be useful. "There are a lot of models out there that other law enforcement agencies employ, ." The letter simply stated: "We are aware of these types of behaviors."
"They handed the letter off, and the problem went away," says Nolan. "The goal was to make the problem go away, while building relationships with people."
This article was originally published by the Influence, a news site that covers the full spectrum of human relationships with drugs. Follow the Influence on Facebook or Twitter.
Patrick Hilsman is an associate editor at the Influence. Follow him on Twitter.
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