It’s been a week now since I sat through a seminar on “The Science of Human Factors” as they play out in conflict moments between law enforcement and the public.  It was great and I learned so very much about what happens to the bod -- everybody’s body -- when put into the position of having to decide to use force and possibly deadly force.  Unless you’ve “been there” or taken a similar class, there’s just no way the average  person can know what happens in a shoot or don’t shoot situation.  When that instant blast of do-or-die adrenaline hits you, it is amazing how the body’s  vision, hearing, memory, reaction time, strength, motor skills and more all change.  And then so many in the public sit on the sidelines and judge law enforcement on what they should or shouldn’t have done in any given stressful situation.

Former Police Officer and U.S. Army colonel with 30 years of combined experience, Blair Alexander, is an expert in such matters.  He spent three days training with the Yakima Police Department and he gave a condensed one day class for members of the public which I was fortunate enough to attend.

More and more we see the stories of split second life and death decisions in the news and there is a growing sentiment from some that too often police act impulsively and aggressively.  Those conclusions are often reached without any experience or knowledge by the accusers and my hope was to learn enough to be able to speak to the physical reality of what happens in that instant in order to be able to help stem the growing rush to judgment.

Yakima officials have been put on notice that they will face a lawsuit over a police shooting that occurred at a car wash two years ago.  A police officer says a man sleeping in a car near a car wash with a gun in his lap lunged at him with the weapon when the officer opened the passenger door.  The officer reacted with gun fire killing the man and in the end, the man’s weapon turned out not to be a real firearm.  It’s that split second decision to shoot or not, in that kind of split second high stress circumstance, that people question and it’s that which the seminar addressed.  The officer was cleared of wrong doing but the lawsuit looms.

Here’s what Blair Alexander wants everyone to know about force encounters.

 

 

 

 

 

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