Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) Near Miss is a voluntary, non-disciplinary officer safety initiative that allows law enforcement personnel to read about and anonymously share stories of close calls or “near misses,” which provide lessons learned that can protect fellow officers in similar situations.
Event summary
An off-duty officer was working a security detail with loss prevention at a department store. The off-duty officer radioed for assistance in reference to a subject who was using a small pocketknife to open items and conceal them while inside the store. The suspect appeared to be a methamphetamine user and was being obvious about his attempts to conceal multiple items from display.
An arrest plan was devised by responding officers where an officer in training (OIT) would be the primary officer and contact the suspect as he exited the store.
The OIT requested another unit to respond to the scene to assist with the contact. As the suspect exited the store, the field training officer (FTO) closed the radio channel for priority traffic to stop the subject. Meanwhile, the off-duty officer stayed in a camera room to assist with the stop.
Upon contact with the suspect, both the FTO and OIT gained positive control of the suspect in the vestibule area of the store entrance/exit. The suspect resisted and attempted to pull away from the two officers. The FTO took the subject to the ground.
Once on the ground, the suspect began reaching into his waistband. The FTO pinned the suspect’s hand into the waistline so the suspect could not remove his hand. The OIT noticed a firearm in the suspect’s waistband and announced the presence of a gun. The FTO held the suspect’s hand on the gun while instructing a responding officer to use a TASER to assist in subduing the resisting suspect.
The responding officer deployed an X2 TASER, firing a cartridge into the suspect’s shoulder blade and then buttocks, obtaining the desired effect of full muscular incapacitation.
The OIT assisted the FTO in placing the suspect into handcuffs and disarming him. The suspect was in possession of a loaded .45 semi auto, two knives, hundreds of dollars in store property, and sales amounts of methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana.
Lessons Learned
- Always be ready for a violent encounter, even on mundane calls like shoplifting.
- This story is a good reminder of the plus one (+1) rule of weapon searches. If officers encounter a weapon when searching, they should assume they will find another. Also, just because a subject is engaged in a misdemeanor offense does not mean they are not armed.
- Creating an arrest plan before going hands on with a subject, particularly one known to be armed (initially just with a knife), is critical for ensuring officer safety. In this situation, officers appropriately requested and waited for additional backup before contacting the subject, which likely kept any of the officers from being shot.
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR NEAR MISS
Support this critical officer safety initiative by reading and sharing the near-miss stories and lessons learned that your fellow officers have shared, and consider sharing your own near-miss experiences at LEOnearmiss.org.