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
While on midnight shift patrol with my regular partner, I conducted a traffic stop in an urban area on a vehicle driving without headlights at night.
As soon as I walked up to the vehicle, I noticed about 1/2 an ounce of marijuana in plain view on the dashboard, which was seized. The driver (and sole occupant) was driving the vehicle using adaptive controls.
During the initial contact, he stated he was using adaptive controls because he was paralyzed from the waist down as the result of an unsolved shooting, and there was a folding wheelchair visible in the backseat.
Ultimately, the subject was found to have an outstanding felony warrant for a probation violation with the underlying case being a weapons offense. In the interim, a second unit (solo officer) had arrived so there were now three officers to the one subject.
The warrant was confirmed, and I placed the subject under arrest. But how do you transport a paraplegic suspect who uses a wheelchair to move and is wearing an adult diaper due to his condition? This problem was magnified by the fact both units were unmarked, and our unmarked units aren’t caged.
I decided to get him into his wheelchair first, wheel him over to my unit, hoist him in the front seat, then handcuff him in the front, seatbelt him in and have my partner sit directly behind him. Although I have NEVER handcuffed anyone in the front before, we were going only a short distance to our station to process him before taking him to the city jail. I figured with my partner sitting directly behind him and the subject having limited mobility, the risks were mitigated.
We helped him into his wheelchair and wheeled him over to our unit. To this point, he had been cooperative. But how do you search someone who can’t stand up? My partner had him lean forward in his chair and searched his back, then had him lean back and searched the area (waistband) accessible to his hands. We then helped him scoot into the front seat of the unit, where I handcuffed him and belted him in.
At that point something made me stop. I cannot quite put my finger on it, but I got the feeling I needed to search the subject again. Again, this was my regular partner and he’s a squared-away officer; I trusted him and still trust him with my life. But some unknown feeling caused the hairs on the back of my neck to rise. I believe part of it was the situation being so unorthodox and part of it being the subject had gone really quiet. Either way, something just wasn’t quite right.
I decided to search the subject again. As much as I did not want to search his adult diaper, I did it anyway and felt a hard object that didn’t belong. This object was down along his upper thigh, inside the adult diaper, below his waistband. I asked him what it was. He didn’t say anything but stared straight ahead.
Reaching in, I recovered a loaded .22 semi-automatic pistol. Where there is one gun, there are two, so I searched him again and found a second pistol, a loaded .380 semi-automatic. Both guns had been reported stolen. In his sock, we found another 1/2 ounce of marijuana and a little over $1,700, mostly in 20s.
Lessons learned
My partner was extremely upset about the incident; I was not. I get it. It happens. I still trust him. This was a learning experience.
I figured the guy least likely to pose a threat to either of us was a paraplegic wearing an adult diaper who needed a wheelchair. I had consciously noted several warning signs (dealer plates on a crappy car at 0203 hrs., paraplegic from a prior shooting, probation violation for weapons offense, drugs in plain view) but dismissed him as a serious threat due to his physical condition.
In hindsight, I probably should have called for a marked/caged unit, but at the time, I didn’t want to tie up a third unit. Having him sit up front made it easier for us to get him in the unit. Honestly, if I’d put him behind a cage, I might not have searched him again. Regardless, I hope this is a cautionary tale to search and search again and to never discount anyone as a threat.
Always rely on your instinct. If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t, so take precautions to protect yourself and fellow officers.
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.