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
I was dispatched to a call regarding a subject who was acting strangely. The caller stated the subject was standing in his backyard and the subject’s dog was on the caller’s boat. The caller’s residence backed up to a lake. The caller stated the subject approached the caller’s rear sliding door and said someone was chasing him.
The caller escorted us, and me and another officer contacted the subject in the backyard. The subject was compliant and stated he recently mixed two types of street drugs and was not feeling well. The subject advised someone was chasing him and he needed our help. The subject agreed to a voluntary committal to a nearby mental health facility.
I escorted the subject to my patrol vehicle. I detained and searched the subject in handcuffs. I escorted the subject to the rear door of my patrol vehicle, where he refused to move, stating there were people trying to get him in the rear seat of my vehicle. I convinced him to look into the rear seat as I shined my flashlight into the area. Then he said there were people in the rear storage area of my police Tahoe. I convinced him to look into the area as I shined my flashlight into the area.
At this point, the subject pulled away from me and ran east toward the lake, which was about 20 feet away. The subject jumped into the lake while I was chasing him. I didn’t follow him into the lake.
I called out to my partner, who was talking to the caller. The caller advised he would take us out on his boat to the subject, who was swimming out to the middle of the lake. The lake is approximately 15 feet deep and 150 feet wide, with residential housing on the other side.
We got out to the subject as he was wading into the murky water. I told the subject to swim toward me, but he swam away, stating he didn’t want the people in my vehicle to get him. After several passes, the subject stated he was getting tired, and he began to sink. My partner and I took off our outer carrier vests and prepared to jump into the water. We made one last pass as the subject was sinking, and I was able to grab him and pull him into the boat.
The subject apologized for his actions but strongly believed there were people in my Tahoe trying to get him. Eventually, we got him into my vehicle and transported him to a mental health facility for treatment. If there hadn’t been a boat, I planned to jump into the lake and pull him back to shore. I would have never thought a compliant subject would do something like that.
Lessons learned
- Maintain your guard with seemingly compliant subjects.
- Recognize that even a handcuffed subject can still be a flight risk. Use your body and other personnel at the scene to block potential routes of escape.
- In this incident, not rushing into the lake after the suspect was a good decision. Entering a body of water without additional resources to rescue a compliant individual is dangerous, and entering to rescue a non-compliant and/or mentally ill individual is all the more so because the subject can be unpredictable. As demonstrated, slow down and make a plan to rescue the individual from the water without placing yourself or other emergency personnel at undue risk. This may require calling for and securing other resources, like a marine unit or air support, so you can reach the individual safely and provide assistance should an officer become distressed during the rescue.
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.