By Police1 Staff
PHOENIX — A Phoenix-area man known for his outspoken stance against law enforcement accepted an invitation from Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office to undergo shoot-no-shoot simulation training to better understand the stresses and split-second decisions officers are faced with.
Reverend Jarrett Maupin, a civil rights activist who organized protests following the officer-involved shooting in Ferguson, endured three shoot-no-shoot scenarios, each one followed by an evaluation of when he sensed a threat and why he drew his weapon.
In the first scenario, Maupin approached a suspect in a parking lot and was ‘shot’ almost instantly. In the second, the reverend approached two men fighting, and fired his weapon when one of the men charged him.
“I shot because he was in that zone,” Maupin explained to a police trainer, as Fox 10 filmed the scenario. “I felt that was an imminent threat – I didn’t necessarily see him armed but he came clearly to do some harm to the officer – to my person.”
In the third scenario, Maupin received a call about a possible burglary and was able to get the suspect to the ground, without any shots fired.
Maupin admitted that the experience changed his way of thinking, saying, “I didn’t understand how important compliance was… people need to comply with the orders of law enforcement officers, for their own safety.”