A few years ago I attended the Citizen’s Police Academy offered through the local Sherriff’s Department. I figured it would be good to know something about law enforcement and how it operates should I need to write a scene in one of my stories involving the police. It was a very educational and enlightening experience.
One part of the Academy had us taking the role of a Deputy and interacting with an Officer. I was partnered with one of the other Academy students and we were given the ‘assignment’ to talk someone down from a suicide attempt. So, we had airsoft pellet guns and some helmets given to us and let loose.
We entered the room where the ‘suicide attempt’ was happening. Sitting in the back of the room, with an airsoft pellet gun pointed at his head was Sargent Herrin. He was large, bald, and full of mean. My partner and I approached him slowly, not wanting to potentially startle him and have him shoot himself. We figured that was a sure way to ‘fail’ the scenario. We asked if he was all right, and what was going on that he had a gun pointed at his head. We figured that was what you do with someone about to commit suicide. Sargent Herrin didn’t do anything. He just sat there.
My partner and I continued to approach, still trying to ascertain what got him into this state. We got to within about five feet when suddenly he pointed the gun at us and shot us both in the face. (Thus the need for the helmets given to us earlier.) Then he shouted at us “No! You fucked up. Go out and do it again. And draw your weapons this time!”
Well, that was abrupt and disheartening. My partner and I went back out of the room, drew our pellet guns and went back in.
This time we spread out, putting nine or ten feet between us. Our thinking was it would be harder to shoot both of us if he tried it and the one of us he didn’t shoot could shoot him. Again he had the gun to his head. He was constantly spouting obscenities and how he hated the world and everyone deserved to die. We tried to calm him down but nothing worked.
Then he got up and started walking toward the door. We both had our pellet guns aimed at him. My partner asked him to sit back down. I told him he was not allowed to leave the room, that he could hurt someone and to please stop. He kept walking. I told him to stop again. He kept on walking. I told him he couldn’t leave the room and to stop.
Finally as he got to the door I raised my pellet gun and shot him in the back. Three times.
He turned around at the door and said “Who shot me?”
I raised my hand. “You should have shot me sooner!”
I get the feeling this is the Citizen police Academy’s version of the Kobiyashi Maru test in Star Trek: The Wrath Of Khan – the ‘no-win’ scenario. I don’t think there is any way that either you or the ‘suspect’ don’t end up dying.
I have to admit, being a police officer is not in my DNA. I felt awful about shooting Sargent Herrin in the back. It felt like a total failure of finding a calm, rational solution to the problem. I get it was a ‘pretend’ scenario but I still felt awful. I apologized to him later when we had a ‘debrief’ about the scenario. He shrugged it off.
And I get it. This exercise is to show you the type of things Deputies have to deal with every day. There are times when you aren’t going to find the calm, rational solution to the problem. I suspect that the calm, rational solution is the very rare exception to the rule in police work.
I have a very healthy respect for law enforcement officers. They’ve got a very hard job to do. It certainly isn’t one I could do. All I can do is try to make the world a little better so that the calm, rational solution happens more often.
Be safe, my Hordeling.
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