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cjustice
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Posted: Sun Oct 8th, 2006 07:13 am |
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love asking you reasoning-type hypothetical questions and i hope i'm not bothering you because the best person for me to ask is an actual cop so i may learn to think like a cop
what would you do if you stopped a fellow officer for a DUI?
what if you call a call to a domestic dispute and on the way see an armed robbery in progress?
would you ever break a policy
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cjustice
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Posted: Sun Oct 8th, 2006 07:14 am |
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There is a difference between an oral board response and what actually happens….I hope that doesn’t shock anyone. Before I give you my response, let me just say that whatever answer you present to an oral board should be exactly what you intend to do…otherwise it sounds hollow.
Okay.
DUI:
While on a “straight” DUI (A DUI with complications like a traffic accident would likely limit discretion, and thus make the question rather boring), an officer would be very tempted to take the officer home, etc. There are deeper issues. Generally, in these situations your department is going to want to a supervisor and leave the decision making process to that person. The exercise of individual discretion probably involves breaking a number of policies and procedures…so. Consider that Alcohol has ruined many careers and many lives. Any time someone is driving DUI they have taken risks that are unacceptable and an intervention is necessary. While you will probably hurt your fellow officer’s career – you may just save his life, career and family. While I would call for a supervisor and ultimately take the person to the station, I would treat them differently than a regular citizen. I wouldn’t do the field sobriety test, I would take them in a different door, etc. I would work to protect their dignity, but still take official action.
Dude easy……armed robbery trumps a domestic violence call. You have to ask yourself where is the greater potential for violence and injury. While DV is very serious and the potential for violence exists, an armed robbery is an act of violence in progress.
Policy is a broad statement of organizational desired outcomes…it is not a step-by-step set of procedures. Police Departments have “shooting” policies because you can’t have a step-by-step set of instructions that covers every situation. Now, that doesn’t mean that policies don’t contain procedures…they do. For instance, your shooting policies might say that after the shooting you call for a supervisor…..that is a procedure.
Policies change because society changes. Its like case law…..which comes from police officers continuously experimenting with search and seizure in the field….that’s not breaking the rules, that is responding to the changing environment…..sometimes correctly, sometimes not so much. So, if I had a situation and my judgment led me to believe that the policy either was in error or did not cover the situation I would try to do the right thing. While that is taking on a lot of responsibility, it is the job of a police officer to responsibility apply their judgment to field situations…….
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Christopher
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Posted: Sun Oct 8th, 2006 01:33 pm |
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Your answer on DUI as surprisingly the same as what I was thinking before I read it. I have only seen it done a few times. Back in the way old days, it was not uncommon to take away someone's keys, police officer or not, let them sleep it off and come back at the end of the shift and let them go. But now there is this thing called "civil liablity" and also I think "moral liablity". In the senario you describe the officer is not really getting special attention. And as long as he did not crash into something the officer has discrecion upon notifying a supervisor. The DUI officer for his own safety should never be in the general population of any jail and will likely, well almost surley be disciplined much worse by his/her agency and the court system. The time used to be where you would call the wife or a taxi, but there is too much liability now if the officer was to be let go and happened to drive again. If he crashed your agency and handling officer would be liable.
As for the domestic violence vs the robbery in progress, the officer has two things to consider. The most important is officer safety. If you are supposed to be going to a robbery in progress and divert yourself you are putting the officers enroute to the robbery call at risk by not being there. The dispatcher should know who is going where and divert the resources to the most important call at the moment. If it was not for the robbery call, the domestic violence call probably would have been the most important.
As for department policy, that too is ever changing. We have a few Hard Copies of our department policy manual. The majority of distribution is through PDF files. We do have in the middle an area called "Critical Policy" Which relates to the rules carved in stone. I don't think there is a person alive that knows everything in the policy manual because things are always changng, but everyone knows pursuit policy and like "critical policy issues."
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L4WM4N
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Posted: Mon Oct 9th, 2006 02:57 am |
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My answer was pretty simple, providing no accidents were caused and depending on time of day, traffic, etc... I answered that I would contact a supervisor and have them make the decision. I further added (expecting the prompt) that if it were my decision, I would contact a wrecker and tow his vehicle. I would take him home and complete a report for the Chief. I later learned that our Chief has said that an officer will not be arrested, instead the officer will be taken home and the matter brought to him and that he would handle it accordingly. He has his reasons for wanting matters handled this way and I am confident that he would make that officer's life as miserable as he possibly could.
Robbery while 10-96 to DV... I would advise the supervisor of my intentions to change calls and then follow their specific instructions.
Policy? We don't need no stinking policy!  JK. I have 1, 2, 3, umm or so Letters of Concern for various policy variations. Most of which I would probably violate again. My practice is to handle every situation in a safe and professional manner. I, and my brothers, will always go home. Policy does not cover every situation and every situation does not permit the implementation of policy. Your best tool is knowledge. Knowledge of policy and the ability to articulate your actions if policy is not the norm in a specific situation.
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jafroodi
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Posted: Tue Oct 10th, 2006 08:20 am |
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Regarding a DUI involving a fellow officer, I am by no means one to rat out a fellow officer . However if one is foolish enough to drive a motorized vehicle under the influence then that officer is a walking time bomb waiting to explode . If I was the officer that had the unfortunate task of pulling over this officer I would do a few things differently . I would express to him that he needs to come clean to a supervisor and seek help . Then I would summons for a supervisor to meet back at the station. I would attempt to have his vehicle moved to an appropriate parking area . Or have a friend or family member pick up the vehicle .
Domestic violence call versus armed robbery in progress. They're both very volatile scenarios .
However , the question was phrased you were sent to a domestic violence call and on the way you saw and armed robbery in progress .
I would advise dispatch immediately while in route to the domestic violence call that I'm observing an armed robbery in progress while advising if other units are available To respond to this observation I would also request the severity of the domestic violence call and request another unit to handle if possible . It would make more sense for me to coordinate the units responding tactically speaking.
Regarding breaking policies, that is something we try not to do however, certain circumstances force or hand even though we know we have done the right thing . Policies were designed to protect the agency's and their employees from frivolous lawsuits . Policies are a sad reality in any department , because in a court of law it is the departments policy that will protect you or leave you hanging out to dry .
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