One of my purposes with this blog is to honor Texas Peace
Officers who are killed or who suffer other fatal incidents while in the
performance of their duties. Although
this is a sad mission, I have felt that it was a privilege and an honor to hold
up their names in this blog. I would
love to honor ALL peace officers in the United States who give their lives in
the service of their nation and their communities, but frankly the number of
officers around the nation who lose their lives in the course of their duties
is so great that I myself would probably need professional help if I focused on
all of them. So I usually limit my blog
to the deaths of our heroes in Texas.
Today, however, I have to make an exception to this limitation.
Last week, a young police officer in Forsyth, Georgia was shot, along with his partner, while attempting to communicate with a barricaded suspect who had threatened to commit suicide, and who had a pistol in his possession. The family had tried to reason with the suspect but to no avail. They called police to handle the situation. As soon as the officers arrived and announced themselves, the suspect began firing his pistol. Several rounds penetrated the door and walls of the residence, striking both officers. Deputy Michael Norris, age 24, was struck in the head and went down immediately. His partner returned fire into the residence and struck the suspect, who then meekly surrendered and demanded medical attention for the gunshot wound to his leg. Officer Norris was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced brain-dead. The other officer survived his wounds and will likely make a full recovery. Of course the wounded would-be suicide will likely make a full recovery as well. But a young widow and her child will never see their policeman again in this lifetime.
The utter needlessness of this officer’s death, the utter senselessness of his murder, really struck me, and I am not certain why. But as I pondered these events, certain things crossed my mind. For one thing, I myself have been this situation more times than I can remember when I was on the Waco Police force. I served back in the dark ages, in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Some things have changed in law enforcement since then, and some things have not. What has not changed is that even though a situation is dangerous and urgent, time is usually NOT as critical as relatives of the would-be suicide THINK it is. And, time is USUALLY on the officers’ side. What I mean is that it is not critical to dramatically rush into the kill zone and “talk” the person out of committing suicide. This idea was not stressed so much in the 80’s because the two officers arriving on such a scene were “it.” There was no cavalry coming to save the day. Whatever happened was up to the officers and the suspect (or victim, if you want to call the suicidal person that). All the officers were told was to end the situation as soon as possible, hopefully by subduing the person and getting medical help for him or her.
Last week, a young police officer in Forsyth, Georgia was shot, along with his partner, while attempting to communicate with a barricaded suspect who had threatened to commit suicide, and who had a pistol in his possession. The family had tried to reason with the suspect but to no avail. They called police to handle the situation. As soon as the officers arrived and announced themselves, the suspect began firing his pistol. Several rounds penetrated the door and walls of the residence, striking both officers. Deputy Michael Norris, age 24, was struck in the head and went down immediately. His partner returned fire into the residence and struck the suspect, who then meekly surrendered and demanded medical attention for the gunshot wound to his leg. Officer Norris was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced brain-dead. The other officer survived his wounds and will likely make a full recovery. Of course the wounded would-be suicide will likely make a full recovery as well. But a young widow and her child will never see their policeman again in this lifetime.
The utter needlessness of this officer’s death, the utter senselessness of his murder, really struck me, and I am not certain why. But as I pondered these events, certain things crossed my mind. For one thing, I myself have been this situation more times than I can remember when I was on the Waco Police force. I served back in the dark ages, in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Some things have changed in law enforcement since then, and some things have not. What has not changed is that even though a situation is dangerous and urgent, time is usually NOT as critical as relatives of the would-be suicide THINK it is. And, time is USUALLY on the officers’ side. What I mean is that it is not critical to dramatically rush into the kill zone and “talk” the person out of committing suicide. This idea was not stressed so much in the 80’s because the two officers arriving on such a scene were “it.” There was no cavalry coming to save the day. Whatever happened was up to the officers and the suspect (or victim, if you want to call the suicidal person that). All the officers were told was to end the situation as soon as possible, hopefully by subduing the person and getting medical help for him or her.
Flash forward three decades and certainly there have been
some MAJOR changes. First, almost every
jurisdiction has its own SWAT team, or the county sheriff’s office has a SWAT
team that will serve any community in the county. Second, with the events of 9/1/01, even the
smallest of police departments have, or have access to, an armored vehicle and
advanced weaponry designed to displace armed suspects from barricades, such as
inside residences. Thus, it is not
necessary, many times, for regular uniformed police to approach a situation
such as the one in which Deputy Norris
lost his life. Instead, the first responding officers can secure the scene and evacuate persons in harm's way, then wait for the SWAT team and armored vehicles.
I believe one thing that has not changed with most police officers over time is their desire to help people in times of great danger. Thus, police officers sometimes make the decision to enter a building or room in which an armed person is barricaded, without waiting for SWAT teams to arrive. These officers certainly have their heart in the right place, but, as deadly incident after deadly incident show us, many times regular patrol officers are killed while trying to handle situations that would have been more appropriate for a SWAT response. I am in no way insinuating that Deputy Norris and his partner made the wrong decision, as I was not there and was not under the pressure these two officers were. Again, I am just pondering the idea that, in many cases, hostage or barricaded subject situations are not as time-critical as officers (and family members) might think. Instead, once a scene is stabilized, it is possible for regular uniformed officers to wait for SWAT teams to arrive and take charge of the entry. Sometimes the mere arrival of SWAT officers and armored vehicles is enough to hasten the conclusion of an incident due to the desire of the subject not to be shot.
What I now have to say may seem cold, and I do not intend it to be, but it is my true belief that the life of a person who wants to kill himself or herself should not be traded for the life of a police officer or anyone else who desires to continue living. Mental illness is a difficult thing to understand, and a person who has reached the point where he can no longer deal with his mental illness is both deserving of sympathy AND UNPREDICTABLE IN HIS BEHAVIOR. Thus, one person who threatens suicide may be easily convinced to seek professional help, while another individual simply and with no warning kills himself. Another person may desire to die but does not have the fortitude to kill himself or herself. This person is the most dangerous to police officers. This person creates a situation in which confrontation with the police is inevitable and is most likely premeditated. The person may open fire on the police without any preamble, without any discussion, and with the sole intention of shooting officers so that they will be forced to fire back and possibly kill the shooter. In my opinion this person is either indifferent or totally uncaring that he or she will possibly kill others before being killed. But in this case the advantage (time) is on the side of the police because nothing will happen until the police confront the suicidal person.
Suicidal persons are responsible for many officer deaths each year. I sincerely hope that the death of Deputy Michael Norris, and of other officers killed in similar situations, will not have happened in vain. I hope that law enforcement agencies will stress to their officers that there are many times in which it is possible, and much safer, to wait for SWAT units to arrive and handle dangerous situations. Training officers need to stress that there is no shame or "cowardice" in this, but instead, the increased possibility of ending a dangerous situation without any officers dying in the process.
I also sincerely hope that officers themselves will discern that there is no cowardice in waiting for the appropriate unit to respond to a hazardous situation. I know from personal experience that officers can experience a sort of "macho" feeling in which they are "man enough" or "woman enough" to handle the barricaded person without calling in the SWAT team. Officers who began their service in the era before SWAT need to understand that the SWAT team is there for a purpose, and younger officers need to understand that there is no shame in waiting for the appropriate response capability.
Deputy Michael Norris himself ensured that his death was not in vain. He had stipulated early in his career that he would be an organ donor in the event of his death. His wishes were carried out in the hours before he was taken off the life support system. Deputy Norris was just at the beginning of his career in law enforcement, and at the beginning of his life with his family. I offer my deepest sympathy to his family and his colleagues. I know that Deputy Norris has joined that Thin Blue Line on the other side. I continue to pray for the safety of all police officers as they do a job like no other in the world.
Thank you for your brave service, Deputy Norris.
Suicidal persons are responsible for many officer deaths each year. I sincerely hope that the death of Deputy Michael Norris, and of other officers killed in similar situations, will not have happened in vain. I hope that law enforcement agencies will stress to their officers that there are many times in which it is possible, and much safer, to wait for SWAT units to arrive and handle dangerous situations. Training officers need to stress that there is no shame or "cowardice" in this, but instead, the increased possibility of ending a dangerous situation without any officers dying in the process.
I also sincerely hope that officers themselves will discern that there is no cowardice in waiting for the appropriate unit to respond to a hazardous situation. I know from personal experience that officers can experience a sort of "macho" feeling in which they are "man enough" or "woman enough" to handle the barricaded person without calling in the SWAT team. Officers who began their service in the era before SWAT need to understand that the SWAT team is there for a purpose, and younger officers need to understand that there is no shame in waiting for the appropriate response capability.
Deputy Michael Norris himself ensured that his death was not in vain. He had stipulated early in his career that he would be an organ donor in the event of his death. His wishes were carried out in the hours before he was taken off the life support system. Deputy Norris was just at the beginning of his career in law enforcement, and at the beginning of his life with his family. I offer my deepest sympathy to his family and his colleagues. I know that Deputy Norris has joined that Thin Blue Line on the other side. I continue to pray for the safety of all police officers as they do a job like no other in the world.
Thank you for your brave service, Deputy Norris.
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