Officer Kenneth Copeland, San Marcos Police Department, San Marcos, TX was murdered on the afternoon of December 4th as he and three fellow officers attempted to serve an arrest warrant. The subject named in the warrant opened the door after Officer Copeland knocked, and immediately opened fire on the officers. Officer Copeland was hit twice in the chest. Officers returned fire and removed Officer Copeland from the danger zone. The subject was struck by officers' bullets but survived and will be arrested as soon as he is released from the hospital.
Officer Copeland left behind his wife and four children, as well as his many friends in his community and colleagues on the police force. He is said to be the first San Marcos police officer killed in the line of duty. I am saddened to hear of his death at the hands of a wanted felon, but honored to mention him in my blog. Officer Copeland is now in that Thin Blue Line in heaven, but his family and friends are left behind to mourn his loss and to carry on without him in their lives. May the Good Shepherd, who has comforted them, continue to do so as the days pass by.
I purposely did not write this memorial to Officer Copeland in the hours after his death because I wanted to collect my thoughts and not write things I did not really mean or that would not have been appropriate at that time. And I wanted to learn a little more about the circumstances surrounding his death, about the methods and measures employed by officers as they planned and executed the arrest warrant for this dangerous person. Unfortunately very little information of that nature has been made available to those outside of law enforcement, so I am not much better informed now than on that terrible day.
I do not know what kind of planning went into the execution of the arrest warrant that day so I will not attempt to second-guess what was done in the moments before Officer Copeland was shot. Instead I will just discuss a few things that could make service of such warrants somewhat safer in the future, although, as one outside officer observed, sometimes even the best plans are thwarted in some way. Perhaps weather plays a role, perhaps limited intelligence comes into play, or perhaps some random quirk of fate throws a wrench into the plan. Nonetheless, there are things that can be done to hedge the odds in favor of police officers in these situations.
The one most important factor, the timing of the warrant service, is totally in the hands of the law enforcement agency, and is most often the most ignored factor. What I mean is that just because a police officer secures a warrant does not mean that it must be served immediately! Time is actually on the side of police officers. Time is a precious commodity, but it can be used to one's advantage. For instance, police officers should take the time to know the person they are about to arrest, to learn about his home, his mental condition, his access to known weapons, his daily routine, and so on. Officers need to realize that they can, and SHOULD, take the hours or even days they need to acquire such information. There is rarely the need to rush off and blindly execute a warrant, especially when officers already believe the person in question to be armed and dangerous.
Related to timing, in a way, is the setting of the arrest. For instance, must the arrest take place at the person's home? Is there a safer location to effect the arrest? If officers take the time to surveill the subject of the arrest warrant, especially one known to have weapons in his home and have the willingness to use those weapons, this person's routine may allow for his arrest away from his home, his "base of operations." Does he jog daily? Does he go to a particular store or place of business regularly? Does he drive to the mailbox at the same time everyday? If a suspect's routine has been properly analyzed, it is very likely that police can set up an arrest based on this routine and arrest the person outside his home. A search warrant, if needed, could then be executed on the home in relative safety.
A third consideration is the proper show of force. Is the warrant for a felony? That would call for more planning and a more significant show of force, than say, an arrest for outstanding traffic tickets. This area of planning also calls for the involved officers to quash the "John Wayne Syndrome." Officers may be tempted to make a "soft" approach to arrest the suspect when, in fact, a more appropriate thing might be to have the "SWAT" team make the arrest. But pride and bravado sometimes cause officers to take action with less force than is really appropriate. Officers may opt to knock on the door when the circumstances indicate that the person inside will probably resist the attempted entry or arrest, and that entry should be made with some type of overwhelming force right from the start.
A final precious commodity, but one which the police have time to gather, is information. When a person has three felony warrants pending, it is very likely that there are two or three people, the suspect's victims, who will probably willingly share this information with the police. Victims of family violence obviously know the person who victimized them, and know things that would be helpful to the police. These persons know the suspect's mental state, his habits, his access to weapons, and his personal routine. And many times they want to cooperate with the police not only so that the offender can be arrested, but that he can be apprehended without coming to physical harm or hurting the arresting officers.
So I am not writing this post to criticize anything that the San Marcos officers did that day, but to encourage police officers to always do the work needed to prepare for serving warrants on dangerous persons. Granted, almost any person could BECOME dangerous when facing the prospect of arrest for a felony offense, but there are many things the police can do to minimize the dangers associated with attempting to arrest a wanted felon. Even the best plans can go wrong, even a bullet-resistant vest can fail after sustaining multiple hits. But the police must always carefully plan their operations and above all, take time to get to know the suspect, especially if the arrest attempt will be made on the suspect's home ground. He has the "home team advantage." But with proper timing, choosing the setting to the extent possible, fielding the appropriate task force, and garnering as much intelligence as possible, the police can put every advantage on their side, and possibly prevent officers from dying in situations in which the officers know the criminal has the motive and the means to use deadly force to resist his arrest.
May the Good Shepherd be with all police officers tonight...
And may God Bless America
Officer Copeland left behind his wife and four children, as well as his many friends in his community and colleagues on the police force. He is said to be the first San Marcos police officer killed in the line of duty. I am saddened to hear of his death at the hands of a wanted felon, but honored to mention him in my blog. Officer Copeland is now in that Thin Blue Line in heaven, but his family and friends are left behind to mourn his loss and to carry on without him in their lives. May the Good Shepherd, who has comforted them, continue to do so as the days pass by.
I purposely did not write this memorial to Officer Copeland in the hours after his death because I wanted to collect my thoughts and not write things I did not really mean or that would not have been appropriate at that time. And I wanted to learn a little more about the circumstances surrounding his death, about the methods and measures employed by officers as they planned and executed the arrest warrant for this dangerous person. Unfortunately very little information of that nature has been made available to those outside of law enforcement, so I am not much better informed now than on that terrible day.
I do not know what kind of planning went into the execution of the arrest warrant that day so I will not attempt to second-guess what was done in the moments before Officer Copeland was shot. Instead I will just discuss a few things that could make service of such warrants somewhat safer in the future, although, as one outside officer observed, sometimes even the best plans are thwarted in some way. Perhaps weather plays a role, perhaps limited intelligence comes into play, or perhaps some random quirk of fate throws a wrench into the plan. Nonetheless, there are things that can be done to hedge the odds in favor of police officers in these situations.
The one most important factor, the timing of the warrant service, is totally in the hands of the law enforcement agency, and is most often the most ignored factor. What I mean is that just because a police officer secures a warrant does not mean that it must be served immediately! Time is actually on the side of police officers. Time is a precious commodity, but it can be used to one's advantage. For instance, police officers should take the time to know the person they are about to arrest, to learn about his home, his mental condition, his access to known weapons, his daily routine, and so on. Officers need to realize that they can, and SHOULD, take the hours or even days they need to acquire such information. There is rarely the need to rush off and blindly execute a warrant, especially when officers already believe the person in question to be armed and dangerous.
Related to timing, in a way, is the setting of the arrest. For instance, must the arrest take place at the person's home? Is there a safer location to effect the arrest? If officers take the time to surveill the subject of the arrest warrant, especially one known to have weapons in his home and have the willingness to use those weapons, this person's routine may allow for his arrest away from his home, his "base of operations." Does he jog daily? Does he go to a particular store or place of business regularly? Does he drive to the mailbox at the same time everyday? If a suspect's routine has been properly analyzed, it is very likely that police can set up an arrest based on this routine and arrest the person outside his home. A search warrant, if needed, could then be executed on the home in relative safety.
A third consideration is the proper show of force. Is the warrant for a felony? That would call for more planning and a more significant show of force, than say, an arrest for outstanding traffic tickets. This area of planning also calls for the involved officers to quash the "John Wayne Syndrome." Officers may be tempted to make a "soft" approach to arrest the suspect when, in fact, a more appropriate thing might be to have the "SWAT" team make the arrest. But pride and bravado sometimes cause officers to take action with less force than is really appropriate. Officers may opt to knock on the door when the circumstances indicate that the person inside will probably resist the attempted entry or arrest, and that entry should be made with some type of overwhelming force right from the start.
A final precious commodity, but one which the police have time to gather, is information. When a person has three felony warrants pending, it is very likely that there are two or three people, the suspect's victims, who will probably willingly share this information with the police. Victims of family violence obviously know the person who victimized them, and know things that would be helpful to the police. These persons know the suspect's mental state, his habits, his access to weapons, and his personal routine. And many times they want to cooperate with the police not only so that the offender can be arrested, but that he can be apprehended without coming to physical harm or hurting the arresting officers.
So I am not writing this post to criticize anything that the San Marcos officers did that day, but to encourage police officers to always do the work needed to prepare for serving warrants on dangerous persons. Granted, almost any person could BECOME dangerous when facing the prospect of arrest for a felony offense, but there are many things the police can do to minimize the dangers associated with attempting to arrest a wanted felon. Even the best plans can go wrong, even a bullet-resistant vest can fail after sustaining multiple hits. But the police must always carefully plan their operations and above all, take time to get to know the suspect, especially if the arrest attempt will be made on the suspect's home ground. He has the "home team advantage." But with proper timing, choosing the setting to the extent possible, fielding the appropriate task force, and garnering as much intelligence as possible, the police can put every advantage on their side, and possibly prevent officers from dying in situations in which the officers know the criminal has the motive and the means to use deadly force to resist his arrest.
May the Good Shepherd be with all police officers tonight...
And may God Bless America
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