This past Thursday night Corporal Jose Espericueta was killed after he and other officers pursued a man who had just previously fired gunshots near his mother. As officers were chasing him, the offender turned and fired shots, striking the Corporal. Corporal Espericueta and other officers returned fire, striking the suspect. Corporal Espericueta and the suspect both passed away from their injuries.
Cpl. Espericueta was the first officer killed in Mission in over four decades, although several officers have been killed over the years in that area of South Texas. He left behind his family, including three children, as well as his colleagues at the Mission Police Department. Cpl. Espericueta was a decorated police officer who had saved a person from a fire about two years earlier. He was known as "Speedy" by his fellow officers.
Domestic disturbances are probably the most dangerous calls for police officers, and account for a large portion of line-of-duty deaths. Unfortunately, police officers are as vulnerable as the household members themselves because officers most often approach these situations with the least force possible, meaning that two to four patrol officers respond with just their sidearms. This level of force, in the "text book" world, is supposedly "enough" force to calm the situation, or subdue an irate husband, if the situation cannot be resolved short of an arrest. But in the real world, very few situations are actually resolved "by the book." And in some cases, the presence of the police seems to cause some offenders to lose all reason, with fatal results, sometimes for the offender, and sometimes for the responding officers.
The shooter in this case had no violent crimes in his background - except for a couple situations involving - yes, his mother- so the escalation from a small-time offenses to capital murder for this man occurred suddenly, costing the lives of both this criminal and the good officer who tried to arrest him without harming him.
I still recall a training film we all watched in the police academy I attended in 1981, a film dealing with tactics with which to respond specifically to domestic violence. One of the first lines in the movie script was something like "domestic violence has become a routine call for police officers. Once the routine call is received, police officers routinely respond, and routinely die..." The tactics outlined in this film, along with the physical, hands-on training in the academy gym, were designed to reduce the risk of getting killed when responding the domestic calls by providing officers with viable options.
In the end, however, police officers still respond frequently, routinely, to these calls and still routinely die. I personally found that there were so many uncontrollable variables that the risk to officers responding to domestic calls could only be reduced marginally, short of responding with a SWAT team. The problem with a SWAT-like approach to domestic situations is that the vast majority of these calls do not end in gunfire; therefore, the community would not support such a drastic response every time domestic violence was reported.
I cannot second-guess the response of the Mission officers to the particular threat at hand that fateful night. Should they have called a SWAT team? It may be that the situation was too fluid at the moment of confrontation. Without an effective perimeter, a SWAT team might not be the appropriate response. The suspect was running away, but since shots were fired prior to law enforcement's arrival, officers should have expected him to be armed. Again, I cannot second-guess these officers and their response. I, in fact, have responded to similar situations, chased offenders (and ANY offender COULD be armed) and not been shot, even though I did not use the best tactics available. Not that I was a good officer, but that the person just did not elect to shoot me.
My prayers go out to the family of Corporal Espericueta. The funeral was several days ago, but the loss has only begun to be real for those left behind. The Thin Blue Line in heaven has one more member now. May the Good Lord comfort those who remain.
God Bless all police officers, keep them safe, and carry those Home who are called on to give that Last Full Measure of Devotion so often required of those brave men and women who have chosen this honorable but dangerous calling.
Cpl. Espericueta was the first officer killed in Mission in over four decades, although several officers have been killed over the years in that area of South Texas. He left behind his family, including three children, as well as his colleagues at the Mission Police Department. Cpl. Espericueta was a decorated police officer who had saved a person from a fire about two years earlier. He was known as "Speedy" by his fellow officers.
Domestic disturbances are probably the most dangerous calls for police officers, and account for a large portion of line-of-duty deaths. Unfortunately, police officers are as vulnerable as the household members themselves because officers most often approach these situations with the least force possible, meaning that two to four patrol officers respond with just their sidearms. This level of force, in the "text book" world, is supposedly "enough" force to calm the situation, or subdue an irate husband, if the situation cannot be resolved short of an arrest. But in the real world, very few situations are actually resolved "by the book." And in some cases, the presence of the police seems to cause some offenders to lose all reason, with fatal results, sometimes for the offender, and sometimes for the responding officers.
The shooter in this case had no violent crimes in his background - except for a couple situations involving - yes, his mother- so the escalation from a small-time offenses to capital murder for this man occurred suddenly, costing the lives of both this criminal and the good officer who tried to arrest him without harming him.
I still recall a training film we all watched in the police academy I attended in 1981, a film dealing with tactics with which to respond specifically to domestic violence. One of the first lines in the movie script was something like "domestic violence has become a routine call for police officers. Once the routine call is received, police officers routinely respond, and routinely die..." The tactics outlined in this film, along with the physical, hands-on training in the academy gym, were designed to reduce the risk of getting killed when responding the domestic calls by providing officers with viable options.
In the end, however, police officers still respond frequently, routinely, to these calls and still routinely die. I personally found that there were so many uncontrollable variables that the risk to officers responding to domestic calls could only be reduced marginally, short of responding with a SWAT team. The problem with a SWAT-like approach to domestic situations is that the vast majority of these calls do not end in gunfire; therefore, the community would not support such a drastic response every time domestic violence was reported.
I cannot second-guess the response of the Mission officers to the particular threat at hand that fateful night. Should they have called a SWAT team? It may be that the situation was too fluid at the moment of confrontation. Without an effective perimeter, a SWAT team might not be the appropriate response. The suspect was running away, but since shots were fired prior to law enforcement's arrival, officers should have expected him to be armed. Again, I cannot second-guess these officers and their response. I, in fact, have responded to similar situations, chased offenders (and ANY offender COULD be armed) and not been shot, even though I did not use the best tactics available. Not that I was a good officer, but that the person just did not elect to shoot me.
My prayers go out to the family of Corporal Espericueta. The funeral was several days ago, but the loss has only begun to be real for those left behind. The Thin Blue Line in heaven has one more member now. May the Good Lord comfort those who remain.
God Bless all police officers, keep them safe, and carry those Home who are called on to give that Last Full Measure of Devotion so often required of those brave men and women who have chosen this honorable but dangerous calling.
