Originally Posted by
jnc36rcpd
Despite my age and forced-to-retire status, I wonder if SOME of this might be as much a training issue as a selection issue. If you don't know what to do, you may default to previous experience and training. For many people, running from danger, especially incoming gunfire, is the default (and, if you're not a police, correct) response.
In a world where cops are trained that not killing or injuring an assailant is a priority and that de-escalation is the much preferred objective, I wonder if these officers were doing what they believed the department wanted them to do. Students of military history may realize that once someone flees in panic, it encourages a mass retreat. I wonder that if once the first rookie ran, it seemed the best decision by the second. I also wonder if one or both might have considered their actions the right thing to do based on what they were taught.
I do not want to suggest that cowardice is at all acceptable, but this might be an example of officers responding to training. Guardian versus warrior, doncha know?