Ft. Worth Police Officer Shoots Woman Through Her Window

[txdpd]

With Guyger we said she fucked up. This man did too. Other than that, we have few details. Since the officer resigned, we will know even less. My wife asked me what I thought. I said my guess is he had a negligent discharge. She said. You mean like the time you shot a hole in your truck door while driving to Mississippi. I said that's right. She asked. Why didn't the cop have his safety thing on? I replied that if the pistol was a Glock, then it ain't got a safety thing, and she asked if my pistol had a safety thing, and I said it has two. Then she told me in Spanish that I was a dumb ass.

I know it's hard for the sharks to think about anything but biting when there's blood in the water.

Lets think about that for a second. Since the officer resigned, we will know even less. His boss gets on the news and says he's going to fire him, so the officer resigns. What exactly was FWPD interested in finding out from the officers if they had already decided to kick him to the curb?

Under Garrity V New Jersey, FWPD can force an employee to participate in an administrative investigation, that investigation is separate from a criminal investigation and the findings are not admissible in criminal court. Emphasis on the employee part. So as far as finding out what happened, the folks that had the ball in their court, fumbled. The resignation took care of this. If the officer was fired, essentially for "just because" (no actual internal investigation could have possibly been completed), and the officer got acquitted at trial, he could get his job back under civil service.

If the people at the top can't get it together, should we really be surprised by what's trickling down hill.

Exactly. Tragic from one end to the other. That is what I'm wrangling with.

What is the appropriate penalty for failure to knock, announce or display emergency lights from the vehicle? On a welfare check, even a phone call might be appropriate.

Bottom line is an innocent life was taken that should have been avoidable.

I'm just not really sure what the appropriate legal remedy should be. (I also have not taken it upon myself to study the Texas statutes.)

One of the things I’m pretty sure we are seeing here is business as usual, that didn’t end up being business as usual. I don’t think this guy is the train wreck he’s made out to be, this is the time that doing things bass ackwards like everyone else does didn’t work out. I don't think he should get out of this unscathed, he's an adult and makes his own choices, but the whole scapegoat thing means that the opportunity to make sure this doesn't happen again is going to be lost.

[Redhat]

Twenty three years on the job has shown me that dispatcher/call info is accurate about 35 percent of the time. Location/address is usually quite high as far as accuracy.......

but crucial details that would make the call safer for me, my partners, and anybody on scene are dismally weak. Thankfully, that same 23 years experience has afforded me sort of a "sixth sense" when it comes to reading between the lines on most calls. This officer in question didn't have that sort of experience under his belt.

His call details may have been spot on and that agency may have a better way of passing along details to their line level officers. My employer.....not so much.


Regards.

I got ya...so in this case I assume the radio conversation has not been made public?

[lwt16]

I got ya...so in this case I assume the radio conversation has not been made public?

I don't know.

Again, this agency may be worlds ahead of mine on radio/ call details. But even then, you really don't know what you have until you are boots on the ground.

[WobblyPossum]

AS that appears normal, what are the procedures / training generally in place to avoid what occurred?
Translation: If you were teaching someone, what would the procedure be for how to approach the situation. What procedure keeps this from happening?

With the caveat that I have a minuscule amount of night time uniform patrol experience compared to some of the other members posting: Attempt to see what you can from the front of the house. Loudly knock on the door or window and announce yourself as a police officer. Have dispatch try to call the residence if you can’t get anyone to the door. Have dispatch check any records related the the house and residents to see if there is a history you need to know about (drugs, DV, senior citizen who has previously fallen and needed assistance, etc). If none of that worked to get you in contact with someone inside, then clear the yard and enter the residence while periodically loudly announcing yourself as police.

[Rex G]

Thanks. I was wondering if that was normal given the circumstances.

AS that appears normal, what are the procedures / training generally in place to avoid what occurred?
Translation: If you were teaching someone, what would the procedure be for how to approach the situation. What procedure keeps this from happening?*


*Note I am of the mind this could have been an ND scenario, where the officer shouted and discharged without intending to do so. This is based only on the video and the short time between shout and shot.

To be clear this is not a criticism or trap, but a question of interest to get a better understanding.

You are right; it could have been an unintended discharge, a tightening of the muscles controlling the finger, while the finger was in a place it should not have been. Like, well, the rookie who shot downward, into a stair step, a few feet behind me, as I pushed an unlocked door open, and loudly announced our presence, and commanded that anyone inside the house make their presence know, and show their hands. (Thanks to God for safe muzzle direction discipline!) In our case, it had been the homeowner who called, believing a burglary was in progress. (In actuality, it was a roll of wrapping paper falling from a table, and rolling across a floor, plus, our discovering an unlocked back door, but it may have been that rookie’s “first rodeo” with what appeared, at that moment in time, to be an actual burglary in progress.)

Any police rookie, should have been taught, at the academy level, that a person found inside a home is likely to be a rightful occupant of the home, and that a rightful occupant can be expected to act defensively.

Any police rookie, hired during this century, should know how to safely index the, well, index finger. (Once upon a time, when DA revolvers were the norm, “indexing” one’s trigger finger was not yet a thing.)

Unintended tightening of the muscles of the limbs, during stressful events, and its unintended consequences, SHOULD be understood by all police cadets.

I could verify that all of my PPOs understood the above. I could not, before the fact, know whether those lessons would stick, when the gate opened, at their first rodeo. Live role-play training, if sufficiently realistic, is, I believe, a tremendous help, but, it is, well, play-time, no matter how realistic.

I may have more to say, after caffeination. I am making so many typos and other errors, I need to take a break.

[lwt16]

Translation: If you were teaching someone, what would the procedure be for how to approach the situation. What procedure keeps this from happening?*


.

Here.....it would go like this:

Kill headlights on approach and park a house or two up the way. If there's time, I'll run the tag in the driveway on the state data base to hopefully get a pic of the registered owner to at least have a chance knowing if I'm confronting the homeowner. Not 100 percent but worth a second or two to attempt. I'll use binoculars or drive by the house to get this info.

If the car is the bad guy's car...and I'm shot and killed in the approach......my screen will give responding officers a clue to start looking for that car.

Exit and approach with sound/light discipline at a high level. Once eyes are on the open door....look for signs of forced entry. If there are none.....SLOW down.

I'm covering that open door and I am going to look and listen. Back up unit (assuming there is one and there are times when there aren't) will cover the rear as best as he/she can (fences).

As primary, I'll call it in and ask if there is K9 available and I'll roll them that way. I'll ask dispatch to search for an on site phone number and if they find one, I'll have dispatch call. If they get an answer, I'll have the homeowner come meet me and once I see they are empty handed and calm, I'll approach from cover.

If no answer, I'll start slicing the pie and working the room from outside the residence. I'll look for signs of struggles, blood, brass, etc while I do this. Pistol or long gun in hand and ready. Once I work as much of the room from the outside as I can, I'll approach the open door. Then I will either ring the bell or knock hard. I'll back off a little and look and listen. If nothing or nobody is heard, at that point I'll loudly announce "POLICE" followed by things like "K9 ON THE GROUND. IF ANYONE IS IN THERE SOUND OUT NOW!" I'll call out the K9 thing even if there isn't a puppy on duty.

I've had burglars bust out the back into the loving arms of back up officers at this point. But.........homeowners usually sound out.

If I still don't hear anything, I'll enter and work rooms until it is cleared. I've had to recently clear a large house alone like this. It's no fun. No fun whatsoever.

Staffing and filling positions gets harder and harder for agencies and clearing structures alone, while almost suicidal, is becoming more and more common.

Would it have prevented this? I'm not sure. Possibly.

My bodycam footage would have reflected this though.

I've had homeowners "clearing" their own house with double barrel shotguns, I've had people sound asleep in their beds, I've had drunken homeowners passed out on the couch, etc. Last week we found a 3 year old roaming around and I walked the apartment complex until I found an open door. Knocked hard.....nothing.

Cleared that apartment with pistol in hand and found mom passed out in the bed......needle in her arm.

The public wants cut and dried answers to questions that street cops deal with on a daily basis. Real life doesn't work that way.

It's best to assume that the worst has happened and that a gunfight is imminent. Finger off the trigger combined with sound tactics, combined with a calm demeanor, combined with years of experience, combined with common sense.......well.....you get the idea.

I was fortunate to have great training officers who taught me things like this when I was in my rookie years. Signing up for every class I could, taking training away from work, reading everything I could, and watching as many body cam footage incidents as I could helps me navigate the real world as a street cop.

Unless you've been there, it's hard to comprehend how something like this incident can happen.

It's amazing it doesn't happen all the time.

Regards.

[TGS]

I may have more to say, after caffeination. I am making so many typos and other errors, I need to take a break.

It's more the comma abuse that is making my eyes bleed.

[Zincwarrior]

With the caveat that I have a minuscule amount of night time uniform patrol experience compared to some of the other members posting: Attempt to see what you can from the front of the house. Loudly knock on the door or window and announce yourself as a police officer. Have dispatch try to call the residence if you can’t get anyone to the door. Have dispatch check any records related the the house and residents to see if there is a history you need to know about (drugs, DV, senior citizen who has previously fallen and needed assistance, etc). If none of that worked to get you in contact with someone inside, then clear the yard and enter the residence while periodically loudly announcing yourself as police.

Thank you (and to Lwt 16). To a non sworn officer (but I did stay at a Holiday Inn) that sounds very prudent.

[Rex G]

It's more the comma abuse that is making my eyes bleed.

Commas make it easier to proof-read.

[lwt16]

While different in nature, I just left a "check subject" call. Here are the details.....protecting the innocent of course.

"lwt16, be enroute to a check subject suicidal male. Ex girlfriend says he is at (address) and he has his phone cut off. Complainant states that subject HATES cops and has three guns in the house."

So basically, this guy is minding his own business in his own house, totally detests LEOs, and the ex wants LEOs to go check on him to see if he offed himself.

If you are scratching your head wondering

A. What crime has been committed?
B. What sense does it make to send the police to this call?
C. Why the city is rolling the proverbial "coffers" dice on this huge cluster waiting to happen?
D. Why she can't drive her lazy tail over there and check to see if he's offed himself herself?

You are starting to "get it".

Think it's easy to approach THAT apartment? Think the pucker factor is a little off the charts?

Can you see how this could delve into a huge, running gunfight?

Oh and the bystanders and other residents? Where do you think they went when I walked up with a rifle slung, my Sgt his less lethal, other cops with pistols out........where do you think they all stood?

Ringside, of course. As close as possible to get to see the action. Basically targets/bullet sponges for errant shots.

Which some attorney for the next of kin would blame me for since I didn't tell grown people to get to safety.....because I was too busy focusing on the task at hand and not getting gunned down.

So yeah.......that's what real world incidents look like. We on the street navigate hundreds of these a day. You don't hear about those, of course.

Regards.