Also check out https://www.wildfirelessons.net/High...&forceDialog=0 . This is the report on a helirappel fatality. I've referenced it before in human factors discussions but it's been a while. If you're a student of human factors in accidents, read the whole thing. For quick look, read the summary narrative, check the photos from page 25-27, and read the human factors section starting on page 33. The sub-section on our visual system is fascinating.Originally Posted by medmo
i did some work in accident investigation while in the Air Force a few centuries ago. it's pretty amazing how invalid a lot of eyewitness accounts can be
This is a summary from Wikipedia about “Slip & Capture” error:
Slips and capture is a type of error that may occur in high-stress situations. It has been described as a phenomenon in the psychology of human error, such that a person may inadvertently perform one action while intending to do another.
The term "slips and capture" became more widely known in the early 21st century in the United States, after being referred to by law enforcement in two prominent fatal police shooting cases in 2009 and 2015. In both cases, the police officer claimed to have shot a suspect while intending to use a Taser.
The concept of "slips and capture" has been studied in the psychology of human error, and efforts to prevent error.
The concept has been addressed in efforts to improve business, including computer and program design, and medical practices in order to avoid preventable error. Both terms are used in error terminology: slips are defined as "errors in the performance of skill-based behaviors, typically when our attention is diverted;" and capture refers to "a type of slip where a more frequent and more practiced behavior takes place when a similar, but less familiar, action was intended."
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Another thing that occurs to me is this — having somebody standing by their vehicle resisting being arrested for OWI or a warrant or whatever, was that officer responding to that with a drawn gun an appropriate option?
Now of course you always have to consider that the suspect might be armed, and they probably knew the warrant was for a weapons violation, but still — your partner is wrestling with the guy trying to get him into handcuffs. You go charging in with a drawn gun, running the risk of a negligent discharge (possibly hitting your partner) or potentially being disarmed — that might not be the optimum response.
Decisions get made in a split second and they aren’t always the best decision
In 2006, a deputy in my area also mistook his pistol for his Taser and shot an EDP in a tree.
https://archive.seattletimes.com/arc...btaserpistol23
That's a big assumption. She could have spent her early years in patrol before Tasers, become a detective, then went back to patrol two years ago and been issued a Taser for the first time. Her department might only do yearly quals and almost no training. They could skip refresher training. Until her work history and department training are available, we won't know.
"Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA
Beware of my temper, and the dog that I've found...
I never liked the idea of the X26 and X2 Tasers being built to resemble firearms. The old, original Tasers handled more like a huge TV remote, and had a handle like a Dustbuster vacuum cleaner, or any number of other non-weapon tools. Long before I ever saw the term “slip and capture error,” I had considered myself noticeably likely to commit such errors, unless I trained thoroughly and often, including mental drills and mantras.
By the time I retired, in 2018, there were so many thou-shalt-nots in the Taser policy, I wondered why we still carried the friggin’ things. Notably, as it would have been a factor in this MN incident, one of the thou-shalt-nots involved anyone who was at the control of a motor vehicle, and, that one does make sense.
Retar’d LE. Kinesthetic dufus.
Don’t tread on volcanos!
Tasers are a useful tool with limited application and effectiveness.
I think a lot of cops have become too dependent on them, and they don’t even realize it
Regarding training...
Covid has effectively shut down training for my agency for the past year.
Hardly anyone is qualified on anything right now.
I wonder if thats the case for this Officer.
There are several possibilities, but I tend to think drawing a pistol from a strong side retention holster instead of a Taser from an offside holster (possibly crossdraw, possibly not...I have seen recent images from the agency both ways) is not likely to be due to a lack of recent training or re-certification. Improper aim or use/ not complying with use of force policies,...sure, but drawing the wrong tool I think is likely to be a different issue. But I am speculating. A different sort of training issue, I could see...reaching for and drawing gun being a more ingrained response to certain stimuli than reaching for the Taser, which for many is a more conscious decision to employ less lethal than a "reflexive" response to threat.
Some years ago on another forum (IALEFI?), another instructor recommended his protocol of much more extensive Taser training. This included multiple deployments in dynamic scenarios. Given the expense of both standard and training cartridges, I thought that training like that would be unrealistic. Now I think it would be money well spent.
While Axon would lose sales, I think we'd be better off if they required such live fire in their lesson plans. Fewer, but better trained, officers with Tasers would reduce Taser codependency and improve the weapon 50-60% real world effectiveness.
I agree with the recommendations I have read that a redesign of the Taser so it doesn't look and feel like a pistol would prevent incidents of this kind.
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