Running from police should not be a death sentence
Many thanks to Las Cruces Sun News for posting this OpEd on the anniversary of the death of Antonio "Tony" Valenzuela.
https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/opinion/2021/02/28/running-police-shouldnt-death-sentence/6851601002/
One year ago on Feb. 29, Antonio "Tony" Valenzuela was killed by police. In the early morning hours, Las Cruces police conducted a routine traffic stop for a vehicle with expired insurance. Tony, who was not the owner or driver of the car, but merely sitting in the back seat, had a bench warrant for his arrest and fled from police.
During the foot pursuit, one officer deployed his department-issued Taser. Tony was put in a vascular neck restraint, and soon became unresponsive. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A Gerber multi-tool knife was later found in his pocket. Those who knew and loved Tony, and those who seek to rebuild the trust between police and their communities, are outraged by Tony’s story and so many others like it. We all should be outraged.
Police are trained to subdue a violent attacker in dozens of ways. However, this training creates a mindset that every interaction with the public is potentially deadly, and that danger lurks around every corner. While these skills are intended to save an officer’s life, the ability to prevent a tense situation from escalating into a violent encounter is also a life-saving skill. Actually, it’s an even more important life-saving skill.
The vast majority of interactions with the public involve connecting with people, but officers are rarely trained on how to do so effectively. This failure to prepare police for the breadth of their duties contributes to over 1,000 fatal police shootings each year and a large and growing distrust between law enforcement and their communities. If we don’t train our law enforcement differently, we will keep seeing these terrible outcomes.
To be sure, there are instances in which deadly force is justified and necessary, and much time and money are spent preparing officers to react instinctively in these situations. But stories like Tony’s show that split second judgements are not always accurate, and that police, like the rest of us, are fallible.
Law enforcement officers can not rely on instincts alone when making life or death decisions about the nature of a threat. Factors such as clothing, accents, and skin color consciously or subconsciously shape judgements about who is dangerous, threatening, or aggressive. This is especially true for communities of color, who are shot and killed by police at twice the rate of White Americans.
Tactical training must be complemented with training in “soft skills'' that create a critical space between the first encounter with a suspect and the decision to use lethal force. It is in this critical space that law enforcement can collect information that can avoid a violent encounter altogether and mean the difference between life and death. Running from police should not be a death sentence.
In addition to making more informed decisions, officers need skills to better connect with their communities so they can be more respected and effective. Stories like Tony’s have created a deep distrust and fear of police in many communities and make it hard for the public to see police as the “good guys.” While most people enter law enforcement because they want to help others, they are increasingly met with distrust, disgust, and hostility from the very people they seek to protect.
It would be unfathomable to send a law enforcement officer into the line of duty without a service weapon, and yet we send them to interact with the public with only the people skills that they brought along with them to the job. Officers deserve to also be armed with a full set of tools to avoid violence, collect information, and prevent the need for lethal force. Not only will these skills better equip officers to do the most common and often most difficult aspect of their jobs — connecting with people — they will keep people like Tony alive.
