• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Subscribe to the Magazine
American Police Beat

American Police Beat Magazine

Law Enforcement Publication

  • Home
  • Editor’s Picks
    • The power of teamwork
      Stay awake and alert on the job
      The worst rank in law enforcement
      Firearms maintenance
      Why fries need salt
  • Topics
    • On the Job
      • Time to address the status of women in policing today
        Police K-9 comforts Michigan State University students returning to...
        Volkswagen acknowledges policy breach after failing to provide...
        Michigan lieutenant completes DoorDash delivery for pregnant driver...
        South Carolina woman diagnosed with brain tumor thanks to traffic stop
    • Labor
      • LAPD union proposes police stop responding to non-emergency calls
        Florida’s recruitment program lures Chicago police officers to the...
        Staffing shortages plague Cleveland police as record number leave the...
        New Orleans interim police chief aims to hire civilians in time for...
        “Anyone can get this job”: Memphis police lowered hiring...
    • Tech
      • Crypto crime investigations
        Austin Police Department launches non-emergency artificial...
        iPhone crash detection feature helps deputies rescue driver from canal
        Nebraska State Patrol uses drone technology to improve traffic flow...
        Dayton greenlights police access to private security camera footage
    • Training
      • U.S. trails in police training
        Denver police recruit has leg amputated after training drill
        Defunding vs. refunding public services
        Apathy is not the problem — leadership is
        Train more effectively with steel targets
    • Policy
      • Opposing POVs on permit-less carry
        Ohio bill would lower minimum age to become a police officer to 18 to...
        Utah bill would allow people with “invisible conditions” to alert...
        Speaking up for K-9 colleagues
        “His death won’t be in vain”: Arkansas passes bill to require...
    • Health/Wellness
      • Nonprofit offers telehealth therapy to upstate New York first...
        A California police department’s new wellness unit aims to improve...
        Massachusetts police department prioritizes officers’ mental health...
        My poor coping strategies
        Heart health
    • Community
      • Central Texas nonprofit to open law enforcement museum in honor of...
        “It was an honor to serve with her”: Kansas first responders...
        Chicago police cook with children to build community relationships
        Wisconsin teen fighting brain cancer becomes police officer for a day
        Texas law enforcement agencies team up to fight cancer
    • Offbeat
      • Texas deputy detains runaway tortoise after “slowest foot...
        Suspect hiding in bathtub in Florida calls 9-1-1 to send deputies to...
        Person in ‘Scream’ costume frightens California community,...
        “Brave and honest” toddler rats out fugitive hiding in Kentucky...
        Thieves in NYC stealing Apple headphones off victims’ heads, police...
    • We Remember
      • Boone County holds fifth annual Jacob Pickett Remembrance Day to...
        Farewell to a “living legend”: Oldest law enforcement officer in...
        “Officer Becerra will never be forgotten”: Colorado police...
        “I had a calling”: Colorado cadet inspired by fallen hero Eric...
        Chicago police remember fallen and injured officers this holiday...
  • On the Job
    • Time to address the status of women in policing today
      Police K-9 comforts Michigan State University students returning to...
      Volkswagen acknowledges policy breach after failing to provide...
      Michigan lieutenant completes DoorDash delivery for pregnant driver...
      South Carolina woman diagnosed with brain tumor thanks to traffic stop
  • Labor
    • LAPD union proposes police stop responding to non-emergency calls
      Florida’s recruitment program lures Chicago police officers to the...
      Staffing shortages plague Cleveland police as record number leave the...
      New Orleans interim police chief aims to hire civilians in time for...
      “Anyone can get this job”: Memphis police lowered hiring...
  • Tech
    • Crypto crime investigations
      Austin Police Department launches non-emergency artificial...
      iPhone crash detection feature helps deputies rescue driver from canal
      Nebraska State Patrol uses drone technology to improve traffic flow...
      Dayton greenlights police access to private security camera footage
  • Training
    • U.S. trails in police training
      Denver police recruit has leg amputated after training drill
      Defunding vs. refunding public services
      Apathy is not the problem — leadership is
      Train more effectively with steel targets
  • Policy
    • Opposing POVs on permit-less carry
      Ohio bill would lower minimum age to become a police officer to 18 to...
      Utah bill would allow people with “invisible conditions” to alert...
      Speaking up for K-9 colleagues
      “His death won’t be in vain”: Arkansas passes bill to require...
  • Health/Wellness
    • Nonprofit offers telehealth therapy to upstate New York first...
      A California police department’s new wellness unit aims to improve...
      Massachusetts police department prioritizes officers’ mental health...
      My poor coping strategies
      Heart health
  • Community
    • Central Texas nonprofit to open law enforcement museum in honor of...
      “It was an honor to serve with her”: Kansas first responders...
      Chicago police cook with children to build community relationships
      Wisconsin teen fighting brain cancer becomes police officer for a day
      Texas law enforcement agencies team up to fight cancer
  • Offbeat
    • Texas deputy detains runaway tortoise after “slowest foot...
      Suspect hiding in bathtub in Florida calls 9-1-1 to send deputies to...
      Person in ‘Scream’ costume frightens California community,...
      “Brave and honest” toddler rats out fugitive hiding in Kentucky...
      Thieves in NYC stealing Apple headphones off victims’ heads, police...
  • We Remember
    • Boone County holds fifth annual Jacob Pickett Remembrance Day to...
      Farewell to a “living legend”: Oldest law enforcement officer in...
      “Officer Becerra will never be forgotten”: Colorado police...
      “I had a calling”: Colorado cadet inspired by fallen hero Eric...
      Chicago police remember fallen and injured officers this holiday...
  • Between the Lines
    • The imprisonment of law enforcement technology
      Persecution of the LEO is classic schadenfreude
      The rule of law is worthless without order
      School policing: a paradox of the defund movement
      Defending the honor of the LE profession – finally!
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Search

Editor's Picks

Reducing officer-induced escalation

A call for non-escalation training

Don McCrea Published April 29, 2021 @ 3:00 pm PDT

Officer-induced escalation typically begins when an officer stops and detains a citizen without reasonable suspicion of crime. (iStock.com/kali9)

Why do we still do what we do? I know several officers during the past year who left law enforcement because they simply had enough of the pervasive anti-law-enforcement rhetoric. Unfortunately, they were good officers whom I had personally trained. 

On a recent Friday afternoon, clad in my deputy sheriff uniform, I drove my Dodge Charger to a residence to serve an important civil paper. Across the street was an elementary school bustling with activity during recess.

I pulled into the driveway and had no sooner extricated my 6-foot, 5-inch frame from my Charger when I heard it: a hullabaloo of sound coming from a group of children jumping up and down and waving their arms from the school yard across the street. Their voices soon began to mesh and I was able to hear what they were shouting. 

“Hi, Mr. Officer! Hi! Thank you for protecting us! Thank you! Thank you!” On it went until I heard one little voice rise above the others, “We love you, Mr. Officer.” As I jumped up and down, waving my arms and yelling “Thank you” in return, I was suddenly reminded why we still do what we do.

I write this article today in defense of my profession. I still believe that we’re the good guys. We aren’t perfect. Never have been, never will be. We’re human, after all. We must often make decisions quickly, in extremely demanding circumstances. 

Every day, the vast majority of police–citizen contacts are performed lawfully. The officers are respectful, and the rights of citizens are defended. It’s unfortunate that we rarely see those encounters posted on YouTube.

The accusation that our profession is corrupt and out of control can be quickly dispelled by asking any officer this question: Do you want to be sued, lose your job or go to jail? How many would respond, “Oh yes! That’s exactly why I got into this line of work! Maybe today’s my lucky day?” My educated guess would be none.

So how can I use my expertise in search and seizure and use-of-force training, as well as several years of research, to help prevent officers from making mistakes? I’ve got a good idea where I can begin.

“Officer, am I being detained or am I free to go?” More officers are hearing this question all the time. However, the importance of correctly answering this question is perhaps greater now than ever. An incorrect answer could lead to a situation I call officer-induced escalation and fertile ground for yet another YouTube video depicting a “bad” officer.

What is officer-induced escalation? Great question. Officer-induced escalation typically begins when an officer stops and detains a citizen without reasonable suspicion of crime, followed by the almost inevitable demand to see the citizen’s identification. If the citizen rightfully questions why they are being detained or need to produce identification, an officer might escalate the contact by performing an unlawful frisk. From this point, the contact could quickly devolve into a false or retaliatory arrest, followed by some level of force. During the entire contact, the citizen had done nothing wrong.

Officer-induced escalation can be significantly reduced with non-escalation training. I specialize in the development and training of non-escalation skills, and have found that it is the best and most efficient way to prevent officer-
induced escalation. Non-escalation training instructs officers to apply their authority lawfully throughout every step of a police–citizen contact, and focuses on how not to perform an illegal stop, frisk, arrest or application of force. For this article, I’ll concentrate on preventing the practice of unlawful stops only. My research has identified six common ways officers perform unlawful stops and detentions.

Acting on a hunch or gut feeling, or to conduct a fishing expedition, is the first way an officer might make a bad stop. Reasonable suspicion of crime must be based upon a particularized and articulated suspicion of a specific crime or crimes. 

For example, an officer receives a call about a person open-carrying a firearm. The subject of the call is open-carrying where it is permitted and is not doing anything illegal. A responding officer may ask themself, “Hmmm, I wonder if this person with a gun is a convicted felon or has warrants? I’ll find out by requiring him to show identification.”

In these circumstances, without reasonable suspicion of a crime or particularized reasonable suspicion that the subject is a convicted felon or has warrants, the officer is conducting a fishing expedition, and exposes him or herself to a possible civil rights violation.

“People are calling us about you” or “We got a call for service” is the second way an officer might stop and detain someone unlawfully. Again, there must be a particularized and articulable reasonable suspicion of crime connected to what people are calling about. Merely receiving a “call for service” with nothing more behind it is an unlawful reason to stop and detain someone.

The third and perhaps most common way an officer performs an unlawful stop occurs during a response to “suspicious person” calls. The bottom line is, mere suspicion alone does not rise to reasonable suspicion of crime. Under the totality of the circumstances, it is imperative that officers don’t confuse the highly subjective “suspicious activity” with articulable reasonable suspicion of crime. 

The fourth way leading to an unlawful stop and detention occurs when an officer or citizen just doesn’t like what someone is doing. An example is when citizens record officers on the job. Some simply don’t like being recorded and will perform an unlawful detention as a result.

The fifth way an officer performs an unlawful stop is not easy to explain, but here’s how it typically unfolds. After receiving a call, an officer arrives on scene and immediately detains a person without reasonable suspicion of crime until they can figure out what’s going on. When asked what crime they are investigating, the officer typically answers, “I didn’t say there was a crime. I’m performing an investigation to see if there is one.” An officer should know if reasonable suspicion legitimately exists before they arrive on scene and make contact.

That brings us to the sixth and final reason an officer may perform an unlawful stop and detention. A person cannot be lawfully stopped and detained based upon a “happenstance of geography.” Simply occupying an area known for criminal activity, without unprovoked flight at the sight of uniformed police, does not rise to reasonable suspicion of crime to stop and detain. Reasonable suspicion must be particularized and articulable to a certain vehicle or person and not just a geographic area. 

I wish to remind officers that it is perfectly legal to conduct a consensual contact in the situations I’ve described. It’s also not wrong for an officer to ask for identification during a consensual contact as long as the officer knows that he or she doesn’t have the authority to compel the person to identify.

However, seizing someone by stopping and detaining them in violation of their Fourth Amendment rights is a serious matter, and the reason officers and agencies are sued and officers are fired.

The benefits of non-escalation training are immediate. When I train officers in building their non-escalation skills, I see the light bulbs go on. Every training I hold, officers come up to me and ask, “How come nobody’s ever taught me this before?” 

Defeating officer-induced escalation is more important now than ever before. Preventing unlawful stops, frisks, arrests and applications of force is the focus of non-escalation training and can be powerful medicine for agencies and officers who are determined to do the right thing. 

In closing, I’d like to thank my fellow officers for their service and for wanting to do what’s right. I also want to thank that group of elementary school children for innocently expressing their appreciation for us. They, and countless other Americans, are the reason why we still do what we do, because we are the good guys.

Don McCrea

Don McCrea

Don McCrea is a law enforcement veteran of over 35 years and trains agencies in non-escalation skills. He served as a special assistant attorney general, subject-matter expert in search and seizure and use of force, and top-rated academy instructor for the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation. Don is a nationally and internationally certified instructor through the International Association of the Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST), and has an IADLEST nationally certified course, “Confident Non-Escalation: This Is Where De-Escalation Training Begins.” He is a university law enforcement instructor, founder and president of Premier Police Training, LLC, and still serves his community as a part-time deputy sheriff. Don can be contacted through PremierPoliceTraining.com or reached by email at don@premierpolicetraining.com. 

View articles by Don McCrea

As seen in the April 2021 issue of American Police Beat magazine.
Don’t miss out on another issue today! Click below:

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Categories: Editor's Picks, Policy

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles

  • Crypto crime investigations
  • Central Texas nonprofit to open law enforcement museum in honor of police officers and to educate the public
  • Texas deputy detains runaway tortoise after “slowest foot pursuit” ever
  • Time to address the status of women in policing today
  • Police K-9 comforts Michigan State University students returning to class after campus mass shooting
  • Volkswagen acknowledges policy breach after failing to provide Illinois sheriff’s office with GPS location of car carrying abducted toddler
  • Opposing POVs on permit-less carry
  • Boone County holds fifth annual Jacob Pickett Remembrance Day to support law enforcement families
  • Austin Police Department launches non-emergency artificial intelligence reporting system amid staffing shortage
  • U.S. trails in police training

Footer

Our Mission
To serve as a trusted voice of the nation’s law enforcement community, providing informative, entertaining and inspiring content on interesting and engaging topics affecting peace officers today.

Contact us: info@apbweb.com | (800) 234-0056.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Categories

  • Editor’s Picks
  • On the Job
  • Labor
  • Tech
  • Training
  • Policy
  • Health/Wellness
  • Community
  • Offbeat
  • We Remember
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Events

Editor’s Picks

The power of teamwork

The power of teamwork

July 23, 2021

Stay awake and alert on the job

Stay awake and alert on the job

July 20, 2021

The worst rank in law enforcement

The worst rank in law enforcement

July 19, 2021

Firearms maintenance

Firearms maintenance

July 04, 2021

Privacy Policy | Copyright © 2023 APB Media, LLC | Website design, development and maintenance by 911MEDIA

Open

Subscribe

Close

Receive the latest news and updates from American Police Beat directly to your inbox!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.