Mark Tyson
Member
Cop killings back in spotlight; Victims of their own guns: Training, holsters don't prevent police deaths
Copyright 2003 The News Tribune
The News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington) August 5, 2003, Tuesday
In the past 13 months, three Washington law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty - all shot with their own handguns.
That's close to the three to four officers that are killed each year across the country by their own department-issued handguns. Of the 142 law enforcement officers killed in the United States and Puerto Rico in 2001, three were fatally shot with their guns, according to the latest FBI statistics available.
The deaths here refocus on the need for proper equipment and continual training on how to keep a combative suspect away from an officer's gun, officials said Monday.
"There is nothing good that comes from when a suspect goes for your gun," said Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer. "You have a fight for your life."
The state's latest fatal shooting was Saturday, when Federal Way police officer Patrick Maher, 46, was shot and killed by his own gun after scuffling with a fleeing man.
King County sheriff's deputy Richard Herzog, 46, was killed June 22, 2002, while he wrestled with a naked man who had been pounding on cars along a busy road in Newcastle.
During the struggle, Herzog's gun fell to the ground. Police say the man reached the weapon first and shot Herzog several times.
Chelan County sheriff's deputy Saul Gallegos, 35, was killed June 26 of this year when he lost control of his gun while he struggled with a man he'd stopped for a traffic violation.
Exactly how Gallegos and Maher lost their weapons remains under investigation.
To keep others from getting their guns, law enforcement officers depend in part on specialized holsters.
Authorities and manufacturers are reluctant to describe the safety features on holsters because they don't want to make it easy for someone to take a gun from an officer.
Holsters are described as being Level 1, 2 or 3, depending of the number of safety features. Maher's gun, for example, was strapped into a Level 2 holster, meaning it had two levels of security to keep the gun in place.
Most officers in Washington wear either a Level 2 or Level 3 holster, said Lacey police Sgt. Bob Cecil, the range master at the Basic Law Enforcement Academy.
For officers, the more secure the holster, the more difficult the gun can be to draw.
"Seconds count," Cecil said. "(Departments balance) what provides the officer the highest level of security with what allows the officer to grab the gun and defend themselves."
Federal Way and Des Moines police officers as well as King County sheriff's deputies can choose between Level 2 and Level 3 holsters. Tacoma police requires their officers to use Level 3 holsters, assistant police chief Bill Meeks said.
"It requires that you do more training with it," Meeks said of the holster Tacoma police use. "But it is a more safe system."
The state Department of Labor and Industries fined the King County Sheriff's Office last year because it didn't make sure Herzog was wearing the right type of holster when he was shot. The holster was not designed for the gun Herzog carried. The sheriff's office is appealing the $ 3,000 fine.
A Labor and Industries investigator has been assigned to the Maher shooting to determine whether Federal Way police adequately protected Maher the day of the shooting, spokeswoman Elaine Fischer said.
The situations Herzog, Gallegos and Maher found themselves in - fighting with a suspect while trying to protect their weapons - can be the riskiest and most fatal, officials said.
Law enforcement officers receive extensive training on how to use and protect their guns.
As a recruit in the Basic Law Enforcement Academy, an officer receives more than 70 hours of defensive tactics training, including six hours on protecting his or her weapon, said Bob Bragg, who teaches defensive tactics.
Once on the streets, officers receive additional firearms and defensive tactics training from their departments.
"We train officers to know that if they are in a fight for their gun, it's a lethal situation," Bragg said. "You have to go on the premise that if they do get it, they will use it on you."
Copyright 2003 The News Tribune
The News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington) August 5, 2003, Tuesday
In the past 13 months, three Washington law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty - all shot with their own handguns.
That's close to the three to four officers that are killed each year across the country by their own department-issued handguns. Of the 142 law enforcement officers killed in the United States and Puerto Rico in 2001, three were fatally shot with their guns, according to the latest FBI statistics available.
The deaths here refocus on the need for proper equipment and continual training on how to keep a combative suspect away from an officer's gun, officials said Monday.
"There is nothing good that comes from when a suspect goes for your gun," said Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer. "You have a fight for your life."
The state's latest fatal shooting was Saturday, when Federal Way police officer Patrick Maher, 46, was shot and killed by his own gun after scuffling with a fleeing man.
King County sheriff's deputy Richard Herzog, 46, was killed June 22, 2002, while he wrestled with a naked man who had been pounding on cars along a busy road in Newcastle.
During the struggle, Herzog's gun fell to the ground. Police say the man reached the weapon first and shot Herzog several times.
Chelan County sheriff's deputy Saul Gallegos, 35, was killed June 26 of this year when he lost control of his gun while he struggled with a man he'd stopped for a traffic violation.
Exactly how Gallegos and Maher lost their weapons remains under investigation.
To keep others from getting their guns, law enforcement officers depend in part on specialized holsters.
Authorities and manufacturers are reluctant to describe the safety features on holsters because they don't want to make it easy for someone to take a gun from an officer.
Holsters are described as being Level 1, 2 or 3, depending of the number of safety features. Maher's gun, for example, was strapped into a Level 2 holster, meaning it had two levels of security to keep the gun in place.
Most officers in Washington wear either a Level 2 or Level 3 holster, said Lacey police Sgt. Bob Cecil, the range master at the Basic Law Enforcement Academy.
For officers, the more secure the holster, the more difficult the gun can be to draw.
"Seconds count," Cecil said. "(Departments balance) what provides the officer the highest level of security with what allows the officer to grab the gun and defend themselves."
Federal Way and Des Moines police officers as well as King County sheriff's deputies can choose between Level 2 and Level 3 holsters. Tacoma police requires their officers to use Level 3 holsters, assistant police chief Bill Meeks said.
"It requires that you do more training with it," Meeks said of the holster Tacoma police use. "But it is a more safe system."
The state Department of Labor and Industries fined the King County Sheriff's Office last year because it didn't make sure Herzog was wearing the right type of holster when he was shot. The holster was not designed for the gun Herzog carried. The sheriff's office is appealing the $ 3,000 fine.
A Labor and Industries investigator has been assigned to the Maher shooting to determine whether Federal Way police adequately protected Maher the day of the shooting, spokeswoman Elaine Fischer said.
The situations Herzog, Gallegos and Maher found themselves in - fighting with a suspect while trying to protect their weapons - can be the riskiest and most fatal, officials said.
Law enforcement officers receive extensive training on how to use and protect their guns.
As a recruit in the Basic Law Enforcement Academy, an officer receives more than 70 hours of defensive tactics training, including six hours on protecting his or her weapon, said Bob Bragg, who teaches defensive tactics.
Once on the streets, officers receive additional firearms and defensive tactics training from their departments.
"We train officers to know that if they are in a fight for their gun, it's a lethal situation," Bragg said. "You have to go on the premise that if they do get it, they will use it on you."
