Cincinnati Officer Shot in Face.

[CHPGuy]

http://www.break.com/index/officer_shot_during_traffic_stop.html

[MotorInLA]

Scary? from the video it appeared that the officer had no idea where the shot(s) came from when she initially got hit. In this sense the incident is similar to other recent incidents from California, like the Oceanside and Long Beach incidents, where the involved officers were ambushed and fired upon before they could identify and react to the threat.

Another observation from this incident is that the officer does not appear to return fire, in fact, at no point in time does she appear to even draw her weapon (although it is possible she did so after she ran in front of the camera the second time).

I know it is easy to criticize when you are not present during an incident, however, I think incidents like this one presents us all with an opportunity to learn and develop strategies that may save us in the future.

Many officers have thought at length about how they will respond to various threats they may encounter in the field before an incident takes place. However, I believe a lot fewer officers have prepared mentally for what they will do if they are shot, stabbed or otherwise seriously injured on duty. Most officers have not experienced an injury of this kind and often are ill prepared when they receive such trauma. We frequently see criminals get shot multiple times by law enforcement officers, but they keep fighting despite their wounds. In part this is a result of many of these individuals having sustained prior serious injuries and consequently they are mentally prepared for such an incident. The serious consequence of this for law enforcement personnel is that we sometimes give up before the criminals do. The only way to stop a threat is to respond to it with an equal or greater force.

I recall watching a video in the early 1990s called ?Surviving Edged Weapons?. One of the most important lessons of this video, in my opinion, was ?Accept that you are going to get cut and keep fighting back.? In the incidents analyzed in this video the officers that fought back despite their injuries, did much better than those whom became so preoccupied with their injuries that they forgot to respond to the threat.

It appeared in the Cincinnati video that the officer was not incapacitated by her initial injury, however, she did not address the threat against her directly. She initially screamed ?I?ve been shot, I?ve been shot? followed by her broadcast of, ?Officer down, officer down, I need help!? This seems to reflect her state of mind as having been taken out of the fight, rather than the fact that she is addressing a threat and needs further assistance.

Having viewed hours upon hours of videos on television showing law enforcement incidents, it appears clear that officers that immediately respond to threats and keep fighting even when seriously injured increase the chance of their own survival greatly.

When you are by yourself in a fight, only you can save yourself.

My 2 cents.

Be safe out there.

[dw]

Many officers have thought at length about how they will respond to various threats they may encounter in the field before an incident takes place. However, I believe a lot fewer officers have prepared mentally for what they will do if they are shot, stabbed or otherwise seriously injured on duty. Most officers have not experienced an injury of this kind and often are ill prepared when they receive such trauma. We frequently see criminals get shot multiple times by law enforcement officers, but they keep fighting despite their wounds. In part this is a result of many of these individuals having sustained prior serious injuries and consequently they are mentally prepared for such an incident.

Very true. I guess what I'm not clear on is the differences in how we react to trauma. I've spoken to people who have been shot and heard stories from many more who say they were unaware of any wound. Sounds like in this video (I haven't watched it, yet) as well as some others I've seen, the officer is immediately aware of the injury. Seems like a broad spectrum to work with when training and preparing mentally. As you said, MotorInLA, I have spent hours running through scenarios in my head, but little time thinking about responding to an injury. During mental preparation it goes without saying that you fight through the pain, but I'm sure the reality of being shot or stabbed is quite different. I suppose the reason I have not spent a lot of time mentally preparing for an injury is that I assumed adrenaline would mask any symptoms, but clearly that is not always the case.

[SweetTaterPie]

Many officers have thought at length about how they will respond to various threats they may encounter in the field before an incident takes place. However, I believe a lot fewer officers have prepared mentally for what they will do if they are shot, stabbed or otherwise seriously injured on duty. Most officers have not experienced an injury of this kind and often are ill prepared when they receive such trauma. We frequently see criminals get shot multiple times by law enforcement officers, but they keep fighting despite their wounds. In part this is a result of many of these individuals having sustained prior serious injuries and consequently they are mentally prepared for such an incident.

Very true. I guess what I'm not clear on is the differences in how we react to trauma. I've spoken to people who have been shot and heard stories from many more who say they were unaware of any wound. Sounds like in this video (I haven't watched it, yet) as well as some others I've seen, the officer is immediately aware of the injury. Seems like a broad spectrum to work with when training and preparing mentally. As you said, MotorInLA, I have spent hours running through scenarios in my head, but little time thinking about responding to an injury. During mental preparation it goes without saying that you fight through the pain, but I'm sure the reality of being shot or stabbed is quite different. I suppose the reason I have not spent a lot of time mentally preparing for an injury is that I assumed adrenaline would mask any symptoms, but clearly that is not always the case.

I believe you both have it right. The key element in the criminal element's frequent ability to sustain significant injury, while maintaining composure, may stem from previous violent encounters, as well as the foreknowledge of the criminal act to be perpetrated, and the potential outcome of that action. Kind of like taking a big hit in football: you're never ready for the blind-side, the one that rings your bell, but you can take significant hits when you see it coming and have time to prepare.