“From time to time, reporters wanted to experience real-life training that officers went through. Whenever I witnessed news media personnel go through the “shoot/don’t shoot” training exercise, they failed miserably. They shoot the wrong people, shoot when not justified, or get themselves or someone else killed.”
In what was a very controversial verdict, an Arizona police officer recently was acquitted of second-degree murder.
Police in Mesa, Arizona released the footage last week, after a jury acquitted former Mesa officer Philip “Mitch” Brailsford of second-degree murder and reckless manslaughter charges related to the January 2016 shooting of Daniel Shaver of Texas.
Officer Brailsford shot Shaver after police responded to a call saying a man was pointing a rifle out of the window of a La Quinta Inn.
This turned into a tragedy for all those involved. Mr. Shaver lost his life, and Phillip Brailsford lost his career.
The former officer testified he believed Shaver was reaching for a gun in his waistband as he moved toward officers. Once the incident was over and Shaver was searched, no weapon was found.
After over 30 years as a police officer, hostage negotiator, and tactical team member, I know that training is what gets an officer through the day.
An attorney for Shaver’s widow said the footage shows the shooting was unjustified, while Brailsford’s lawyer said his client’s actions were consistent with his police training.
“That’s execution, pure and simple. The justice system miserably failed Daniel and his family,” Mark Geragos, the attorney for Shaver’s widow, Laney Sweet, said in a statement.
In an interview last week with CNN, Brailsford’s attorney, Mike Piccarreta, said jurors heard six weeks of testimony and watched the body camera footage several times before acquitting the former officer.
When police arrived at the La Quinta Inn, they ordered Shaver and a woman to come out of a room on the fifth floor. The body camera footage shows Shaver on his knees in the hotel hallway, a few feet away from the barrel of a police officer’s gun.
“Hands up in the air,” an officer says.
Shaver puts his hands on the floor, then behind his back, then moves them forward again before an officer yells, “Hands up in the air!” Shaver moves his hands up above his head.
“You do that again, we’re shooting you, do you understand?” the officer said.
“Please, do not shoot me,” Shaver said.
“Then listen to my instructions,” the officer said.
“I’m trying to just do what you say,” Shaver said.
“Do not put your hands down for any reason!” the officer later says to Shaver. “You think you’re going to fall; you better fall on your face. Your hands go back to the small of your back or down, we are going to shoot you! Do you understand me?”
“Yes, sir,” Shaver says, sobbing.
The officer then orders Shaver to crawl toward him. As Shaver crawls, he inexplicably appears to reach behind him with his right hand. When that happens, Officer Brailsford fires five rounds, killing him instantly.
After the shooting, several witnesses and hotel employees told police Shaver was drunk. An autopsy revealed Shaver’s blood alcohol level was .29, more than three times the local definition of intoxication.
Officer Brailsford was fired because of the pending second-degree murder charge. Brailsford had worked for the department for two years.
During the trial, Brailsford told jurors he was trained to deal with a threat. “I was doing what I needed to do to protect my fellow men and the woman we had just taken into custody,” Brailsford testified, according to CNN affiliate KTRK/KPHO.
“For some reason, he placed his hands behind his back,” Brailsford said. “For one, I don’t know why he did that.”
After over 30 years as a police officer, hostage negotiator, and tactical team member, I know that training is what gets an officer through the day. Here in the hallway, training took over. I am also a certified police use of force expert for court and training purposes. We go through many, many “shoot/don’t shoot” scenarios in our careers. Training is intense and as realistic as possible. It is also very well-known how quickly things can go bad.
Being in this type of situation is something no one wants, and the social media warriors, as well as the TV talking heads, have no clue just how they would have handled the situation.
From time to time, reporters wanted to experience real-life training that officers went through. Whenever I witnessed news media personnel go through the “shoot/don’t shoot” training exercise, they failed miserably. They shoot the wrong people, shoot when not justified, or get themselves or someone else killed. That was just a training exercise, and everyone went home, but it normally opened their eyes to what officers go through.
Had Shaver had a gun and started firing, even unaimed fire, the hallway would have been a very deadly place. The officers were not only protecting themselves but the female suspect they had just taken into custody. Had Shaver had a gun and opened fire, she would have also been a potential victim.
There were accusations of the racist cop shooting a minority. Both Shaver and Brailsford are white.
In the video, the officer gives a very clear series of commands. It is noteworthy to appreciate the difference in the officer’s voice as he does this. Some of the commands are shouted when Shaver fails to follow them. Then the officer lowers his voice and goes back to a stern but much calmer tone. This escalation and de-escalation repeats several times as the officer tries to get Shaver to comply.
When the video was released, social media lost its mind. Comments about the execution, the murder, the sick cop, and more were par for the course. There were accusations of the racist cop shooting a minority. Both Shaver and Brailsford are white.
The news reports were no better. The news characterized the shooting as a “senseless execution of an unarmed man as he begged for his life.”
Maybe they were watching a different video, because that is not what is shown here. At trial, various use of force experts all agreed that Officer Brailsford was justified in his actions, tragic as they turned out to be.
Maria Haberfeld, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, said it was important to remember that body cameras give only “a portion of the big picture. They do not reflect the totality of the circumstances—the fear of the officers, the overall environment,” she said, adding that officers always have to consider the possibility that a person is armed.
Watching the video (over and over), which can be found here, I saw what Officer Brailsford saw. Rarely do we get to see exactly what happens so clearly. Also, it must be understood that the officers—there is at least one more standing to the left and rear of the camera—are in what has always been known as the fatal funnel. Like a doorway that officers frame themselves in when they enter a room, here they are in a hallway. This is a straight corridor, with no walls or corners to take cover behind. If the suspect shoots, there is no place to go to get out of the way.
Pause, rewind, watch again. The subject, Mr. Shaver, fails again and again to follow commands. He is instructed to do the exact same thing as the female suspect. She follows the officer’s commands, crawls to the officers as instructed, and is taken into custody without incident.
Brailsford orders Shaver to do the same. Shaver fails again to follow commands. He repeatedly drops his hands or moves before being told to do so. Eventually, he starts to crawl to the officer and makes the last terrible decision he will ever make. He places his right hand behind him as if to reach into his waistband. As I watched the video, I saw the moment of decision. Officer Brailsford yells, “Don’t!” at Shaver and fires five rounds, ending Shaver’s life.
The officers then move past Shaver and proceed to the door at the end of the hall. This is done calmly and efficiently. I watched, rewound, and watched again. At no time did I see the officers lose control even after the shooting.
They proceeded with the task of securing the room where the rifle had been pointed out of the fifth-floor window.
