New Police Training Standard: From Reasonable Police Officer to Unreasonable Judge

By: - October 4, 2019

Policeone.com reports the Force Science Institute has issued an assessment of a police-related case out of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has led to confusion, training revisions, and the apparent dismissing of a long-established law enforcement training standard.

The Tueller drill, better known as the 21-foot rule, demonstrates a suspect armed with a knife can rush and stab an officer from a distance of 21 feet away before the officer can draw and fire his or her firearm. It’s likely nearly every law enforcement officer in America has been taught or is aware of this standard.

Yet so often the case these days, people who sit behind benches apparently believe they know better about these things than professional law enforcement instructors and the cops at the scene—facing a suspect standing 21 feet away while clutching a knife.

Briefly, in the case, the officer responded to a domestic dispute in which the victim said the suspect had already assaulted her; she pointed him out. The officer first saw the suspect when he was some 40 feet away and drawing nearer. The victim and her family were standing behind the officer. Reportedly, the suspect began to cut his own throat and then stab himself in the chest as he continued advancing toward the officer.

The officer repeatedly told the suspect to stop stabbing himself and to drop the knife. The suspect refused and came closer. The officer was forced to fire. The officer estimates he shot the suspect when he was 10 to 15 feet away. The victim thought it “was closer to 8 feet.”

The remarkable thing about the FSI’s report is the court found expert testimony about the 21-foot rule “irrelevant.” It appears they eschewed expert testimony, disregarded the reasonable officer standard, and, it appears, used no common sense. We’re used to this sort of nonsense coming out of the 9th Circuit. Now, cops have to wonder if any courts today value reason.

As Von Kliem, editor-in-chief of Force Science News, warns, the court relied heavily on the plaintiff’s perspective and not at all on the officers, so it “makes the case useless as a measure of future police judgement and conduct.” He concludes, the court had “one final warning” for cops: “Don’t do it again.”

Von Kliem notes the case “looked very different to the officer…interpreting it through the reasonable officer lens.” He concludes with a poignant observation: “Which means, the officer and the profession were being warned not to do something that likely never happened.” So, it appears some judges are no longer triers of fact but are now mystics, divining friendly “facts” out of the ether.

  • RSS WND

    • WATCH: Tucker Carlson: How will AI affect work?
      Mike Rowe, still one of the best guys in the world. pic.twitter.com/06WduOhPuB — Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) March 28, 2024 For 25 years, WND has boldly brought you the news that really matters. If you appreciate our Christian journalists and their uniquely truthful reporting and analysis, please help us by becoming a WND Insider! Content created… […]
    • MSNBC: 1 man's 'election denier' is another man's TV host
      MSNBC, the "news" outfit on which the Rev. Al Sharpton has a show, briefly hired former Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, at $300,000 per year, to serve as an on-air pundit. Why did the rabidly anti-Trump, anti-Republican network make her the offer? MSNBC likely did so because 2024 is an election year; McDaniel was… […]
    • Dems' weakest case against Trump is first to go to trial
      Donald Trump was first indicted nearly a year ago, on April 4, 2023, when Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced charges against the former president over a nondisclosure agreement Trump used to buy the silence of porn actress Stormy Daniels, with whom he had apparently had a brief sexual encounter. Bragg, an elected Democrat, won… […]
    • White House adds hair-sniffing contest to Easter Egg Roll!
      It's about time again for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. What the resurrection of Jesus has to do with eggs, chocolate candy, jelly beans or peeps is beyond me. Jesus did not arise from the dead and walk through the walls of the tomb holding an Easter basket and looking for eggs laid… […]
    • Say it, media: DEMOCRATS are prosecuting Trump
      On March 25, "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart uncorked a typical not-so-funny sermon about how Donald Trump overvaluing real estate properties was not a "victimless crime." Trump has been found liable for fraud despite no banker or financier ever claiming Trump victimized them. Then the New York Post reported talk-show host Tim Pool tweeted that… […]
    • Our subsidiarity vs. their intersectionality: How we win
      In their weekly podcast, Hollywood veteran Loy Edge and longtime WND columnist Jack Cashill skirt the everyday politics downstream and travel merrily upstream to the source of our extraordinary culture. The post Our subsidiarity vs. their intersectionality: How we win appeared first on WND.
    • The shocking beliefs of America's powerful 'elites'
      It is becoming increasingly clear that some of America's most serious problems can be traced back to our colleges and universities – or at least the ones educating the country's most powerful people. The Vietnam War era aside, it has traditionally been uncommon for events at universities to make national headlines. Absent something extraordinary, like… […]
    • Who is really behind Moscow terror attack?
      Was the Islamic State (ISIS) behind the Crocus City Hall terror attack in Moscow that killed 139 and wounded 182 on March 22, 2024, or not? The Islamic State did claim the attack, and the Western mainstream is agreed that the terror group was, indeed, behind it. On March 25, White House press secretary Karine… […]
    • Only Democrats get to lie on NBC News
      Ronna McDaniel, formerly chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, was recently hired and subsequently fired by NBC News when the "talent," unable to countenance even moderate dissent, revolted on air. The entire kerfuffle is unsurprising considering the state of modern "media." But one of the funniest moments of the McDaniel blowup came when host and… […]
    • Accept $40,000 loan offer from 'FIL'?
      Dear Dave, My wife and I owe about $40,000 on our mortgage. My father-in-law, who is a very nice and generous man, said he wants to pay off the house for us, then let us pay him back over time. We've borrowed much smaller amounts of money from him in the past, and we were… […]
  • Enter My WorldView