Resources

“I never thought it would happen to me.”

On a daily basis and nationwide, peace officers survive hundreds of thousands of contacts with people.  However, our greatest enemy has been and will continue to be complacency and denial.  Every peace officer needs to develop a policing theme that will inspire and motivate them for their next moment in time when they will have to be the best they ever hoped to be.  Additionally, we must constantly balance our personal and professional lives so that we can make a difference with ethical, legal, proper, and safe policing practices. Law enforcement performs one of the most dangerous, demanding, and difficult jobs in America.

Our efforts have enabled us to meet thousands of peace officers across our great nation and internationally who have provided numerous gifts for other peace officers. These gifts involved candid descriptions and insights from horrifying peace officer assaults and tragic accidental, off-duty and on-duty deaths of our brother and sister law enforcement officers.  Their words graphically describe encounters where violent criminals presented danger signs and distraction behavior. Fortunately, their words have enabled us to identify lessons learned and to share effective and safe policing practices.  Although we are fortunate to have received this knowledge, the most frequent comment we have received from peace officers involved in critical incidents is, “I never thought it would happen to me.”

Safety Guidelines

The following guidelines are based on recent accidental deaths, assaults, and murders of peace officers.  These strategies are offered to enhance awareness and confidence.  The consideration of best policing practices will benefit any peace officer who may find themselves in similar situations.

These tactical considerations are extremely important for supervisors who are tasked with leading, mentoring, training, and supervising.  Managers are encouraged to consider the equipment, practices and policies within their organizations, constantly evaluating their agency’s officer safety culture.

  • Avoiding Complacency
  • Being Aware of a Criminal’s Hands
  • Being Overconfident
  • Carrying a Backup Firearm and Extra Ammunition
  • Completing a Threat Assessment
  • Creating an Off-Duty Safety Plan
  • Developing and Practicing Tactical Plans
  • Ensuring Tactical Discipline During Building Entries and Searches
  • Failing to Recognize Danger Signs
  • Having the Courage to Speak Up when Unsafe
  • Leading and Mentoring Others
  • Maintaining a Will to Survive and Win
  • Notifying Dispatch
  • Operating Police Vehicle within the Limits of Your Ability
  • Preparing for When versus If I am Shot
  • Providing Person Down Rescue Training
  • Recognizing Actionable Information
  • Selecting Effective Tactics when Responding to Crimes in Progress
  • Training for Your Moment in Time
  • Understanding and Using Force
  • Using Cover
  • Utilizing Backup and Law Enforcement Resources
  • Wearing Body Armor and Ballistic Helmets
  • Wearing Seat Belts
  • Working with Contact and Cover during Stops

Safety Guidelines

The following guidelines are based on recent accidental deaths, assaults, and murders of peace officers.  These strategies are offered to enhance awareness and confidence.  The consideration of best policing practices will benefit any peace officer who may find themselves in similar situations.

These tactical considerations are extremely important for supervisors who are tasked with leading, mentoring, training, and supervising.  Managers are encouraged to consider the equipment, practices and policies within their organizations, constantly evaluating their agency’s officer safety culture.

Publications

Critical Incident Reviews

As senior members of POST’s Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Committee (LEOKA), Ed and Rich have studied the assaults and deaths of hundreds of peace officers. They have participated in the publication of numerous POST LEOKA and Critical Incident Reports and participated as subject matter experts in various POST television courses.  These reports and courses contain leadership, tactical, and training strategies to effectively prepare peace officers to respond, manage and survive similar critical incidents. This information is available on the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training web site, https://www.post.ca.gov/.

The Eviction Murders

On Thursday, April 12, 2012, at approximately 10:52 a.m., an eviction process was initiated by the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department in the City of Modesto, California. Involved were two uniformed Stanislaus County Deputies accompanied by a local locksmith.

James Ferrario, the resident to be evicted, was heavily armed and awaiting their arrival. Ferrario did not respond to the uniformed deputies’ door knocks and verbal announcements as peace officers. While the deputies took positions south and west of the front door, the locksmith began drilling the metal security door’s lock.

Shortly thereafter, Ferrario fired multiple 7.62 caliber rounds from a semi-automatic rifle that struck and killed Deputy Paris and Locksmith Engert. Over the next 17 hours, Ferrario remained barricaded and refused to surrender. His dangerous behavior exposed numerous community members and peace officers to potential serious bodily injury and death.

Stanislaus County Sheriff-Coroner, Adam Christianson, directed an independent review to identify the challenges faced, decisions made, strategies utilized, and lessons learned. This included law enforcement activities before, during, and after the incident.

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Tragedy in Hughson

On Friday, December 30, 2011, at 6:26 a.m., Mary Donahou, a Crime Analyst Technician (CAT) with the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department (SCSD) responded to an off-hours request for crime scene investigation. The crime involved gunshots fired into a residence at 2630 Santa Fe Avenue, Hughson, California.  At approximately 6:34 a.m., CAT Donahou parked her vehicle on Santa Fe Avenue across the street from the crime scene. As Donahou crossed the street, she was struck by two vehicles and died from injuries sustained in the collision.

Stanislaus County Sheriff-Coroner, Adam Christianson, directed an independent review of Mary Donahou’s accidental death. The purpose was to identify the challenges faced, the decisions made, the strategies utilized, and the lessons learned. This included SCSD’s civilian and sworn law enforcement activities before, during, and after the incident.

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The Minkler Incident
 

On Thursday, February 25, 2010, a search warrant was served by peace officers in Minkler, California. Rick Liles, a security officer who was not working due to an injury, responded with gunfire. Liles’ violent behavior exposed numerous community members and peace officers to serious bodily injury and death. When the incident ended, two peace officers were killed and another was wounded.

Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims directed an independent review to identify the challenges faced, the decisions made, the strategies utilized and the lessons learned. This included law enforcement activities before, during and after the incident.

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Active Shooter Incident Goleta

Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department

Active Shooter Incident

Goleta, California

January 30, 2006

On Monday, January 30, 2006, shortly after 9:00 p.m., a violent predator murdered six people at a United States Postal Distribution Center. A seventh victim was located at a residence the next day. This report acknowledges the courageous response of Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department personnel to this active shooter incident.

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Critical Incident Reviews

As senior members of POST’s Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Committee (LEOKA), Ed and Rich have studied the assaults and deaths of hundreds of peace officers. They have participated in the publication of numerous POST LEOKA and Critical Incident Reports and participated as subject matter experts in various POST television courses.  These reports and courses contain leadership, tactical, and training strategies to effectively prepare peace officers to respond, manage and survive similar critical incidents. This information is available on the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training web site, https://www.post.ca.gov/.

The Peace Officer Safety Institute is proud to announce that Charles Moorman has joined the team. Charles has made valuable contributions to officer safety due to his tireless research of California peace officer murders. His efforts have been personally responsible for improved training, safer tactical options, and the enhancement of officer safety awareness nationwide on the causal factors and lessons learned when peace officers have been murdered on and off-duty.

Chuck Moorman

The Peace Officer Safety Institute is proud to announce that Charles Moorman has joined the team. Charles has made valuable contributions to officer safety due to his tireless research of California peace officer murders. His efforts have been personally responsible for improved training, safer tactical options, and the enhancement of officer safety awareness nationwide on the causal factors and lessons learned when peace officers have been murdered on and off-duty.

Peace Officers Murdered in California (1993)

Eight peace officers were murdered in California in 1993 during the performance of their official duties. All eight died as a result of gunshot wounds from felonious actions of suspects. The murdered officers represented municipal police departments and a county sheriff’s department in California.

The data in this article was obtained through interviews with homicide investigators or department spokespersons shortly after the murders. The author thanks those personnel and their administrators for cooperating in sharing information. The data is tabulated into a table, a series of charts, and a narrative which is followed by a series of observations for learning points.

This article is intended for use by law enforcement trainers and individual officers to assist in modifying tactical training and skills.

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California Law Enforcement Officers Murdered (1992)

Peace Officers in California during 1992 suffered the murders of seven of their peers during the performance of their official duties. All died as a result of gunshot wounds from direct actions of suspects. Only felonious homicides were considered in this study. Accidental deaths of officers are not within the scope of this article. The murdered officers represented municipal police, county sheriffs departments and the California Highway Patrol.

The data presented in this article has been obtained through interviews of homicide investigators shortly after the murders. The authors would like to take this opportunity to thank those investigators and their administrators for cooperating in releasing the information contained in this article. This article is offered to the law enforcement community to increase the level of safety and tactical awareness of individual officers while performing their hazardous profession of enforcing the law and providing service to the public.

It is intended the information presented in this article will be used by officer safety trainers and individual officers to assist in adjusting tactical training and skills to reflect the trends and changes in suspect behavior which represent a threat to the health of officers.

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Police Officers Murdered in California (1990-1991)

During 1990 and 1991, nine Peace Officers were murdered in the State of California in the performance of their official duties. Six were feloniously killed in 1990, three in 1991. All but two died as a result of gunshot injuries. The jurisdictions involved were local police and County Sheriffs deputies. No State or Federal officers were murdered in the state in the two year period covered by this article.

The data presented herein has been obtained from interviewing homicide investigators within days of the murder. This article is presented to increase the level of awareness of the individual officer. It is anticipated the officer safety trainers in the state will utilize this information to adjust the format of peace officer instruction to reflect the trends in suspect behavior.

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Police Officers Murdered in California (1988)

During 1988, law enforcement saw a dramatic increase in the number of peace officers murdered while performing their duties. Nine law enforcement officers in eight incidents lost their lives, all to firearms in 1988. The jurisdictions involved represented local police, county sheriff’s deputies and federal agencies, and all suspects involved have been arrested and are in varying stages within the legal system.

This article will tabulate the information in table and chart form with accompanying narrative and tactical comments. The data presented in this article has been obtained from interviews with the homicide investigators responsible for each case. The information as presented in this article is intended to facilitate an increase in department and individual awareness in officer safety statewide.

Since 1980, California has averaged slightly over six officers murdered each year. The Los Angeles Police Department has suffered the most officer murders since that year with eight officers killed by suspects through 1988. The San Diego Police have lost seven officers to felonious homicides in the corresponding period. Inglewood Police lost their first officer in the history of the department this year when Sergeant George Aguilar was shot in the chest while in pursuit of robbery suspects.

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Police Officers Murdered in California (1986-1987)

During 1986 and 1987 ten peace officers were murdered in California while engaged in their law enforcement
duties. This article tabulates the information in table and chart form relating to those killings with accompanying narrative and tactical comments. Included are recommended training guidelines from the 1987 POST study on officer murders.

The data presented in this article has been obtained from interviews with the homicide investigators and reviews of the after-action reports. It is presented here to increase the level of awareness among all members of the law enforcement profession that this job continues to be one where carelessness, complacency, lack of training, or inattention to tactical considerations can be lethal.

California, since 1980 has averaged over six officer murders per year. Six peace officers were slain in 1986 and four murdered in 1987 for a total of ten officers killed in the line of duty in nine incidents for those two years.

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California Law Enforcement Officers Murdered (1982)

During 1982 there were six peace officers murdered in California, the lowest annual figure California has experienced since 1976 when the total was five. This article tabulates information about the six 1982 murders in table and chart form with an accompanying narrative, while a “learning point” section addresses some tactical considerations involved.

The authors have compiled the data from interviews with the homicide investigators and review of after-action reports. The information in the report is used by the authors in a number of peace officer safety courses and police academies in identifying contemporary training needs. It is presented here in an effort to expand awareness, to stress the importance of attention to detail, and to learn significant lessons from past events. Only through constant mental alertness, combined with sound tactics and training, can officers expect to
carry out their duties in a safe manner.

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Multiple Homicide Incidents of Peace Officers in California (1970-1989)

The Author has developed this article for the sharing of information on the circumstances involved in those considerable number of homicide cases of peace officers in California in which more than one peace officer was murdered in a single incident. This publication sprang from a Superior Court Judge not believing one suspect could obtain a peace officer’s weapon when two or more peace officers were present at a scene and kill two officers. Information for this article has been gathered from interviews with homicide investigators and review of Departments’ homicide files of peace officers from January 1, 1970. Learning points will be reviewed after the tabulated information to stimulate officer safety and field tactics considerations.

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Peace Officers Murdered in California With One Shot: The 1980's

During the decade of the 1980’s there were 63 peace officers murdered in California (see Vol. 24, No. 1, 1990, Journal of California Law Enforcement). As a result of the Author’s research, he cited in expert witness testimony for a police department in a Wrongful Death Civil Suit Deposition that 28 of those 63 peace officers (44%) were murdered with only one shot striking them. It is his belief that there are significant learning points related to peace officer safety to be drawn from that fact by further examination of those 28 killings. The tabulated data was gathered in interviews with the homicide officers or commanders who investigated the murders. Learning points are presented towards the end of this article based upon the Author’s continued involvement and observations in peace officer field tactics tralnlng during the past 18 years in California.

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A Decade of Peace Officers Murdered in California: The 1980s

In the 1980’s, law enforcement personnel in California faced a wide spectrum of complicated and dangerous situations that unfortunately resulted in the felonious murders of sixty-three peace officers. These killings underscored the difficult role of law enforcement in the past decade.

The peace officer’s goal, to effectively provide the best possible service to the community, was constantly challenged throughout the 1980s. Societal changes made law enforcement more hazardous and complex. Realizing this, the authors have gathered many facts surrounding peace officer killings in California during the 1980s. This information was obtained from personal interviews and on-site research with law enforcement personnel involved in the incidents or follow-up investigations. The data are presented in both narrative and graphic format with identifiable learning points stressed. This study includes only those local, county, state and federal peace officers feloniously murdered in California. Accidental deaths are not addressed.

As law enforcement enters the 1990s, the authors predict that society will require more police service, and that peace officers will face increasingly diverse and violent situations. The purpose of this study is to examine the data from the 1980s and to identify the “lessons learned.” Recognizing these learning points will aid the law enforcement professional to move forward more safely. Additionally, it is hoped that these conclusions will be addressed at every level of professional law enforcement organizations, and incorporated into training programs.

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Law Enforcement Officers Murdered in California (1980-1985)

The author has studied the murders of peace officers in California for fifteen years, reporting the data surrounding those cases on an annual basis. This is the most comprehensive of those reports in that it covers a six-year period and the slayings of forty peace officers. As in past reports, this data has been collected from homicide investigators and reviews of after-action reports. I present the information in this format in the belief that more substantial conclusions and learning points can be drawn from a population base of forty compared to the four slayings in 1985 alone. These conclusions and learning points are a sound basis upon which to direct our peace officer safety and survival programs of which the author regularly instructs. The data, in tabulated form, will be followed by learning points and conclusions.

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California Law Enforcement Officers Murdered (1978)

This article analyzes the murders of California peace officers during 1978. The authors have interviewed surviving support or backup officers, investigating homicide officers, and examined after-action reports in the majority of the 1978 California peace officer slayings in order to provide an accurate tabulation of these incidents. This data is incorporated in updating the Officer Survival Course offered at Camp San Luis Obispo by the California Specialized Training Institute and in police training classes within the Los Angeles Police Department. The data is being offered through this additional means in order to broaden the awareness among law enforcement officers that our occupation, neither individually nor collectively, contains room for carelessness, complacency, failure to plan, or failure to train.

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Police Officers Murdered in California (1973-1977)

The following article is an analysis of California peace officer murders during the period 1973-1977. Since 1972 the California Specialized Training Institute (CSTI) has maintained detailed records of the murders of peace officers in California as an integral part of the Officer Survival Course offered at Camp San Luis Obispo. Through the collection and analysis of such data, training needs can often be identified which can assist other peace officers in performing their duties in a safer manner based primarily on two significant factors: awareness (recognition of danger potential) and lessons learned training. It is with these two factors in mind, awareness and training needs, that this analysis and information is provided.

Inspection of an incident where a peace officer is murdered is valuable. Errors in judgment, procedures, tactics, and equipment or training deficiencies can generally be identified and developed into relevant training points or “lessons learned” to decrease the probability that other peace officers will be caught up in a similar set of fatal circumstances. But looking at one peace officer murdered incident is not as valuable as looking at the total incidents for a whole year, and an inspection of the incidents over a longer period of time, in this case, five years, is even more valuable because of the comparisons and contrasts that can be observed. Frequent homicide trends and “cycles” based on geographical locations where type of precipitating calls are observed occurring. If such patterns, trends, and common errors in judgment, procedures, tactics, and equipment or training deficiencies are noted, then perhaps the additional factors of awareness and training can disrupt those patterns and decrease the number of peace officers murdered. The period of time this survey will cover is the five years, 1973-1977, with which the author is knowledgeable based upon interviews with surviving and investigating officers as well as reviewing the agencies’ reports involved in those peace officer murders.

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Peace Officers Murdered in California in Vehicle-Involved Incidents (1971-1990)

In preparation for a recent court case as an expert witness, the Author was asked to give reasons why peace officers practice caution in making traffic stops and vehicle approaches. The following materials were partially presented in the successful defense of the involved officers. This article will expand the data on vehicle-involved murder incidents into a series of tables, and charts with the purpose of identifying significant points, and extrapolating learning considerations for application to officer safety training.

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The Peace Officer Safety Institute is proud to announce that Charles Moorman has joined the team. Charles has made valuable contributions to officer safety due to his tireless research of California peace officer murders. His efforts have been personally responsible for improved training, safer tactical options, and the enhancement of officer safety awareness nationwide on the causal factors and lessons learned when peace officers have been murdered on and off-duty.