When I was a kid, I remember my mother commenting when she saw an extremely overweight woman wearing a dress that was much too small for her chubby frame, "looks like she's trying to put 10 pounds of blubber into a 5 pound bag."
That's what comes to mind when I see many of today's police cars.
In the past year, I've been on ride-alongs in agencies across the country. In many cases, finding a spot to sit in the car can be a major task, while the cop moves stuff to the trunk or back seat. He is forced to adjust a obtrusive computer mount and take other steps just to make a small place for me to sit.
In most cases, the cop shares how someone above him has decided that reports should be completed by grunts in their cars while remaining in their areas. From on high, it is a noble idea: enhance the vehicle so that it is a mobile office with the supplies and technology a cop needs so that he no longer has to come to the station to write reports during the shift. Unfortunately, that's where the thinking stops.
I remember a history lesson in school about the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority. Folks in that area of the country were dirt poor. They didn't have electricity or running water in their homes–they'd never even seen it. The story went on about young guys from that area drafted to fight in World War I. They went to Germany for their country.
As they liberated German towns, there were stories of soldiers from poor Tennessee who saw running water for the first time in German homes. They unscrewed the faucets from the walls, intending to reinstall those faucets in their own homes when they returned so that they, too, would have running water.
It was a graphic example of "surface thinking" that we could grasp. Those soldiers had no recognition of the required preparation and underpinnings necessary to make those faucets actually work.
So it is with many police administrators who believe that the installation of technology and gear in a patrol car will produce efficiency, reduce costs, improve response times, and therefore reduce crime in their communities. These command officers share na vet with those Tennessee soldiers of many years past.
I have given witness to police cars that have been turned into death traps for my brothers and sisters in arms in that process.
Physical space incursions
On arrival for a ride-along last week, I saw the laptop computer perched atop a stand. It was suspended mid-air about eight inches above the emergency switches and above the console. In this spot, the open cover prevented the officer from seeing out the passenger window.
The combination of computer and console blocked any attempt to exit the vehicle through the passenger side. When the computer was moved so that I could use the passenger seat, the back of the computer rested against the cover for the airbag–about twelve inches in front of my chest. I tried not to think of what a front-end crash might do to me.
Electrical nightmares
Most of the cars I've been on in the last year have wiring that resembles spaghetti. I recall the kitchen outlets in the home where I grew up: three-way plugs were everywhere so that the two sole outlets would accommodate all of the electrical gadgets that my mother simply had to have.
Cops are forever fiddling with electrical connections. They are everywhere: out in the open, under the console, beneath a floor mat, under the dash panel. The resultant problems are two: when on a stop, the cop doesn't know for sure (without checking) if his gear is working; and second, the cop's attention is on the wiring rather than on the business at hand.
Blocked vision
This is a critical problem. I rode in a sheriff's agency vehicle a few months ago. The vehicle was an SUV; a Tahoe as I recall. In this agency, too, the computer was perched mid-air above the console to the right of the deputy. With the screen open, it blocked the driver's view out the passenger window along with some of the right area of the windshield.
Then there was the video camera. It was mounted on the windshield to the right of, and just below the rear view mirror. Finally, the rear view mirror had been changed for a larger-than-factory version which supplied additional interior lighting options for use at night. During the shift, we had two near-misses–a crash with another vehicle and one with a pedestrian because the deputy simply couldn't see either of them coming from the passenger side.
Breaking the Cardinal Rule
Most/all of us were taught in the academy that one of the most dangerous things we can do is to be stationary, unprotected, and in a location where the public has unannounced access to us. My FTO taught me that on even the most simple complaint–like loud noise that has evaporated at the time of our arrival–don't stop in the area to notify dispatch and complete the log entry. Go somewhere else. Get away from the scene. Don't stop, even for a minute or two at the scene, because that's where the complainant and the suspect are.
Cops are now being told to toss out this most fundamental rule of safety. Directives imply that we should forget that we ever heard that message. And like the German faucet carried home to the Tennessee Valley, there are no underpinnings of training for these new processes, awareness techniques, or tactical adjustments to support this change to a fundamental practice of coppery.
Cops have been killed because of it. I personally heard the bagpipes play Amazing Grace at the funeral of a cop where this kind of directive cost him his life. We don't need others to follow his march to the grave. His death should not be in vain–we must learn from it.
Material factors
So, you ask, what are the significant factors that are causing these new risks? Following are some of the items I've seen. You may know of others, and I'd surely like to hear of them.
- Smaller cars make sense from a fuel economy standpoint. That fact can't be argued. However, there is a point of diminishing returns. Giving each of us only two bullets for our sidearms would save money, too.
- Cages have become a necessity of life in most agencies. But they take varying amounts of space. Every square inch counts–especially when you've got small cars to begin with. Choose the cage carefully.
- Computers will affect overall ergonomics, safety, and virtually every other system in the car. The choice of computer and mount is critical to officer survival. Adding a computer to an existing car is like adding a basement and second floor to an existing one-story house that's on a cement slab.
- Printers are not singular with the computer and they require mounting attention. I've seen them sitting on back seats where they could become a missile in a crash. Other agencies have them sitting loose on the passenger seat. That's another nightmare in a rollover crash.
- Video cameras span the spectrum from great to terrible. Their sin, at its worst, is bad gear coupled with bad installation and the cop can't see through vital areas of the windshield.
- Radar/laser gear can be nearly anywhere. Some of it is glued to the top of the dashboard, further hindering vision. Laser units sit loose between the seat or wherever is handy when not in use. This is another potential weapon in a crash.
- The ready need for an exploding array of forms and supplies results in most cops carrying their duty bag, a brief case, or some other holder on the passenger seat to hold all of this stuff. While convenient, in a rollover crash, it can spell disaster for the cop if not properly designed and secured.
Lack of training is possibly the worst sin of all. Rarely do we cops give witness to a fundamental change in our jobs. The advent of TASERs is one such change that comes to mind. It has changed our weaponry and duty belt configuration. We are required to train in the use, train on the tactical implications and been made aware of the liabilities associated with using a TASER on a subject. In many states, the Use of Force Continuum has been changed in its recognition.
Cops know how TASERs work. They also know when it's appropriate to use them. They've been trained and certified in use of the TASER before they are allowed to carry one.
What were you taught about changing the cardinal rule reference remaining in a stationary position for an extended period where the public has access to you? The likely answer: nothing. Were you trained and or certified on this issue prior to being asked to perform? Probably not.
Do you know what the attributes are of a "safe" location? Do you know how to position your vehicle? What were you told about the car windows and the importance of the car stereo radio? Do you know what significance a gravel surface has for parking? Do you carry a manual or electronic egg-timer with you? Would you know what to do with one, if you had it?
My point about training: when there is a significant change to a fundamental way in which you do your job, you need to be trained on the changes and how to maintain your safety.
For all of the claimed efficiency coming from technology, if just one of our names ends up on the Memorial Wall in D.C. because of it, the technology is nothing more than a cop-killer. If the administration isn't thinking this way, then you need to be sending the message in a loud and clear manner.
Unreported injuries
Just yesterday, I received and email from an officer in a large Midwestern department. It contained information he received at roll call:
On Saturday at 1950 hrs. recruit officer [withheld] was driving car 999 eastbound on Maple St. at 90th St. when a car traveling westbound on Maple St. tried to make a left turn in front of him, causing a nearly head-on collision. Officer [withheld]'s FTO, Ofc. [withheld] was a passenger in car 999. His left knee struck the computer bracket, causing about a 2 inch long cut on his left kneecap. A squad was called (against his wishes) and transported him to the ER where he received seven stitches. Both cars were totaled but there were no other injuries.
I'd bet that there was no mention in the official report that the cause of the injury was the computer mount.
There was also a story of an officer in Kansas who needed 52 stitches in his head because the passenger airbag launched the laptop display screen into his skull during a crash. The official cause of injury: excessive vehicle speed. There are stories like these in every department I've come across.
Liability-conscious management doesn't want the risk of reporting the real cause of injury or death in these incidents. The result is that while everyone knows the overcrowded, poorly-designed car interior is causing injuries and deaths, no one knows exactly how many nor any of the other pertinent details that are critical to launching corrective action.
Vehicle-related deaths are at a crisis level. Although exact numbers change year-to-year, the fact remains that when measured as a part of overall line-of-duty deaths, cops are being killed in and around their cars on a staggering basis.
Call to action
The time has come for leadership from within. Whether it comes from a single organization or an consortium of interested groups does not matter. What matters now is action.
Likely players in such an effort: International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), Police Benevolent Association (PBA) and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) all wield significant power within our community.
A white paper is needed that will establish standards for in-car design and layout. It is reasonable to expect vehicle manufacturers will want to be part of this process, as well.
As an industry, we need to create standards for a vehicle so that they will be an effective tool for our crime fighters, will have capacity for our unique tools, and do the best possible job to ensure that those who protect society will not be killed in or by the vehicle or its contents.
Additionally, the white paper needs to include standards for training officers on this new environment. Being stationary on the street, in a car, where the public has access to us is a reality of life. The old ways of returning to the station to do paperwork (because it's safer) are no longer valid in most instances.
Officers need to know how to survive the new environment. They need tactical training and standards–much like the changes that the advent of TASERs has engendered.
The death rate of cops in cars is the best evidence we have that there is a dire need. We can no longer afford to stand on the sidelines, handwringing, grousing about the problem. We can no longer afford to simply accept the situation in our agency because, "that's just the way it is."
Accepting a bad situation may result in your attending the funeral of a brother officer that could have been avoided. Could you accept that responsibility?
Talk to your union representative. Offer to serve on the safety committee. You needn't stand alone. If you aren't sure who to approach, drop me an email and I'll either help directly or point you at someone who can.
Hearing Amazing Grace played on bagpipes chokes me up every time. I'm doing what I can to reduce the need for it to be played. Even I save only one life, it's worth the effort.
Do what you can.
Do it now.
