NCJ Number
195007
Journal
Police: The Law Enforcement Magazine Volume: 26 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2002 Pages: 36-39
Date Published
February 2002
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article describes the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) of Washington, DC and its reduction of use of force cases.
Abstract
The MPD was already suffering low morale because of officer criminal wrongdoing, difficult working conditions, and fiscal misappropriations. An expose by the Washington Post on the inadequacies of investigating use-of-force incidents in the MPD prompted a new look at how the department conducted its business. Newly appointed Police Chief Charles Ramsey sought recommendations from a highly respected consulting firm and began addressing the needs of the line officer. The chief took note of successful use-of-force programs in jurisdictions from around the country. He publicly requested the assistance of the Department of Justice in designing programs to reduce the number of police shootings. He added more than 100,000 required hours of officer use-of-force training, focusing on an escalating continuum that included verbal persuasion, hand-control techniques, introducing protection weapons options, and finally, deadly force. The firearm-training curriculum was entirely revamped, doubling the required range instruction time of the previous plan and including judgement exercises, and employing state-of-the-art computer simulation and mock drills with non-lethal ammunition. A Force Investigation Team (FIT) was created to research legal concerns and observe the preparation and training programs of other local agencies. Its goal was to adapt these model programs to the requirements of the department. Another area of focus was on-scene response to all incidents of deadly force involving MPD officers and assistance with on-scene investigation. This initiative has yielded extraordinary results. Within one year of implementation, the number of shootings involving officers declined by 78 percent compared to 1998 statistics. Internal statistics reported incidents of alleged use of force and citizens’ complaints diminished substantially. In 2000, the FIT program was chosen as 1 of the top 10 programs of excellence in the police field.