The view from behind the badge

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/03/2021 (1766 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I WAS walking my police beat, which was centred on Main Street and Henry Avenue, when a call came over the radio about a male armed with a machete threatening people at a nearby address.

I was close by, and responded. Seconds after I arrived on the scene, a man ran from the address, chased by another man close behind. The latter man was screaming and swinging a machete so close that he was just missing, if not actually striking, the other man.

I drew my sidearm and challenged him. He stopped and turned to me, still holding the machete, still looking very dangerous. He was about 20 feet from me, and I quickly assessed the probabilities: is he going to attack me, is he going to charge the group of people now gathering? And if he charges me, or those people, what is behind the line of fire that could be at risk?

Or, is he going to drop the weapon? Please drop it.

He started moving quickly towards the group of people, still brandishing the machete, crossing left to right in front of me. I kept challenging him, he kept moving. I tracked him.

Sure, he might be running to those people to hand over the machete but I didn’t have the luxury of that assumption. When encountering a person armed with a sharp-edged weapon, there is only so much space and time to react. Seconds matter.

He wasn’t complying, and was about 25 feet from the crowd and closing the distance. I was pulling the trigger, but he suddenly threw the weapon down, dropped to the ground, put his hands behind his back and surrendered.

If he had taken one more step… I shuddered at the thought for some time after that incident. It was unnervingly close.

The reason I allude to this example, which regrettably is becoming more commonplace in policing, is that it shows the police perspective in an armed situation. This perspective is typically missing when such incidents are presented in the media.

These dynamic events unfold quickly. Police don’t have the luxury of time, or the luxury of referencing the book of 1,001 policing scenarios and their contingent responses. Seconds count, and the other party is running the clock.

Or, is he going to drop the weapon? Please drop it.

Also of note is that I was not cognizant of the race of that person, or whether he was having a psychotic episode. Under the circumstances, neither point was relevant.

Had I shot him, however, the purple community and their supporters would undoubtedly have vilified me for shooting a purple person just because he was purple. Circumstances be damned — I’m a racist.

Could I have reasonably been expected to focus on the race and/or psychiatric demeanour of that person when he was a clear and present danger to others, then tailor my actions based on those points?

From what I understand these days from most media, that is exactly what certain people seem to expect.

Yes, some officers sometimes exhibit racist behaviour toward people, but I disagree with the assertion there is systematic racism within the police force.

What is forgotten is that police typically react to circumstances based on a person’s actions. When the media forgets to focus on those actions, it misses a potential teaching moment to stress what can happen when people engage in those actions.

No normal person easily takes another person’s life. Police officers are thoroughly vetted, in most, if not all, Canadian agencies, to screen out people who might enjoy shooting someone. Neither politicians nor defence lawyers are so vetted.

Sure, the policing system is not perfect. Sometimes situations are so overwhelming that a normal officer makes a grave error. Tragedies occur in situations where there is no malice.

I retired in March of 2020, after 35 years and eight months of policing, mostly on downtown streets. I have had tens of thousands of real-time interactions with the public, crossed countless thresholds into the unknown, sometimes when the fight was still on, often when the blood hadn’t congealed yet, usually when the tears hadn’t yet dried.

The magnitude of this unfettered malevolence directed at police lately is disarming, literally.

I wanted to say something about it.

Kevin Birkett served as a member of the Winnipeg Police Service for more than 35 years, and retired in March 2020.