Police Helmet Camera Captures Shooting Of James Boyd In The Sandia Foothills In Albuquerque

Questions in regards to Police Helmet Camera Captures Shooting Of James Boyd In The Sandia Foothills In Albuquerque

I hope this helps refute the justifiers. I saw nothing that justifies that video.

Before I get to my perspective on this video, let me give a brief bio. I am a former LEO with both a large and small agency. Most of my time was with a “busy” NC city so I have seen a high incident work load. My pertinent quals were FTO (field training officer), CIT (crisis intervention team) and hostage negotiator. Perhaps my greatest qual is common sense from being a NCO in the military.
I usually do not comment on things because most people have an opinion, which is fine, but I have always tried to have either an opinion from experience or research. Too many people now feel they can spout whatever chin music they wish, simply because they can. I do not. That being said, I saw this first on policeone.com. If you haven’t been to their page to read the story and comments, you should. That article and comments is why I am offering my experienced perspective.
I also wish to say I have met Mr. DeGerolamo, and have the utmost respect for him and his blog. I will try hard to be respectful, and compose my words in a civilized manner. I tend to write like I speak, which in most cases make people get the butt hurt look on their faces. So I apologize in advance. I do not, however, have any respect for people who see a small part of a situation and make assumptions. With that being said, I am absolutely disgusted (or is pissed more correct?) with these officers’ actions, what the chief said, and what some of these cops wrote in the comments. I thought I would offer my perspective, so others may contemplate a different perspective. And for the record, anyone who can’t drop their emotions and prejudices long enough to entertain an alternate opinion please feel free to pound sand.
Here are some points I wish to have entertained. Sorry if my points do not correlate to the actual timeline it may be because I think I just passed the point of being pissed off.
1. Let’s get officer safety or everyone goes home at shift change out of the way first. I have said this many times. BUT, I beat this phrase into all my rooks heads, smart not hard. I harped incessantly on right action at the right time, not just tactical superiority. I dealt with a 70 year old woman who had dementia and was armed with two pairs of scissors. She tried to stab a nurse, which is why I was there. When I walked into her room she promptly informed me she was going to stab me. Now I was inside 21 feet (the stat that says most people cannot draw and fire their weapon without getting stabbed) so I was justified in shooting her legally according to the chief in the P-1 article. Instead of legally shooting her, I kept her bed in between us as a barrier so I had more control, and also moved where I could get a chair as a shield in between us if necessary as well. It took me about 45 minutes to get her to put down the scissors and back away from them. I could have “stopped the threat” multiple times, but I didn’t. G.S 15A-401 was on my side, but I just didn’t have the heart to shoot grandma. Plus, my ego would have suffered greatly, if one truly desires to be honest.
2. Referring to my first point, why didn’t the officers split up and spread out? Based on what I saw, they were spread out from the four o’clock to the seven o’clock position. Could it have been possible to spread out from the four to nine o’clock positions? This can make it hard for the guy to keep focus in one area or lane hopefully losing sight of at least one officer. This may give an officer the opportunity to take him down with the least force necessary. This would also stop a cross fire situation from/for the officers. Rocky landscape issues? Then move to the best possible position based on the terrain. The military’s been doing it for years. You can’t pick your location; all you can do is overcome it as best as you can. My way of thinking is K-9 to 4 o’clock, first rifle at 5 o’clock, bean bag gun at 6 and 2nd rifle at 9 o’clock.
3. I have read the guy was homeless. Any decent line officer knows homeless people are used to fighting to keep their stuff as well as their life. Uniform be damned, they are used to fighting everyone. They also do not like to leave ALL their worldly possessions. Seems weird to us, but have we walked in their shoes? Personally I have not, but remember the experience/smart not hard thing? I know the catch phrase for everything now is mental health issues. I get it, but has anyone thought maybe this is a learned response to a person’s life style? That life style may not be yours or mine, but it is the one that this guy had. Homeless people have a different mentality. In my experience, if YOU show you are trustworthy you can get things alleviated a high percentage of the time. I hear people screaming already, and no not a hundred percent of situations end perfectly. But it is the cops duty to TRY to achieve that goal EVERYTIME.
4. I have read the guy was schitzo. Yes, schitzo people can flip at any minute. So can anyone based on the things going on in their lives. Cops are supposed to be civilized cavemen. We are to be polite as possible (or at least wittingly rude in my case with smartasses) for as long as possible until they have to hurt something (it’s called pain compliance in NC). I also noticed the guy communicated to them what he intended to do as well as looking for reassurances as to their intentions, so why didn’t they do the same? He also said “don’t get stupid with me” and he was answered with “we won’t get stupid with you”. To me, he just said respect me and I’ll respect you or don’t attack me and I’ll comply however begrudgingly. I could be wrong; I’m not in his head. I can say from experience very few people have said “I’m going to do this”, they just do it. Then he says something about the cop mentioning the word assault again. This appears to be an effort to say he has said nothing about hurting anyone, but at the same time HE doesn’t want to get hurt either.
5. The guy rucks up to come down with them and he’s banged (a flash bang grenade is deployed)? Not to be redundant, but????????????????????????
6. Now after being banged, the dog is released and orders are given to get on the ground. Aren’t flash bangs supposed to disorient people with bright light and excessive sound? Yes I know verbal commands are to be given, but I always closed the gap so I could assist them to the ground. Pushing someone down while issuing commands gets your point across, even if you can’t hear well. Bad officer safety, you say? Then get a job at a burger joint, it’s safer. LEO’s are paid to get in harms way without falling in the “blue canary” category. Sometimes you just have to risk your rectal quarters.
7. After being banged to disorient him a dog was let loose on him. I get that tactic, but do not forget the part I said about homeless people are accustomed to fighting to keep their stuff and lives. They will react instinctively. How hard/much would you fight FOR ALL YOU HAVE? Again, this appears to be a learned reaction. And I do not want to hear about it’s his choice to be homeless. It’s “their” choice to be cops. If he was so dangerous, why did the handler retrieve the dog first, instead of stopping the threat since he was so close? And about the CA cops comment about assaulting a K-9 being the same as assaulting an officer/human, why don’t they treat a human the same way as a dog? I am a huge dog lover, so I don’t want to hear any crap about this. But K-9’s are not treated the same as an officer so that argument has no merit. I have seen K-9’s (more PC verbiage BS for a working dog) let loose by THEMSELVES to do a building search. Officers generally and intelligently do not conduct them on their own. And if I hear about rules or dept. regs in regards to dogs I will puke. After all, all cops follow all dept. regs/policy/laws. The hypocrisy makes me sick. I have broken enough to know. No smoking in a city vehicle? Ever used an issued pen at home and left it there? Ever used an issue note pad to take measurements for a shed you’re building? Black and white thinking is a bitch when it’s applied to you. There is always a rule/reg for using issued equipment for personal use. It is a big deal? No. UNLESS, you are the one just getting the law/rule/regulation enforced on you then it sucks. Think about this, who really cares or gets hurt whether or not you sign your registration card in NC? Got me, but you can be cited, fined or ARRESTED for it. The “I don’t make the law, I just enforce it” line is BS. That line failed at Nuremburg. And before I get the butt hurt look ( from active duty officers), I was a hypocrite too. Most are. Blue line stickers anyone? Why are those displayed so much? Case in point- I should have locked a young Marine up for DUI once. I didn’t. Why? He was young, stupid, just got out of boot and home on leave. I called his dad and had him come and get him. My justification, you ask? I didn’t have him do any field sobriety tests; blow (conduct an alcosensor test) and he didn’t have a wreck. So I REALLY didn’t know if he was intoxicated or not. Seems the law took a second seat to my soft spot for military people. And I was not a Marine, I’m ex Navy and Army for the record. This is ironic, at best. Damn stereotypes. Sorry for the tangent.
8. The guy drops his ruck, and pulls two knives after getting bit by the dog. This may seem aggressive, but after verbally agreeing to come down with the “good” guys then getting banged and attacked by a dog may seem aggressive as well. Just a observation.
9. As he turns away, I heard at least three shots. Knives, 21 foot rule, and officer safety. Got it. I can say with all honesty, that I have never had someone charge me backwards with a knife. Before all the blue bad asses call me a wuss, newbie, poser, chair-borne ranger or worse I would like to point out that I have been shot at, stabbed, bit, punched, kicked, scratched, spit on, insulted, threatened and had my mother’s name defiled in the line of duty. However, I did have a 400 pound “lady” whup me pretty good with her butt cheeks. Don’t ask.
10. Once the guy is shot and on the ground, orders are given to drop the knives. One cop makes a comment about not liking the fact he still has the knives. What concerns me is A- guy was banged just a few seconds earlier so he may not still hear well (I have been banged, it’s loud and sucks) and B- he was shot in the back/side/spine area which may have paralyzed him and may have made him unable to comply. Was this ever a consideration? Just a thought and I’m usually more wrong than right.
11. Now the bean bags are deployed. Three times. Sorry for the lengthy info-dump, but rules are needed here. I have never worked NM in all fairness, but I find it hard to believe they do not have a use of force continuum in place. In NC it goes like this (I may be rusty but you get the point) officer presence (you see a badge/uniform), verbal commands, soft empty hands (wrist locks, pressure points, et), Chemical (pepper spray), hard empty hands (punches, kicks, et), impact weapons (maglights, batons, et), deadly force. Force must correlate to the resistance given. And it must be based upon what a reasonable OFFICER/LEO would do, not what a civilian would do. After being shot in the back/side/spine area I would not have used three bean bags. For the record, only the retired or active LEO opinions are respected from the line officer point of view (in my experience) so I can hear people disputing my opinion. Most cops figure “ex” means they really screwed up in order to get fired so their opinion doesn’t mean much. I know, I had that mentally before too.
12. Now we hear the guy say, “I can’t move”. Makes you wonder about my previous paragraph. Of course, he could have been faking. My eyes are old and bad, but I only saw his rear end move when he was shot with the bean bags. I wonder if my arms or anything else would move involuntarily or if I would cry out from pain if I was shot with a bean bag, which would seem to me to be pain full. I do not know, I have never been shot with a bean bag. Incidentally, I read somewhere else two of the nonlethal rounds were taser shotgun rounds. I wouldn’t say I wouldn’t use them for “pain compliance”, I’m just saying I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t work as a normal taser would, given the amount of clothes the guy was wearing. Given the amount of disinformation on the web, this article could be just hearsay.
13. I also noticed he didn’t more or cry out in pain when the dog bit him. Maybe the paralyzed thing was more right than I thought.

My final issue is with the police chief. He says that this was a good shoot, and then releases the video way too quickly. Part of me wonders if he is proud of what occurred or he wants his people heavy handed with little justification. This chief disturbs me greatly. I hope you post this on your blog since I hope I shed some light on this from someone who has walked in both shoes. I believe in officer safety, not paranoia. Thanks for letting me rant. Scott