Case Study #1 Copy

On a Sunday afternoon in April 2021, Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, a police officer shot and killed a suspect during a struggle. The officer was a 26 year veteran of the force, a member of the department’s negotiation team and was the police union president who had advised other officers involved in deadly force encounters.

Officer Potter, along with a fellow officer she was training, stopped a car for expired registration.  In Officer Potter’s own words the traffic stop suddenly turned chaotic. Police Officers, all too often, operate in high-stress, high-stakes environments. “Routine” interactions can suddenly become violent and chaotic. Police Officers need to be adaptable, able to shift focus to meet the changing demands of dynamic situations.

Officer Potter’s partner attempted to take the suspect into custody. Officer Potter can be seen, on her badge cam, start to take hold of the suspect, so her partner can handcuff him. She does not control the suspect as her partner releases him. The suspect struggles and lunges for the driver’s seat of the vehicle. The struggle continues, Officer Potter says she is going to taze the suspect and then announces “taser taser taser”. Officer Potter leans into the vehicle and shoots the suspect one time, fatally.

Officer Potter has said she mistook her firearm for her taser. She was asked, during her trial, if there was any training, actual training, with respect to ‘weapons confusion’ Officer Potter said it would be mentioned in training but not physically trained on. Our bodies remember the repetitions we practice. Officers, in training, conduct hundreds of reps drawing their firearm.