STAND DOWN ?

STAND DOWN?
By: Joel E. Gordon

Another ordered stand down…

An on-duty Baltimore police officer was on routine patrol around 0119 hours on August 17th when he noticed a silver SUV sitting in an intersection. The vehicle, reportedly bearing no license plate, matched the description of a suspect vehicle that just three minutes earlier tried to strike another officer conducting a traffic stop of another vehicle.

The western district officer went up to the vehicle as the SUV was stopped. The driver of the SUV got out of the car and began shooting a 9mm handgun at the officer and his police cruiser.

The officer backed away and was not struck by the bullets. The suspect then fled the area, taking police on a chase through the city. As the chase was deemed to have become more dangerous due to speeds reaching an estimated 95 miles per hour, the high-speed chase was called off when it reached southbound I-295 approaching the Baltimore-Washington Parkway.

The police commander ordering the chase to be terminated was reported to be Major Mark Howe the midnight Commander known as Unit 41. Initially checking to see why officers were pursuing, he acknowledges and says 10-4, In the meantime, recorded radio traffic reveals that officers requested air support but were told that the request would need to be made on a different radio channel by the police dispatcher. Keep in mind that the officers were involved in high speed driving and were likely unable to safely switch frequencies on their radios. It is shortly thereafter that the termination of the pursuit was ordered with the requested air support likely never achieved. 

In a subsequent press conference, Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison called the incidents against officers “very brazen.” "It just got to be high speed. It was through neighborhoods. As we encounter a danger factor with following the car, the pursuit was called off because of the danger factor to citizens and officers," 

“Whether or not they have any regard for law enforcement or law at all or any regard to consequences — whether real or perceived — we want to make sure we’re doing our part to find the people who are doing this and holding them accountable,” Harrison said.

Sergeant Mike Mancuso, Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police President, had harsh words for department leaders Tuesday evening, saying on Twitter, “The brave men and women of the Baltimore Police Department were told to stand down during the riots. Now we are being told to stand down on an attempted murder of a police officer. #CityinCrisis”

Baltimore is indeed a city in crisis. In the recent past, at least seven people connected to law enforcement have been attacked in Baltimore, including Sgt. Isaac Carrington, a 22-year veteran who is recovering after being shot multiple times during a robbery attempt outside his home. Also robbed were civilian police employees, a deputy police commissioner, an off-duty corrections officer along with a school police officer  

Determined to get the dangerous suspect attacking police, on August 18th Baltimore police encountered a vehicle and subject that they believed to be the same as the one involved in the August 17th incident. Another armed encounter ensued where the suspect was shot and killed. An officer was also shot suffering non-life threatening injuries during this encounter.

The question remains: How many of us old-timers would have backed off during the initial pursuit? Being a cop first and a soldier second, I am reminded when the Baltimore County Police Department chased a vehicle, carjacked at knifepoint, into the city and the Western District back during my time there. A young rookie, city officer, joined the pursuit, taking the lead and the suspect vehicle crashed into a retaining wall in a turn into an alley. Of course, the police car the rookie officer was operating then rear ended the suspect vehicle (I was directly behind him, but was able to stop in time). After successfully taking care of the matter at hand, I handled the accident investigation. Despite a no-pursuit policy I was able to justify the pursuit while also getting the accident deemed non-preventable. After all, what were we supposed to do?  Let an outside agency, lost in West Baltimore, be on their own?

Many believe that some of the best lessons and improvements in policing can come from critical incident reviews, particularly when such reviews are completed with independence. If there was ever a case requiring a critical incident review this latest incident ordering another “stand down” and then the subsequent deadly encounter the following day is certainly on the top of my list.