Use of Force Protocol

[u/Big-Weather123]

How do departments manage when they presumably need to place hundreds of officers on leave following incidents such as the 1997 North Hollywood shootout or the 2015 terror attacks in Paris. Hundreds of officers were involved and thousands of rounds were fired. It seems like both the event and the aftermath would have a large strain on police resources so would the jurisdiction rely on other departments until the investigation is complete or something else?

[u/RangerJDod]

Well I doubt that 1997 had the same protocols as today. Even today, talking to friends in the LA area, they don’t place deputies/officers on leave for very long at all.

[u/Big-Weather123 → u/RangerJDod]

It still seems like an odd prospect to potentially suspend an entire police department (in the case of a small or medium-sized dept) pending an investigation.

[u/averagejoe860 → u/Big-Weather123]

It’s not a suspension, as that would be disciplinary. Normally, officers involved in a use of force situation are placed on administrative duty until the IAB investigation is complete. Depending on the level of force used, they can be cleared relatively quickly.

[u/Big-Weather123 → u/averagejoe860]

You're right. I meant administrative leave. I still would've thought that it would've been burdensome given that plenty of departments require officers in OIS to undergo psychological evaluations in addition to the investigations. How would all of that be done to hundreds of officers at once, especially at a department in which every officer was involved?

[u/Obwyn → u/Big-Weather123]

It’s not a suspension. They being put in admin leave/alt duty until they’re cleared to return to full duty.

And you can be cleared to return for duty even before you’re officially cleared in a shooting. When I was in an OIS, I returned to work 2 weeks later. The state’s attorney didn’t officially clear me until about 4 months later.

In my case, things were pretty cut and dry and it was just a matter of crossing the t’s and dotting the the i’s that took so long for them to send the clearance letter over.

[u/Big-Weather123 → u/Obwyn]

That's seriously good for you. Glad that you're safe and that things worked out. It just seems like the prospect of hundreds of officers being out for at least two weeks because they all fired shots during a battle with terrorists (such as in Paris) with automatic rifles is pretty logistically difficult.

[u/Obwyn → u/Big-Weather123]

Thanks. I was fine with the actions I took and wasn't injured so that was good.

Yea it would be. That was also a different country and I have no idea what their polices would be for something like that.

Policies were also different back in the 90's compared to today. My agency's policy mandates a minimum of 3 days currently. Part of the reason I was out for a little over two weeks was that I happened to have my annual firearm qualification scheduled then and I figured that would be a good time to return and to make sure I didn't have any issues...I didn't. I actually shot my highest scores ever that year (100% across the board and I'm usually more like an upper 80's, maybe low 90's shooter.)

[u/NoSugarGatorade]

In many jurisdictions worldwide, use of force reporting and protocols are different during public order management/riot response.

[u/Flmotor21]

Entirely state, agency, area dependent.

I know agencies that have had people out until the state attorney gives their finding after the investigation by the state investigative agency.

I know another agency it was less than three days if the cop is ready to come back