Police Make Mistakes But Seldom Admit Them! What's Reasonable?

[Archangel M]

http://www.lesc.net/blog/coffee-and...takes-seldom-admit-them-whatrsquos-reasonable

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To bridge this GAP between mistakes and admitting them, we must possess strength of character and admit our mistakes this includes law enforcement who must admit what it can and cannot do. We must admit mistakes as they happen and why they happen in the world of violence mistakes get made and people die, including cops! Even with the best intentions that is the reality of our profession.



Good faith judgments and intuitive decisions are needed in conflicting and violent encounters and should not be treated and judged the same as a history lesson in class or from reviewing a movie. Cops are required by law to make reasonable decisions, in violent encounters not right or wrong decisions.
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A worthwhile article if you are interested in the topic.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

"Cops are required by law to make reasonable decisions, in violent encounters not right or wrong decisions."

History decides if they are right or wrong. In a violent encounter, hesitating can mean the difference between walking out and being carried out in a bag.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

In my world, when something fails, we have what is known as 'root cause analysis'. This is not a witch-hunt or a chance to shift blame or assign blame (although all of those things can happen, of course). It is a logical, rational, and rapid assessment of what went into the situation and why the outcome was undesirable. The take-away should be a new understanding by all concerned so that it does not happen again. Stuff happens, even to the best of us. The point is to find out why and take steps to avoid it happening again.

Police have an additional problem - admitting mistakes is often not allowed by agency liability resources such as city attorneys and insurance companies. Police unions, fraternal organizations, and benevolent associations can make it difficult as well, with neither management nor rank-and-file wanting to 'give' something to the 'other side.'

It's not that mistakes don't happen, it's that admitting them, while the 'right thing to do' can cost municipalities big bucks in today's litigious society.