Thursday, August 30, 2012

I Don't Remember This Happening When I Was In High School

or, IMPD Officer Handles Situation Appropriately:

When an "out-of-control, knife-wielding student" locked himself in a Home Ec room at Decatur Central High School, the school called the cops; when IMPD Officer Jeff Patterson had a look, he found himself dodging a thrown knife!

That's deadly force, that is. So, did Officer Patterson draw his sidearm? No. His taser? Nope. (Though that seems to have been Option 2.) Nightstick? Huh-unh. He grabbed a nearby trash can lid and went back in!

He persuaded the student to surrender and the situation ended without bloodshed.

I take IMPD to task pretty often. When the local police get something outstandingly right, it's only fair to mention it.

14 comments:

Tango Juliet said...

Good job officer! Outstanding reaction.

Panamared said...

I wonder how much trouble he is in for not following procedures.

Anonymous said...

Wowzers!! Fast thinking in a tough situation is what we expect from professionals. Nice to see that this Officer wasn't just another Thug-with-a-Badge.

Mike

Tam said...

I'd rather be tased than beaten down with a trash can lid by a grown man any day of the week.

That is why the Taser was invented, after all: It's a lot less likely to mess somebody up than a hickory shampoo.

Roberta X said...

Tam, he used it as a shield, not a bludgeon. He'd'a tased if he'd had to -- he tried talking first.

Anonymous said...

Tam,

You ever been Tased? I have (part of the training to use the thing), and I'd rather be beat. I got over a beating MUCH quicker than I did a Tasing.

Bubblehead Les. said...

Oh, I'm sure he is going to be suspended for using a Non-Department Issue Trash Can Lid instead of his Security 3000 Riot Control Shield that's in his Cruisers Trunk. Plus add in the Fact that he did NOT "Secure the Perimeter" and call in the SWAT Team, well, his days at IMPD are numbered.

Dave H said...

Is it so hard to believe a cop can actually DTRT and get away with it?

Roberta X said...

Dave H, we can hope that at least the cops don't believe it is!

Sport Pilot said...

Deploying a Taser indoor's or outside of its design parameters can result in a less than ideal experence. I've been tased in Taser training and sprayed more than once with Freeze +p pepper spray as well. The less lethal beanbag round fired from a designated 12 gauge shotgun would have been ideal for something like this incident. In the end the officer took another route that worked well for him so kudo's to him

Ken said...

Commendable presence of mind.

The Freeholder said...

A Peace Officer, not a Law Enforcement Officer. Refreshing, and congratulations to Officer Patterson on a job well done.

Cincinnatus said...

So an IMPD officer used common sense to solve a problem.

So when is he gonna get fired?

Crucis said...

There was a similar situation when I was in high school...in the early 60s. The Junior Varsity football coach went into the classroom, took the knife away from the punk and beat the snot out of him.

When the cops arrived by applauded his technique as I remember. The coach was a WW2 Marine Raider and veteran of the Tarawa invasion.

Ah, well. Times have changed.