Metro demonstrates progress and revamped use-of-force policies

By Ricardo Torres-Cortez

Monday, May 1, 2017 | 2 a.m.

A gray Chevrolet Impala pulls into the parking lot of a Metro Police training facility, followed by a black-and-white with lights flashing.

The Metro officer quickly got out of his SUV, and so does the distraught suspect.

“Hey, Metro Police — get back in that car!” the officer yells.

“You’re always harassing me. Everywhere I go!” the driver shouts back, throwing his hands up in frustration.

His car is unregistered. Its taillight is broken. And the officer notices something sticking out from the suspect’s waist.

Two loud bangs shock the reporters gathered for Metro’s eighth annual Media Day. April 20. Police showcased what happens “behind the yellow tape” after an officer-involved shooting, from the time gunfire erupts through the ensuing investigation and the psychological effects on officers who’ve been put in the position to use deadly force.

Although staged, the shooting felt unnerving, from the sirens and bullet casings to the blood-stained gauze on the suspect being loaded into an ambulance. The point of shaking up the spectators is to impart some sense of what officers experience after a shooting.

SWAT officer Brett Brosnahan was shot at in 2014, by one half of a vigilante couple who’d gunned down two other officers and a civilian. Brosnahan came face-to-face with Amanda Miller inside the Wal-Mart where she and her husband, Jerad, had holed up. Brosnahan fired back, hitting her in the shoulder, and left the building to inform his team. Jerad was later fatally shot in the chest, and Amanda died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Brosnahan says he thinks of the shooting every day. “Usually it’s dreams,” he said. “Sometimes they’re nightmares — the what ifs, what else could have happened to me that day. ... I feel a lot of grief, because I miss my friends who were murdered.”

During mandatory leave and three to four months of therapy, officers who’ve been involved in shootings go through medical evaluations, Metro Capt. Kelly McMahill says. Once cleared, an officer is placed in a training scenario re-creating the traumatic incident. That’s followed by secondary evaluations and a process of slowly re-acclimating to the job. Or not.

“We weren’t always as good at this as we are today, and we’ve learned a lot,” McMahill says. “Quite frankly, we’ve lost some of our officers because they went through a shooting and we hadn’t given them what they needed.”

Metro’s use-of-force policies were revamped after a 2012 review by the U.S. Department of Justice and have since been praised by the federal agency. Departments across the country have consulted Metro to try to emulate its approach.

Although violent crime was up last year in Metro’s jurisdiction, a 20-year low of 10 people were shot by police in 2016 (three fatally). The agency credits its modified training and de-escalation practices for the low number of officer-involved shootings.

“We had a history of this agency having too many officer-involved shootings, and they were just not tactically sound,” McMahill says.

What happens after an officer-involved shooting?

Shootings take a matter of seconds, but use-of-force investigations can take six months if there’s a fatality. Metro’s staged incident during Media Day was condensed, but it painted a detailed picture of protocol after the discharge of an officer’s weapon. Here’s how the scenario unfolded:

The following list is incomplete and does not reflect exact chronology. Click here for details on the full process.

1. After the wounded suspect was transported, a police supervisor approached the officer involved for a debriefing.

2. Detectives rounded up witnesses and interviewed them about what they saw.

3. Crime-scene analysis began, with the Critical Incident Review Team (an administrative arm of Metro) working alongside the Force Investigation Team.

4. A detailed account surfaced: The suspect’s name and criminal history, and a summary of what investigators knew so far. Officers took notes and asked questions.

5. The officer involved led Detective Joe Patton on a walk-through. A crime-scene analyst followed, placing a cone where the officer believed he was when he fired.

6. Robert Daskas, Clark County’s assistant district attorney for the Criminal Division, watched body-worn camera footage and took a walk-through. He could call an independent investigation or file charges if he perceived the officer acted criminally. (Two civilian members of Metro’s Use of Force Review Board also would read reports and take walk-throughs before voting on whether the shooting was justifiable.)

7. The officer’s rights were explained to him before he would be summoned for an interview at headquarters. Investigators would press him on every detail. “Why did you go right instead of left? Why did you make this decision when instead you had this available over here?” Kelly McMahill said, illustrating the intensity of the questioning. “We learned many years ago when our (officer-involved shooting) numbers were very high that we had to start getting comfortable being very uncomfortable. It’s the only way to get better. If we ever get comfortable pulling the trigger, we’re doing something wrong.”

8. Investigators photographed the officer and his tool belt. They took his firearm, counted the bullets and photographed both.

9. McMahill would tape a statement for Metro’s public information office, while officers made suggestions: “If it takes 30 takes, it takes 30 takes,” Sgt. Jeff Clark said. She would then go in front of reporters and recite the statement, taking some questions. “The suspect is in stable condition; investigators found a gun on the scene.” Within 72 hours, the Clark County undersheriff would give a detailed briefing with comprehensive information Metro has collected.