From what I've seen of popular dash cam/officer body cam videos only, it appears that majority of the time officer fatalities are caused by their own generosity, their relaxed approach, and willingness to skirt around strict rules.
It is their human compassion, that often results in making room for error. Due to no longer having full control of the situation at hand- often due to the misperception it does not *seem* pressing, urgent, or dangerous. And the suspect seems compliant, which they want to lend leeway to as a human being.
Taking off this officer mask and being a 'human being' in these situations is what can get them killed, and not remaining vigilant for their own safety and other officers/people involved. I'm noticing that seems to be the pattern in these officer fatality videos, that, the training and rules in place are actually there to keep them safe, and when they disregard them, due to the misperception that in these situations they are somehow, responsible for the suspects feelings and having an easier time with their arrest, it results in the end of their life.
The priority should always be safety first, for their own sake, due to the unpredictable and swift nature of firearms and other deadly events that occurrence in a matter of miliseconds.
The job of a cop is dangerous, I think there is an assumption they can only be killed in dangerous situations. However, it seems a lot of them unfortunately do lose their lives, in situations that did not seem too dangerous at all.
It's sort of like the statistic that, majority of wrecks and deaths/damage from wrecks occur within a five mile radius of the person's home. Due to the driver being relaxed and knowing the route like the back of their hand, their mind shuts off, and are no longer looking for hazards, or due to their comfort may drive more recklessly or relaxed, believing they are safe, and no trouble is to be had here.
Majority of wrecks occur, in the place you would least think. Right 5 seconds from your house, as you were almost home, or just leaving.
It's similar to this, that it looks like officer fatalities do occur in situations where it is least expected and they are most caught off guard-
due to the fact that, during a bank robbery or, a hostage situation, where weapons are already assumed to be drawn and present, proper precautions take place and safety measures are strictly upheld- knowing it will compromise their safety should they not follow their training and strict rules regarding these situations.
A more strict code to be enforced for officer behavior in predicted 'example' situations to ensure their safety may be impossible to script perfectly.
But should there be a general course for reminders about safety precautions and how to approach situations with the upper hand at all times, could be very useful to prevent the death of officers in the future by the thousands.
In this case, if the female officer speaking downstairs with the barely coherent suspect had as a precaution, handcuffed and searched him, and then detained him watchfully as he was removed from the home, all of this could of been prevented.
A tell tale sign would of been his lack of coherent speech and severe paranoia. They are treating him as if he is a normal person, a normal kid, trying to be nice, trying to be a human being- rather than an officer.
But you have to keep in mind, looks do fool. And he seems, innocent. But the facts of the situation were, he announced he had a gun, and has refused to leave the home. The situation is already hostile, and he is armed. Why he was treated with such laxxed care is unbeknownst to me. I would not have felt comfortable with him standing there in the kitchen with his hands in his pockets, while he seemed unusually paranoid, and making unusual conversation.
There is nothing about this situation that is normal, so why are they treating him as if he is normal, and harmless- I do not know.
The second he stopped making sense- if I hadn't already apprehended him by this point as a safety precaution, would definately be the defining moment I would want to detain him and assess at the very least for mental health or under the influence situation going on. Have you been taking any drugs? Etc.
His lack of coherence is a safety threat and should of been treated as such, but instead he was allowed to roam freely back upstairs, where you just had a very difficult time retrieving him from. He is not properly lucid, and is possibly on drugs. People on meth in particular are known to do unusual things, people out of their mind with weapons, who are paranoid, and hostile, do unusual things. His tone of voice in the kitchen was hostile, btw.
It just doesn't make sense to me why they let him have control and upperhand roaming freely while he is clearly out of his mind and armed.
And so, this relaxed approach they had with him, ultimately led them to being in a situation where they no longer had the upperhand, they were fired on from above. They even gave him the control of being able to ask questions, and were seeming to bargain with him like a mother dealing with an angry son, rather than a police officer dealing with a resistant, armed suspect.
If he was being resistant, and you knew he was armed, what did you think he was going to do once you came up the steps.
There just wasn't a lot of thought here, and I think it's just due to the fact they really didn't see him as dangerous and thought he would be easier to handle.
In assuming this, it resulted in the death of an officer, and the injury of two others.
However, that being said, this was not in vain, as that night, if the police had not been called and they did not bravely enter the home that night, he likely would have fired shots at the other room mates. So it was one life for two others, as I do believe they saved the lives of those staying in that house that night.
The situation is always more dangerous than you know, and you should assume that being an officer.