Annual Response to Resistance Report 2017
The report will offer context and
perspective regarding Fort Lauderdale Police Officers’ response to resistance
as well as the outcomes. This report is
intended to provide a summary of the types of incidents involving the actions
taken by police officers while responding to resistance and also to identify trends or any training areas that need to be addressed.
In
2016,
The Fort Lauderdale Police Department (FLPD) implemented recommendations taken
from the President’s
Task
Force on 21st
Century Policing as a way to foster strong, collaborative relationships between
the agency and the community we are tasked with protecting, while also
promoting effective crime reduction strategies and building public trust. Those
recommendations have been adopted as a department standard.
Since
implementing the aforementioned, sworn staff has received extensive in-service training
focused on
de-escalating situations to
include Fair and Impartial Policing (FIP) training, Crisis Intervention
Training (CIT) and Procedural Justice training.
As of December 31, 2017, FLPD has 184 officers certified in CIT and 443
officers have completed the CIT familiarization course. The department also conducted police/youth
focus groups as part of the Disproportionate Minority Contact Grant
funded
by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.
In doing so, FLPD has seen a reduction in the number of response to
resistance incidents stemming from calls for service, traffic stops and
neighbor contact.
This allows the field supervisors to review and evaluate the circumstances and the officers’ response to those circumstances in a timely fashion. Subsequent to the initial review by the first line supervisor, each incident report involving an officer's response to resistance is forwarded to the Office of Internal Affairs where a second independent review of the incident occurs. The information presented in this annual report has been collected from police reports submitted during the 2017 calendar year.
The Office of Internal Affairs conducted administrative reviews of 602 Incident Reports involving officers’ “Response to Resistance” which occurred in 2017.
Response to Resistance by Category
902 uses of force were due to the escalation of various responses to resistance.
499 incidents involved the
use of hands, fist,
feet, knees, or legs
142 incidents
where force was applied
by
less-lethal* means
(* Taser, K-9 Apprehension, Impact Weapons and Subject Control Spray.)
^Aerosol
Defense Spray/Oleoresin Capsicum/Crowd Suppression (commonly referred to as pepper
spray) and Conducted Energy Device (commonly referred to as CED)
Response to Resistance Effectiveness
In
2017, holding a suspect at gunpoint accounted for 248 instances of officers
responding to resistance. There were 2
intentional firearm discharges, with 1 being to an aggressive animal. The remaining firearm discharge resulted in a
suspect’s non-life threatening injuries. This incident was sent to the State
Attorney’s Office for review and the use of force was determined to be a
justified. Sixty-four subjects and 22
officers were injured in conjunction with the use of force. There are no use of force cases assigned to
the State Attorney’s Office.
Top Reasons for Response to Resistance
Top 6 Service Types When The Response to Resistance Occurred
(Response to resistance did not result in an arrest in all cases)
Top 10 Charges Against Involved Persons
(An involved person may fall into more than one charge type)
Subjects Arrested in Conjunction With Response to Resistance 2016-2017 Comparison
The 253 arrests
made in conjunction with response to resistance in 2016 accounts for only 4% of
the total arrests made. The 402 arrests
made in conjunction with response
to resistance in
2017 accounts for only 5% of the total arrests made.