Good Cops and Bad Cops: "I Don't Want to Shoot You"

This was first posted at my old Good Cops and Bad Cops Blog on 23-May-2015.

On Thursday 16 April 2015 Police Officer Jesse Kidder of New Richmond, Ohio faced a potentially dangerous situation confronting a man already suspected of two murders on that same day. Kidder's body cam, given to him as a gift by a family member, allows us to see what happened, almost through his eyes.

On the video we can see the suspect getting out of his car and rushing back toward Kidder's car. Kidder then exits his vehicle, aims his gun at the suspect, and then retreats down the street to give himself some time and space and to avoid shooting.

Kidder can be heard saying, "Get your hands up," and "Stop right there," and "I don't want to shoot you," but the suspect keeps coming.

The suspect even escalates the tension by putting his hands in his pockets to make it appear his going to draw a weapon and shouting "Shoot me! Shoot me!" Kidder keeps his gun aimed but refuses to shoot saying, "No man I'm not gonna do it."

Near the end of the video, Kidder loses his footing and falls down and the suspect is almost on him and still Kidder holds his fire. Finally backup arrives and the suspect gives up, raising his hands and then laying face down on the street.

With about one year in his current job Kidder is new to the police but he is not new to stressful situations. He did two tours of duty in Iraq as a Marine and earned a Purple Heart there.

After the incident Kidder said that he had tried to open a dialogue with the suspect and added "Law enforcement officers all across the nation deal with split-second decisions that mean life or death. I wanted to be absolutely sure before I used deadly force."

Kidder's boss, Chief Randy Harvey, said, "For him to make the judgment call he did show[s] great restraint and maturity."

It turned out the suspect had no weapon on him. Kidder had a good idea of this while the incident occurred. Even in the stress of the moment he noticed that the suspect's jacket pockets were not sagging which led him to believe there was no gun in either of those pockets.

Kidder did a great job and deserves great praise. He was observant, alert, and courageous. He helped capture a dangerous suspect without use of excessive force. Most of all he showed an admirable attitude – the desire to avoid deadly force unless absolutely necessary.

Thank you Jesse Kidder for giving an example of courageous and highly competent police work in under extremely stressful circumstances.

For more information click on the links below:

• http://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2015/04/22/good-cop-or-good-example-of-white-privilege/
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/19/jesse-kidder-police-officer_n_7097618.html
• http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/19/us/ohio-new-richmond-officer-does-not-shoot-suspect/index.html
• http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2015/0420/Ohio-cop-s-refusal-to-shoot-a-model-of-police-restraint-video
• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3045243/Rookie-cop-praised-NOT-firing-murder-suspect-charged-threatened-shoot-terrifying-confrontation-caught-bodycam.html

Copyright © 2016 by Joseph Wayne Gadway

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