|
02.08.04: Training to
be police officers
02.10.04: Keeping traffic
stops safe
02.15.04: Learning to
shoot straight
02.21.04: Mastering
tactical defenses
03.21.04: Balancing
motherhood
04.19.04: Firing straight
under the gun
05.02.04: Detecting drunken
drivers
05.13.04: Working through
the burn
05.24.04: Subduing
stronger suspects
06.01.04: Learning stunning
tactics
06.07.04: Taking it to the
streets
06.20.04: Behind the badge
06.18.04: Cadets no longer
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STATESMAN Articles following
the 2004 Cadet Class
Training to be police officers
What does
it take to join the force? These cadets are finding out
By Alberta Phillips
Sunday, February 8, 2004
It has the makings of a reality TV show: men and women
scaling walls, crawling through concrete pipes and firing
guns at silhouette targets. After being physically tried,
they are academically tested. They must score an 80 percent
to stay in the game. After several weeks, some have been
eliminated because they couldn't keep up. About 10 months
later, survivors of such rigors get jobs that start at
$40,000 a year.
This isn't reality television — it's APD, as in
the Austin Police Department's training academy. Starting
today, we'll meet four of the surviving 83 cadets —
93 started in December — training to be Austin police
officers. Most of the 10 washed out for failing academics
or physical endurance exercises. Several decided that
police work demanded too much.
Two months ago, Austin Police Chief Stan Knee approved
our request to follow some cadets through APD training
in response to public concerns about the quality of training
the men and women receive before they take to the city
streets.
Questions about training linger in the aftermath of two
shooting deaths of African Americans by white Austin police
officers: Sophia King in June 2002 and Jesse Lee Owens
in June 2003. At the center of those concerns are questions
regarding training and culture: Are officers too quick
to shoot when they encounter minority citizens? Are they
adequately trained to deal with cultures other than their
own?
Those concerns peaked following a series published last
month by the Austin American-Statesman that documented
Austin police officers' disproportionate use of force
against African Americans and Latinos. Austin police were
twice as likely to use force against blacks than whites
and 25 percent more likely to use force against Hispanics.
For some of the answers, we decided to go to class with
four cadets during the next eight months and stay with
them as they begin new careers as Austin police officers.
We'll report their progress in an occasional series on
this page.
What we're finding out in the two months they've been
in class is that this isn't your father's corps of cadets.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet:
• Jay Swann, 35, father of a five-year-old daughter
and stepchild. He grew up in Amarillo and earned a bachelor's
degree from Texas Tech University. But Swann also holds
a master's degree in liberal arts from Harvard University.
Swann long has been fascinated by mysteries and wants
to use that skill to solve homicides for the Police Department
as a criminal investigator. Swann has the brains for police
work, but what about the brawn?
• Jane Pacifico, 24, is the youngest of the cadets
we'll follow. The Seattle native graduated in the top
quarter of her high school class and earned a bachelor's
degree in broadcast journalism from Washington State University.
She has previous on-air broadcast experience and turned
down a job with a Dallas news station to become an Austin
police officer. We'll see her in action as she practices
traffic stops and learns how to shoot straight.
• Angela Racine, 33, is a single mother of four
— three boys and a girl. At 16, she earned a GED
and is currently enrolled at St. Edward's University studying
public safety and management. Racine moved from Alameda,
Calif., to Austin to give her children, ages 2 to 8, a
better quality of life. Eventually, she hopes to work
as an APD liaison to the community, fostering better relations
and communication between police and those they're sworn
to protect. We'll learn in the coming weeks and months
if she can successfully balance the rigors of motherhood
and police work.
• Bonnie Caudill, 33, attained the rank of major
during her seven years in the U.S. Marine Corps. Born
and reared in Highland, N.Y., a small town near Albany,
Caudill spent six years on active duty and an additional
year as a recruiter helping those leaving the military
transition to civilian life. She earned a bachelor's degree
in accounting from the University of New York at Albany.
Caudill likely will breeze through APD physical training.
But if Caudill and her husband complete cadet training,
they will be the first couple to do so simultaneously.
In following the progress of the four cadets, we hope
to give the public a better understanding of the people
behind the badges and their readiness for police work
in a culturally diverse city.
Austin police cadets
Eighty-three cadets remain in training to become Austin
police officers. Here's a look at the Class of 2004:
Gender: 70 men; 13 women
Average age: 30; The oldest is 42, the youngest is 22
Education: Two with master's degrees; 36 with bachelor's
degrees; 18 with at least 60 college hours; five with
at least 30 college hours; 20 with prior military experience;
two with prior law enforcement
Ethnicity: 56 Anglos; 20 Hispanics; six African Americans;
one Pacific Islander
Starting salary: $40,044
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Keeping traffic stops safe
Cadets learn
to keep traffic stops safe for all
By Alberta Phillips
AMERICAN-STATESMAN EDITORIAL WRITER
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
As Austin police cadet Jay Swann approaches the dark
blue pickup, he slides his fingers along the back cab,
leaving his fingerprints and DNA — just in case.
It's dark at 8 p.m., and the driver and two passengers
are boisterous.
Swann is cool, but cautious. His flashlight is on. His
gun is holstered. His voice is firm, but respectful.
"Sir, I'm Officer Swann with the Austin Police Department.
The reason I stopped you tonight, sir, is because you
ran a red light. May I see your driver's license and proof
of insurance?"
The driver, a white man, is clearly agitated. He's in
a hurry and lets the officer know he's annoyed by cursing
back at him. He hands him a license and insurance card.
Then, the black passenger next to the driver chimes in
on the officer.
"Get that flashlight out of my eyes," he yells.
"I've never met a white dude who talks as country
as you — what? Did you just call me a boy? I ain't
your boy. This isn't Jasper, Texas, white boy, and I ain't
afraid to die."
Ten years ago, Swann, 35, might have drawn his gun at
that point. Then, nearly all of the training on traffic
stops ended with an officer being shot or hurt —
even those involving elderly women drivers. Today, officer
safety still is the No. 1 priority emphasized in Austin
Police Department cadet training. Training officers stress
that few traffic stops turn violent. Officers are nonetheless
taught that one of the most dangerous things they do is
walk up on a vehicle. They have no way of knowing who
or what awaits inside.
That's why cadets are trained to use a seven-step approach
in which an officer identifies himself; tells the driver
why he is being stopped; identifies the driver using the
license and gets proof of valid insurance; tells the driver
he will get a warning or ticket; writes the ticket; explains
that the violator must pay a fine, dispute it in court
or take defensive driving; and finally, sends the driver
on his way.
Cadets will spend weeks on drills and in classrooms learning
traffic codes and the correct way to stop motorists who
have violated traffic laws before going out in the field
to test those skills. The focus of many drills is on a
cadet's ability to communicate with the public —
another big shift from past training.
Last week, Swann and 82 other cadets training to be Austin
police officers were put to that test with role-playing
drills to test their communication skills as well as their
temperaments. Time and again they were thrown into situations
in which they were verbally abused by drivers and passengers.
Nothing was off limits, not even racial insults. They
had to show that they could issue citations without physical
confrontations.
Swann passed — though he made several errors. He
backed away from the pickup, which blinded him to oncoming
traffic behind him. Swann also stood too close to the
driver's door during the stop. Had the driver opened his
door, Swann would have been knocked back. He approached
holding a ticket book in one hand and a flashlight in
the other, meaning his gun hand wasn't free. He was orally
reprimanded for compromising officer safety.
Not all cadets keep their cool, as Swann did, said Lt.
Jeff Adickes, director of cadet training. Some break under
pressure. When they do, they are sent to the staff psychologist.
Those who continue to lose control are dismissed, Adickes
said.
As of last week, 83 cadets had survived the nearly year-long
training that began in December. On Friday, the number
dropped to 82 because another cadet was released for poor
performance during traffic role playing. This page will
continue to shadow Swann and three other cadets over the
next eight months to tell the public how the Police Department
trains those who are sworn to protect us
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Learning to shoot straight
A straight
shooter: Cadet Jane Pacifico tells how, with practice,
she's hit the target
By Alberta Phillips
AMERICAN-STATESMAN EDITORIAL WRITER
Sunday, February 15, 2004
Standing 7 yards from a silhouette target of a man holding
a gun, Austin police cadet Jane Pacifico draws her weapon.
Three sharp reports from her pistol punctuate the cloudy,
rainy afternoon. Bang! Bang! Bang! Pacifico has come to
the firing range at the Austin Police Academy to practice,
as she does several days a week. She fires off several
rounds from her sleek, black Glock 17 that she bought
for $630. The 9 mm weapon, one of the most popular guns
for female cadets, explodes with each shot. The handgun
jerks slightly, but Pacifico is steady and focused. She
lowers her weapon and scans from side to side, breathing
deeply.
With her feet planted in what police call the fighting
stance, she leans forward — nose over toes. Then
Pacifico again stretches out her arms and grips with both
hands. She fires. Then again. And again.
Pacifico spends many days practicing her shooting because
cadets training to be Austin police officers must demonstrate
they can shoot straight — hit the center chest area
of the silhouette target consistently with at least 80
percent accuracy.
After firing 30 rounds, Pacifico examines the target.
Most of her shots are bull's-eyes — in the square
area that marks the upper center chest. She has the same
accuracy from 25 yards. Not bad for a woman who never
held a gun, much less fired one, before arriving at cadet
school in December. Not bad for someone who barely made
the cut-off for the Austin Police Department's class of
2004.
In all, 1,200 people applied to the Austin Police Academy;
97 were offered spots; 93 showed up; 82 have so far survived
cadet training. Pacifico, who was No. 96 on the list,
is one of the survivors.
Questions about the quality of training Austin officers
receive peaked after an Austin American-Statesman series
last month that documented Austin police officers' disproportionate
use of force against African Americans and Latinos.
Training for cadets is intensive, and at times, grueling.
Cadets must prove their physical readiness with daily
drills. They role-play traffic stop situations in which
they are verbally abused by officers assuming roles as
passengers. They will be sprayed with pepper spray to
experience the chemical's potency. They will be handcuffed
and physically taken to the ground. Cadets will spend
countless hours in classrooms learning city traffic codes
and other criminal laws, and they will spend lengthy hours
in the field, doing ride-alongs with senior officers.
On one such field-training exercise, a cadet was dazed
a week ago after answering a call in which a man died
of a self-inflicted rifle shot to the head.
At any point, cadets can be released if they fail to
average at least 80 percent on tests, drills, role-playing
and other skills. If they lose their cool, they are sent
for evaluation by a staff psychologist, and they are released
if they do it repeatedly.
Pacifico, a native of Seattle, seemed an unlikely candidate
for cadet school. She was a broadcast journalist whose
contact with police was primarily the interviews she did
for news stories. Pacifico's shooting was so poor at one
point (her scores were in the 30s), she thought her vision
was defective and had it checked. Her score now is in
the 90 percent range.
"I had problems with firing initially — how
to stand, how to firmly hold your weapon. I kept missing
the target. I was like, 'Oh, my god, where did (the bullets)
go?' "
They weren't hitting the target, mostly because Pacifico
had "trigger jerk," meaning that she anticipated
the bang of the gun, causing her body to jerk before she
pulled the trigger.
She knew she had to do much better if she was going to
survive cadet school, where cadets get two months of firearms
training. So she practiced during her lunch hours and
then at a local shooting range after work. At home, she
did dry runs, going through the motions.
"It turned out that I was anticipating a bang. I
figured out what I had to do. I held my gun and said to
myself, 'I'm not going to move this gun.' When I did that,
I was able to hit the target consistently — bang,
bang, bang."
Target shooting is one thing, but could she draw and
fire on a real target — a person?
"It's scary to think about, but I could do it if
my life were in danger. I pray it doesn't come to that,
but at the end of the day, we all just want to go home."
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Mastering tactical defenses
Tactical
defense moves help keep officers safe
By Alberta Phillips
AMERICAN-STATESMAN EDITORIAL WRITER
Saturday, February 21, 2004
Austin police cadet Bonnie Caudill delivers a hard whack
to the lower back of a 6-foot-5-inch man. In the practice
drill, the 33-year-old former Marine strikes with the
hard edge of her hand. In a real situation, when faced
with taking down a suspect who is 9 inches taller, she
likely would wield an asp — a collapsible baton —
or wait for backup. Even in practice, the blow to her
fellow cadet is enough to make him wince; enough to make
him buckle.
In another drill, Caudill demonstrates how to properly
handcuff a suspect. We've seen it a thousand times on
television, but there are notable differences between
the Hollywood version and the real thing. She fires off
a series of commands in a loud, firm voice: "Put
your hands in the air; turn around; slowly go down on
your knees; go down to your stomach with your hands out
to your side; look to the left; cross your feet; put your
palms up toward the sky; lift your palms off the ground."
She steps in, kneels into his arm and grabs the arm, bringing
the hand to lower back. She signals him to raise the other
hand, then snaps on the steel cuffs, which she then double
locks.
Instruction in handcuffing and tactical defense are all
part of Austin Police Academy training to teach cadets
how to make routine arrests and non-routine arrests —
when suspects resist or become unruly.
Officer safety is a central theme of every lesson, and
learning tactical defense moves can help protect officers
in touchy situations. Pressure point moves, when used
properly, allow officers to control suspects without seriously
injuring them. But, as Detective Todd Harrison tells cadets,
using pressure points to control suspects "is not
the be all to end all."
On the streets, officers must make split decisions that
can mean life or death for themselves or others.
"It works good on your buddies in class," Harrison
says as he demonstrates several pressure point tactics.
"But more cops get hurt using pressure points,"
because officers must be very close to suspects to use
them. If a suspect suddenly turns violent, an officer
can be injured. Furthermore, such defensive moves might
not faze suspects who are high on drugs or alcohol, substances
that dull the senses.
Caudill pays close attention and practices each move
until she executes it correctly.
"She is doing real well, and she is going to make
a good officer," Harrison said.
But not all those who sign up to be Austin police cadets
do so well. Of the 1,200 who applied for cadet positions,
just 97 were selected. The class has dropped to 82 cadets.
Caudill ranked 11th of the 97 who were offered spots when
training began in December. She is one of 13 women, and
her husband, Robert, also is a cadet. The couple moved
to Austin from Norfolk, Va., specifically to become Austin
police officers.
"The Austin Police Department has a great reputation
and we heard a lot of good things about Austin,"
Caudill said. "I've always wanted to be in law enforcement
and do something that allows me to give back to the community."
Before joining cadet school, Caudill spent seven years
in the Marine Corps, attaining the rank of major. She
said the training academy is as challenging as the Marine
Corps because women don't get special treatment and must
adhere to the same physical standards as men. So when
they do push-ups, it's not the modified version many women
do, but full-body push-ups. Caudill earned a bachelor's
degree in accounting from the State University of New
York at Albany, where she was an All-American triple jumper.
By the time she and other cadets complete training and
field exercises next fall, they will be skilled in a number
of strikes, blows and kicks that help officers protect
themselves in close encounters with people who get physical
with police. But they also will train with pepper spray,
batons and Taser stun guns for situations that call for
greater force than using pressure point or physical strikes.
Here in class, the 5-foot-8-inch Caudill doesn't always
succeed in bringing down her target on the first attempt.
She repeats the pressure point tactics and handcuffing
drills until she gets it right. Will she be up to the
physical challenge of taking down bigger suspects in the
real world?
"I know I will be able to do that," she said.
"I don't believe this academy would put an officer
out on the street who is not able to do the job."
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Balancing Motherhood
Balancing
motherhood with police training
By Alberta Phillips
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, March 21, 2004
It can take weeks or even months for Austin police cadets
to grasp the significance of the creed that will govern
their careers as police officers: "You are your brother's
keeper."
But it took just one day for cadet Angela Racine to feel
its impact.
The divorced mother of four, ages 2 to 8, was 30 minutes
late on the first day of police training school. She had
trouble with daycare that morning and decided to take
a short cut to the Austin Police Academy on Shaw Lane
in southeastern Travis County, a 25-minute commute from
her home in Kyle. After arriving at the academy, she parked
her car. Then she heard her name: "Racine, move your
ass!"
Now running, she was met by about 39 red-shirted cadets.
She was ordered to stand at attention, but didn't know
how to adjust her forward slouch that marked her posture
much of her life.
What happened next left a lasting impression about the
creed.
The cadets had to run laps because Racine, one of their
red team members, was late. Meanwhile, Racine was ordered
to stand and watch. Each time a cadet ran by, she flinched
in shame.
"I saw all red on the black top when I got out of
the car," Racine recounted. "I had to watch
my class do laps around the field because I was late.
I felt awful."
Racine was always on time after that because she never
again wanted to let down her fellow red team cadets. (Another
41 cadets are on the blue team.) That was her introduction
to the concepts of unity and teamwork that are being stressed
in the second of three semesters of training at the academy.
The Illinois native is among 80 cadets training to be
Austin police officers. She was the 51st person of 97
selected for cadet training. She has made it this far,
though physical and academic rigors have forced out 13
of the 93 who began police training in December. Those
who make it through the entire course will graduate in
mid June, but their trials don't end there. They must
complete up to 16 additional weeks of training in the
field before joining the police force.
Ask cadets why they give their lives over to a seven-month
boot camp and seemingly endless crash courses that cover
criminal law, Austin police procedures, racial profiling,
cultural diversity and city codes, and most will tell
you they were drawn by good pay and benefits and a desire
to serve the public. The starting pay for an Austin Police
Department officer is $40,044, but officers can earn thousands
of dollars more a year if they bring special skills, such
as a college degree or proficiency in a foreign language,
or if they work the night shift.
Racine, too, signed on for those reasons. But she had
four other equally compelling reasons: Raymond, 8; David,
7; Justin, 3; and Iliah, 2.
"I became a single mother about the time I decided
to apply for cadet school," she said. "It was
important for me to have a job with stability and a career
that allowed me to raise my kids to be productive citizens
in this community."
So far, Racine has balanced the rigors of police training
and motherhood with success. But it isn't easy, she admits.
The 33-year-old begins her weekdays before dawn, at 4:30
a.m. She dresses and reviews her homework. Before leaving
the house at 6 a.m., she awakens Raymond and David and
gets them ready for school. Her mom, Cora Fowowe, gives
all the children breakfast and gets the two oldest on
the school bus. Fowowe also drops off the youngest kids
at daycare and meets Raymond and David after school. In
the evenings, Racine picks up Justin and Iliah from daycare
after leaving cadet school at 4 p.m. She helps her children
with homework and puts them to bed. Mom and daughter have
arranged cooking and household duties around Racine's
schedule.
"My mom is my support system. If I didn't have her,
it would be very, very difficult to do this," Racine
said.
Transition from a customer service job for a local packaging
company to police work has been challenging. It's a transformation
that hasn't gone unnoticed by Ruth Bullock, a training
instructor at the academy.
"When she first came here, she sort of leaned forward
when she walked. She seemed unsure of herself," Bullock
said. Pointing to the ramrod straight Racine, she noted,
"You can see the confidence in how she carries herself
now. What a difference."
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Firing straight under the gun
Austin police
cadets are under the gun
By Alberta Phillips
AMERICAN-STATESMAN EDITORIAL WRITER
Monday, April 19, 2004
She's been maced with pepper spray, handcuffed, tested
on the penal code and traffic laws. She's been put through
rigorous physical obstacle courses and training daily.
She's one of the survivors. But if Angela Racine and several
other cadets don't start shooting straight with larger,
heavier weapons, they'll be cut from cadet school.
The four cadets we've been following in this occasional
series said police training is getting tougher, especially
the shooting drills they now must do in timed exercises
with moving targets. They have been cadets for 20 grueling
weeks and there are nine left to go.
The three women, Racine, Jane Pacifico and Bonnie Caudill,
have gone through remedial training for firearms. Cadet
Jay Swann, the fourth cadet we're shadowing, is looking
good — really good. He has been elevated to president
of the blue cadet class. (What else to expect from a guy
with a master's degree from Harvard?)
All four cadets passed shooting skills tests in the first
semester. But in the second semester that ended last week,
three had problems. Drills have time limits of 20 seconds.
Targets turn and move. Shooting must be accurate with
bullets hitting the chest and head area of the target.
Cadets had to demonstrate those skills from various distances,
including a distance of 25 yards, with pistols and shotguns.
The women struggled. Here's why:
• Shooting difficulties for Racine, 33, a mother
of four ages 2 to 8, were due in part to switching weapons.
In the first semester, she used a loaner from the Austin
Police Department, a Smith & Wesson. Cadets are required
to purchase their own weapons, however. Racine purchased
the Glock model, which she used during the second semester.
She must score an 80 to pass and is still doing remedials
to bring her scores up to that mark. "They are different
guns, and my shooting is off now," she said.
• Time restrictions caused Jane Pacifico, 24, to
rush through the steps involved in shooting instead of
moving deliberately. Pacifico is a former television journalist
who never held a gun prior to cadet training and whose
knowledge of police came mostly from the stories she reported.
She was thinking about the seconds ticking off the clock
and lost focus when she fired. Also, firing a shotgun,
with its weight and recoil, proved difficult. "I
was thrown back at first," she said. "Now I'm
learning to tackle the gun, to take charge."
• Bad habits have come back to haunt former U.S.
Marine Major Bonnie Caudill, 33. While in the Marine Corps,
she had a tendency to jerk the trigger of her pistol when
she was in a hurry to fire her weapon. At the academy,
she is doing the same thing. That's hindering her accuracy.
She will have to overcome her trigger jerk to pass. "This
definitely isn't a cakewalk, we're facing turning targets.
I have to unlearn the bad habit of jerking the trigger."
• Although Swann, 36, passed with flying colors,
his assignment as class president of the blue team has
proved more challenging than anticipated, especially after
a fatal car wreck last week took the life of blue-team
cadet Trina Andretti. On the night of the accident, Swann
had to gather and prepare blue cadets for the news. "It
is one of the hardest things I've had to do as class president."
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Detecting drunken drivers
Detecting
drunken drivers to keep Austin streets safe
By Alberta Phillips
AMERICAN-STATESMAN EDITORIAL STAFF
Sunday, May 2, 2004
It's 8 o'clock on a Friday night. A group of University
of Texas students is drinking booze. But this isn't Sixth
Street. It's the Austin Police Academy, and these students
are getting smashed for a purpose: They have volunteered
to be guinea pigs for dozens of cadets training to be
Austin police officers. The lessons involving live subjects
aim to teach cadets to detect drivers who are too drunk
to legally drive.
At one point, liability issues nearly forced the Austin
Police Department to use videos instead of people for
DWI cadet training. But the benefits of keeping the live
training outweighed concerns: Drunken drivers injure and
kill themselves and others; they drive up medical and
insurance costs and cause untold pain and suffering to
their victims and families; and DWI arrests and cases
can be thrown out when police officers don't properly
stop and test drunken drivers.
Any doubts about the value of the training evaporated
as the night wore on and the drinks flowed. While some
volunteers looked just fine, others were clearly impaired.
But even some of those who appeared OK were past the legal
blood-alcohol content limit — .08 in Texas.
Detecting drivers who are over the legal limit oftentimes
comes down to the eyes.
"I've got two clues. She's not going to jail,"
declared Jay Swann, one of the four police cadets we've
been shadowing. Swann had completed a series of nystagmus
tests on Emilie Burnette, 21, a chemistry major at UT.
She passed.
The tests are designed to detect skips or involuntary
twitches in the eyes that appear when a person consumes
a certain level of alcohol.
On the horizontal test, Swann holds his pen in front
of Burnette's nose, then slowly moves it across her face,
crossing the left eye, then back to the center, then all
the way to the right. Then it appears; a slight twitch.
A person who shows four such indicators (out of six)
on various tests is considered legally drunk and goes
to jail. The test has proved effective: When four clues
are found, there is an 88 percent chance the person is
legally drunk. When combined with other field sobriety
tests — the walk and turn and the one-leg stand —
police officers can with great accuracy detect drunken
drivers without a blood alcohol test.
It's not always so easy making the call.
"He's either impaired or he's not; intoxicated or
free to go," instructs officer Ryan Herring when
Swann and cadet Josh Sneed hesitate over whether another
student is over the legal limit. "The cameras are
rolling. What are you going to do?"
Herring, a senior patrol officer on the Police Department's
DWI unit, cautions the cadets against relying too heavily
on the blood alcohol test. It's certainly accurate, but
people can refuse to take it. So if Swann and his partner
arrest the suspect with hopes of validating his intoxication
with the Breathalyzer, that can backfire if he refuses
to blow — as is his right. Again, Herring reminds
the cadets that the video camera in their police patrol
car is rolling. Their uncertainty, caught on camera, won't
play well in a courtroom, should it come to that. Make
a decision, Herring urges.
They run through the clues, Swann found four. He is going
to jail, they announce. A blood alcohol test later proves
they made the right decision.
All four of the cadets we've been following through the
academy spent several hours practicing DWI skills with
volunteers. In all, 38 volunteers participated on different
Fridays. Each was assigned a monitor who served as a designated
driver. Monitors weren't permitted to drink alcohol.
Swann, 36; Jane Pacifico, 24; Bonnie Caudill, 33; and
Angela Racine, 33, have made it through 22 weeks of training.
The rigors of training, which require cadets to score
at least 80 percent in all subjects and skills to pass,
are evident in the numbers: Ninety-three began cadet school
in December; 78 remain. With the exception of Trina Andretti,
who was killed in a car wreck last month, the others either
dropped out or were cut. There are still seven weeks to
go before graduation on June 18. After graduation, the
cadets are on probation and are required to complete eight
to 16 weeks of supervised field training.
Since the last report, Caudill, a former major in the
U.S. Marines, and Pacifico, a former television reporter,
have improved their shooting skills and now are passing.
The three women (including Racine) had struggled with
shotguns and moving targets. Racine, a divorced mother
of four, ages 2 to 8, still is borderline in shooting
and must improve to graduate. All four cadets have passed
physical training and defensive tactics. All did well
on the DWI skills.
It takes practice to detect the human clues that determine
DWI. That's why this kind of up-close and personal contact
with people under the influence of alcohol is considered
the best preparation for what will happen on the streets.
At a time when alcohol-related traffic fatalities are
up in Austin, and lawyers have become especially adept
at unraveling DWI cases, police officers must be skilled
in identifying intoxicated drivers using scientific criteria
— such as the nystagmus test — to make charges
stick. When the officers do their jobs correctly, they
remove drunken drivers from our streets. And that benefits
us all
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Working through the burn
Working
through the burn: Police cadets pass the pepper spray
test
By Alberta Phillips
AMERICAN-STATESMAN EDITORIAL STAFF
Thursday, May 13, 2004
This is the eighth report in an occasional series about
four cadets who are training to be Austin police officers.
When the pepper spray hit her eyes, Jane Pacifico gasped,
cringed, then drooled. After a few deep breaths, she steadied
herself as the burning in her eyes intensified.
"I felt like I had stuck my face in a frying pan
— it burned terribly," she said.
So why would she voluntarily subject herself to that
kind of pain? It's part of the training to become an Austin
police officer. As part of their preparation to fight
crime and keep the peace, cadets must submit to being
maced. It doesn't end there. They are required to perform
under influence of the pepper spray or risk being dropped
from the Austin Police Academy.
In police lingo, pepper spray is called "OC spray"
for Oleoresin Capsicum, a substance derived from hot peppers.
The four cadets we've been following, Pacifico, 24; Jay
Swann, 36; Bonnie Caudill, 33; and Angela Racine, 33,
all passed the pepper spray training.
So far, 78 of the 93 men and women who began police training
in December have reached this stage — to week 24.
There still are formidable challenges in the remaining
five weeks before graduation on June 18. Cadets must prove
themselves on a driving obstacle course while being timed
to fulfill requirements for vehicle pursuits. They'll
have to engage in hand-to-hand combat to show they can
defend themselves against suspects who turn violent. They'll
have to pass written exams and feel the jolt of a Taser
stun gun.
Pacifico, a former television reporter, has discovered
her tougher side during training at the academy. As her
eyes reddened and saliva spilled from her mouth, a gun
was thrown to the ground. Pacifico was instructed to find
it. She forced open her puffed eyes, dropped to her knees
and got the gun. With her eyes still burning, she moved
to a punching bag, which she kneed and slugged. Then she
struck the bag with a baton. Finally, relief came when
she hosed the residue from her eyes.
The exercise is designed to teach cadets the limits of
the potent substance police often use to subdue unruly
suspects. As detective and police academy instructor Renee
Fox, 34, can attest, the training prepares officers for
the real world.
Several years ago, while patrolling on Sixth Street,
Fox was inadvertently sprayed with the fiery resin by
another officer as they tried to quell a fight. As a cadet,
she had been maced so she knew what to expect and how
to cope with the pain brought on by the pepper spray.
She was able to help subdue the suspects.
"Cadets learn how to fight through it and that they
won't be totally incapacitated," Fox said.
Police consider pepper spray a "soft intermediate"
weapon — stronger than verbal commands, but less
forceful than night sticks (hard intermediate) or guns
(deadly force). Cadets are instructed not to spray suspects
who resist passively. There's flexibility about when to
use pepper spray, however. Fox said an officer likely
would use pepper spray to stop a fist fight. In doing
so, the officer would avoid being drawn into a scuffle
in which he could be injured.
Officers don't have to wait for physical confrontations
to erupt before using pepper spray, however. If a person
takes a fighting posture against an officer or becomes
verbally abusive or threatening, pepper spray might be
the appropriate response, Fox said.
Cadets no doubt would prefer to skip this part of the
training, in which pepper spray is squirted into their
eyes. But there are good reasons to prepare officers in
this way. Pepper spray has emerged as a nonlethal option
to sidearms and batons at a time when police departments
in Austin and across the nation have been criticized for
using excessive — sometimes lethal — force in
arrests, especially those involving minority suspects.
The downside is that officers must get close to the suspect
to use the spray effectively.
It's clear that the encounter with pepper spray left
a lasting impression on cadets. They learned something
about themselves — how they would be affected under
its influence — and they felt the stinging pain that
citizens would feel after being sprayed.
Hopefully, that will instill a sense of responsibility
about when and how often to use it on patrols of Austin
streets
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Subduing stronger suspects
Using defensive
tactics to subdue bigger, stronger suspects
By Alberta Phillips
AMERICAN-STATESMAN EDITORIAL STAFF
Monday, May 24, 2004
In action movies, women agents bring down men twice their
size. The scene unfolding at the Austin Police Academy
on a recent afternoon looked a lot like Hollywood —
but this was real.
There was Austin police cadet Angela Racine matched up
against a bigger and more muscular fellow cadet, Manuel
Martinez. He was the bad guy in this exercise, and she
was the cop.
Martinez tackles her and is poised to assault her. She
looks helpless. Then suddenly, she whips her legs across
his lower back. She makes a series of other moves, then
locks her hand up and over his shoulder, bringing him
in close. "Stop fighting!" she commands. No
matter. He is pinned in this position and she can hold
him for several minutes until back-up arrives.
That's one option. In another series of moves, Racine
is able to free herself from Martinez's grip, then scramble
to her feet. The specialized ground-fighting techniques
she is practicing are part of instruction in defensive
tactics for the 78 men and women training to be Austin
police officers. Over the years, defensive tactics have
become increasingly important in police training, providing
officers an effective way to defend themselves in hand-to-hand
combat when suspects become violent. This is the first
cadet class, however, to learn the martial arts-style
of fighting that teaches police officers sophisticated
moves to fight off bigger or stronger suspects.
The days when police work was another way of saying brute
force are long over. More women are joining police forces,
and officers in general tend to be better educated. In
all, 11 women have made it this far, to week 25. More
than a third of the cadets are college graduates. For
several months, we've shadowed three female cadets and
one male cadet as they have made their way through the
Austin Police Academy. The three women, Racine, 33; Jane
Pacifico, 24; and Bonnie Caudill, 33, struggled with firearms
skills during the second semester. But all are now passing
with high scores, including Racine, who lagged for a while
into the third semester. The fourth cadet, Jay Swann,
36, continues to be a top performer at the academy.
The June 18 graduation is four weeks away. But it's hardly
an easy task for cadets, who still must pass exams that
test not only their physical skills and book sense, but
their emotional and mental reflexes. In one exercise,
more of a gut check of their toughness, cadets will be
required to repeat a series of push-ups, kicks, strikes
on heavy bags and other drills. After being worn down,
they are sent to the boxing ring to face off with an instructor.
Then they do it again. And again.
In another situation, volunteers and police officers
are brought in to push cadets' emotional buttons as they
make arrests. Nothing is off limits, including racial
insults. Obviously, the training academy can't replicate
the stressful encounters police face on the streets. But
such exercises aim to test their mettle and tolerance
under physical strain. If they can't respond to insults
professionally or defend themselves after strenuous exercise,
they're dropped from the academy.
The latter is where defensive tactics come in. The 56
hours of training instructs cadets how to use various
tactics, such as pressure points, kicks, hand strikes
and holds to subdue their subjects and defend themselves.
It is backed with months of daily physical training to
increase endurance, strength and flexibility.
In the movies, officers slug it out while on their feet.
In real life, the ground is where many tussles happen,
and that is considered a safer option for officers. Academy
instructors imported a form of Brazilian jui jitsui to
maximize ground-fighting skills. Senior patrol officer
Antoine Lane learned of its effectiveness the hard way.
Several years ago, Lane confronted a known drug dealer
on the street. Lane had him pinned in a headlock and was
ready to cuff him but was unprepared for what followed.
"I was using what I knew, brute strength, and I
thought it was effective," said Lane, an instructor
at the police academy in southeastern Travis County. "But
he was able to easily and effectively remove me from him.
I was the one behind the power curve."
The suspect got away but left a lasting impression on
Lane, who was struck by "the calmness, ease and execution
of the move." After learning that it was a form of
martial arts, he began studying it, then teaching it at
the academy.
Lane believes the training is particularly essential
for female officers or smaller male officers who are likely
to find themselves dealing with bigger and stronger suspects.
"We are giving them tools so they know that if some
monster attacks me, I'm OK because I can defend myself
and gain some sense of control," he said.
Racine demonstrated the effectiveness of defensive tactics
against one of the class' strongest cadets. Martinez,
at 6'1" and 208 rock-solid pounds, seemed the likely
winner in this match-up against the 138-pound mother of
four.
But not so in this exercise, in which technique trumped
size.
Austin police cadets
Seventy-eight cadets remain in training to be Austin
police officers. Here's a look at the class of 2004:
Gender: 67 men; 11 women
Average age: 30; The oldest is 42; the youngest is 22
Education: Two with master's degrees; 33 with bachelor's
degrees; 17 with at least 60 college hours; four with
at least 30 college hours; 35 with prior military experience;
eight with prior law enforcement experience
Ethnicity: 53 Anglos; 18 Hispanics; six African Americans;
one Pacific Islander
Starting salary: $40,044
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Learning stunning tactics
Rather than
deadly force to subdue all suspects, police cadets learning
the value of stunning tactics
By Alberta Phillips
AMERICAN-STATESMAN EDITORIAL STAFF
Tuesday, June 1, 2004
This is the 10th report in an occasional series following
four cadets training to become Austin police officers.
Austin police cadet Bonnie Caudill aims and shoots at
a lunging pregnant woman wielding a knife. Her shot pierces
the woman's forehead. But the woman isn't dead or seriously
wounded; she is a silhouette target. A human being would
be momentarily stunned and unable to move. Caudill, 33,
didn't use her pistol, but a Taser stun gun.
The role-playing exercise aims to teach the men and women
training to be Austin police officers the right moment
and circumstances to use stun guns. Seventy-eight men
and women have survived the months of rigorous training
and instruction at the Austin Police Academy in southeastern
Travis County.
The Austin Police Department, stung by criticism that
its officers are too quick to draw firearms when they
encounter African American and Latino suspects, has invested
heavily in Taser stun guns. Chief Stan Knee kept the pledge
he made earlier this year to community leaders, purchasing
more than 700 Taser stun guns, at about $800 each. Now
all patrol officers in the department, from the rank of
sergeant and below, are equipped with high-voltage Tasers.
That investment already is paying off in lives saved.
Last month, police would have had little choice but to
use deadly force when they confronted a mentally ill suspect.
Instead of firing a pistol, officers stunned Jackson Fan
Chun Ngai at the Hyde Park home of University of Texas
professor Danielle Martin. Ngai brandished a meat cleaver
after answering the door to police. Ngai had called 911
to report that Martin had a computer chip in her head.
It was a potentially dangerous encounter for police, who
could see from the home's entrance a blood-stained body
with several cutting instruments around it. Later, police
found a note near the body that said, "Computer chip
in brain."
In another incident this month, a man charged at police
officers with a screw driver. Two months ago, that might
have been met with deadly force. Instead, an officer used
a Taser stun gun to immobilize the man, who then was taken
into custody without lasting injury or further incident.
Tasers put down suspects about 95 percent of the time.
The weapon discharges two small probes up to 21 feet.
When those probes make contact with the body, they release
strong electrical pulses that go directly into the muscles
of the body — even penetrating clothing. When someone
is hit by a Taser, his muscles jerk involuntarily. The
person is unable to control any muscle functions until
the probes are removed. That's why he isn't a danger to
an officer trying to make an arrest. As soon as the probes
are removed, the jerking stops and the person regains
control over his muscle functions.
As part of their training, cadets are hit by Tasers.
The four cadets we've been following for several months,
Caudill; Jane Pacifico, 24; Jay Swann, 36; and Angela
Racine, 33, are passing in all areas. They won't soon
forget Taser training, though.
"My whole body locked up," said Caudill, a
former major in the U.S. Marines. The probes, which connected
with her ankles, sent a powerful shock up her legs to
her head and out to her fingertips.
"It was painful. I couldn't move," Caudill
said. "But as soon as they (the probes) were removed,
it was over. There was no lasting effect."
After watching cadets train with Taser stun guns and
witnessing their effectiveness in real encounters, it's
tempting to jump to the conclusion that police should
replace firearms with Tasers. Austin police officers use
deadly force to subdue suspects, armed and unarmed, fewer
times on average than their peers nationwide. Even so,
police could further reduce deadly force incidents if
they kept guns in their holsters and used Taser stun guns
when confronting lunging suspects armed with knives, screw
drivers or weapons other than pistols. Police could use
Tasers when a person suddenly turns violent and fights
the officer.
But as mentioned before, Tasers are effective 95 percent
of the time — not 100 percent. That's why there will
be times when an officer's only choice is a deadly one.
Tasers are saving lives and are a viable option to deadly
force. But officers shouldn't be exposed to greater danger
because of them.
That's why cadets are trained to use Taser stun guns
in circumstances when at least two officers are on the
scene. In such an encounter, Caudill would draw her bright
yellow Taser, while her fellow officer would raise his
gun. Caudill would yell, "Taser! Taser! Taser!"
then shoot the suspect with her stun gun. But if that
doesn't bring down a charging and armed suspect, then
the second officer would fire his pistol.
"We don't train them to be a hero," said Assistant
Police Chief Robert Dahlstrom, who oversees the police
academy. "In most situations, they get only one chance.
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Taking it to the streets
By Alberta Phillips
AMERICAN-STATESMAN EDITORIAL WRITER
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
As cadets go, Jay Swann has the right stuff to be an
officer for the Austin Police Department.
He has demonstrated his abilities on the shooting range,
scoring 111 of a possible 112 on firearms skills. Last
week, he passed the state's tough licensing exam for law
enforcement officers on the first try. During 26 weeks
of training to become an Austin police officer, Swann
has maintained a grueling daily regimen of studying the
criminal code, practicing fighting techniques, writing
papers and doing physical drills, the combination of which
sometimes left him near exhaustion.
Even so, Swann knows he isn't ready to shed his training
wheels. He knows that the classroom, no matter how challenging,
isn't the street.
"Am I ready to go on the street and be a cop by
myself?" Swann said, repeating a question asked during
a break in training last week. "No, but I'm definitely
prepared for the next step, field training, in which we
(cadets) work under the supervision of senior officers."
Ready or not, here they come. Of the 93 cadets who started
in December, 78 have survived police training. With less
than two weeks before graduation on June 18, it isn't
a given that all the survivors will pin on badges. It's
looking good, though, for the four cadets we've followed
through the police academy: Swann, 36; Bonnie Caudill,
33; Angela Racine, 33; and Jane Pacifico, 24. All have
passed physical training and the required, three-hour
exam — Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officers
Standards and Education.
But the preparation only goes so far. That was one of
the lessons Swann and other cadets learned last week during
role-play exercises designed to test their mental and
physical skills and their emotional responses. Cadets
were sent on practice calls to deal with disturbances.
They weren't told ahead of time what they would encounter.
Their responses in some cases showed that there's still
work to do.
When Swann arrived at a staged disturbance, a fight between
two men was in progress. He was the backup officer. The
fight erupted because a husband discovered a Peeping Tom
standing at a bedroom window while he and his wife had
intercourse. The man at the window had exposed himself
during the incident. Though the officers broke up the
fight, the suspect, under Swann's watch, escaped.
"I had him (suspect) seated on the ground and I
stepped away to make contact with the female (wife) to
see what was going on," Swann said. "He got
up and ran away."
Swann learned that as the backup officer, he never should
have strayed beyond a point that left the suspect out
of his reach. It was the job of the primary officer —
not the backup — to interview the wife and conduct
the investigation. In this case, the suspect got away.
In another practice call, cadet Michael Thomas pulled
over a speeding car and attempted to write a ticket. The
driver and a passenger yelled profanities and didn't follow
orders to present a license and registration, and then
the driver shunned Thomas' attempts to frisk him.
"That's resisting a frisk," bellowed senior
patrol officer James Boujemaa. "He's holding on to
the steering wheel and pushing away from you. You let
him go unfrisked. Where's your credibility? He could have
a gun or knife or other weapon."
When Thomas did frisk the passenger, he didn't find the
concealed weapon — a knife. That elicited a severe
response.
"He missed the weapon on a frisk. He's not ready,"
Boujemaa declared.
During the weeks-long role-playing at Crockett High School,
instructors are tougher than usual. That's because a mistake,
such as missing a concealed weapon on a frisk, could be
fatal on the streets. There, an officer gets one chance
to get it right.
"We're going to do it again and again," Boujemaa
tells Thomas. "This is the place to mess up . . .
We have to make sure everyone gets it right — before
they're cut loose."
The 2,000 various role-plays conducted over two weeks
covered the gamut, from responding to domestic disturbances
and traffic stops to dealing with an ambush and hostile
crowds. Veteran officers who participated in the calls
gave cadets a dose of reality. In one exercise, two officers
physically tested cadets. In one role-play, an officer
masquerading as an unruly driver got into a ground scuffle
with a cadet. No pretense there. In yet another exercise,
a group of officers singled out and physically ambushed
unsuspecting cadets, then took their guns.
"You have to make it real for them," senior
patrol officer Danny Johnson said, "because on the
18th of June — it's show time.
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Behind the badge
From civilian
to cop in 29 weeks.180 days
Sunday, June 20, 2004
Dozens of men and women aspiring to be Austin police
officers will soon patrol with senior officers after 29
weeks of grueling training, which was chronicled in an
editorial series by Austin American-Statesman writer Alberta
Phillips and photographer Jay Janner.
The cadets were sobered by rigors that proved too much
for some: Of 93 trainees, only 78 remain. Their emotions
were tested after burying a comrade who was killed in
an April car wreck. They cheered when Washington native
Jane Pacifico, 25, learned how to shoot straight. The
former television journalist had never fired a gun before
joining the Austin Police Department's 109th cadet class.
They were inspired by Angela Racine's determination to
make a better life for her four children, ages 3 to 8.
The divorced mother from California juggled a busy home
life with the demands of police training. Racine, 33,
wants to specialize in community relations.
Jay Swann illustrated that today's police officers need
more than brawn to be effective. The Amarillo native has
a graduate degree from Harvard University. Also, his peers
recognized his leadership skills: He was selected as one
of two class presidents. Swann, 36, wants to become a
homicide detective.
Bonnie Caudill, 33, a former major in the Marines, won
the respect and hearts of her peers and instructors. She's
the package, blending guts, compassion, brains and physical
skills. Caudill, of New York, was never far from the top
in performance on every level. She wants to work on the
elite canine patrol.
The four cadets were among those who graduated from the
academy Friday. Here is a look back at some of what it
took to earn the badge of an Austin police officer
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Cadets no longer
By Alberta Phillips
AMERICAN-STATESMAN EDITORIAL WRITER
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
This is the 12th and final report in an occasional series
about four cadets who are training to be Austin police
officers.
Today, 78 men and women will be sworn in as Austin police
officers. For them, it's been a long haul: 29 punishing
weeks of physical, academic and emotional conditioning
and training. Through it all, including a car wreck that
took the life of fellow cadet Trina Andretti, they persevered.
They're the survivors; 15 others who began cadet training
in December didn't make the cut.
The preparation of Austin police officers was in question
when we began shadowing four cadets as they worked their
way through training. Two African Americans had been killed
by white police officers in a 13-month period between
2002 and 2003.
Questions regarding police training surfaced, especially
after the shooting death of 20-year-old Jesse Lee Owens
during a traffic stop. Officer Scott Glasgow threw away
the book in trying to arrest Owens on a dark, deserted
East Austin street in June 2003. Had he followed procedures,
this tragedy might have been avoided. There was no imminent
danger, and no compelling reason that the Austin Police
Department's internal affairs division could discern to
explain Glasgow's actions that night. Independent reviews
by a Travis County grand jury and by the Austin Police
Monitor's office came to similar conclusions, even as
they cleared Glasgow of intentionally killing Owens. Glasgow
asserted, and investigations support his claim, that he
shot Owens five times in self defense — to stop Owens'
moving car, in which Glasgow had become trapped.
Church and community leaders understandably erupted in
frustration. Their questions were legitimate: Why didn't
Glasgow wait for backup before approaching Owens' car?
Why didn't he order Owens to turn the car off and throw
the keys into the street? Why did Glasgow put himself
in harm's way by reaching over — gun in hand —
the door frame of the car Owens was driving?
To find answers, we went to the Austin Police Academy,
which trained Glasgow. Over 20 weeks, we followed cadets
as they studied the criminal code, practiced making high-
and low-risk traffic stops, went out on calls with seasoned
officers, practiced handcuffing suspects in a way that
avoids injury, conducted frisks for concealed weapons,
drove obstacle courses to hone driving skills, shot pistols
and shotguns at targets, studied racial profiling laws
and policies, conducted DWI stops and tests, and learned
about the various cultures that make up Austin.
Our conclusion is that if some officers are policing
unprofessionally and in discriminating ways, it's not
because of a lack of preparation by the police academy.
Certainly, there is room for improvement. But we witnessed
a professional program that doesn't cut corners. And that
raises a more serious issue for Austin Police Chief Stan
Knee. If Glasgow was adequately trained when he left the
academy, then what happened to change that during his
three years on the police force? Knee must get to the
heart of where this breach in professionalism is occurring
and fix it.
We salute the 78 men and women who receive their badges
today. As they move forward in their careers with the
Austin Police Department, they should take with them the
instruction, preparation and professionalism they learned
at the academy. They should remember that police officers
are enforcers and peacekeepers. They aren't judges or
juries.
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