Gun-Taser Mix-Up May Be Explained By ‘Slip and Capture’ Theory
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Police in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota claim the shooting of Daunte Wright happened because Officer Kim Potter, a 26-year veteran, mistakenly fired her gun instead of her Taser. Various outlets are digging into the subject, with the same general conclusion: The phenomenon is real, albeit quite rare.
Here’s what my very limited research turned up:
- 11 times: The Minneapolis Star Tribune has found 11 instances nationwide since 1999 in which a gun-Taser mix-up has been blamed in a police shooting. That includes at least three other fatalities in addition to Wright. The year 1999 was when a gun-shaped Taser, the M-26, came into vogue.
- How: By now, most departments—including the one in Brooklyn Center, where Wright was shot—require officers to carry Tasers on their weak-hand side, opposite of their gun. Tasers are generally lighter than guns and have a different feel, but officers have been known to mistakenly grab their handgun by mistake in the heat of a chaotic situation, per the AP.
- A theory: Bill Lewinski, no relation to Monica, described as an expert on police psychology and founder of the Force Science Institute, uses the phrase “slip and capture” to describe how officers might do the opposite of their intended action in moments of stress. “Their actions ‘slip’ and are ‘captured‘ by a stronger response.” Officers typically train far more often, about 4-1, on drawing their handguns than stun guns, and that training might take over.
- Famous case: Perhaps the most famous instance in which such a gun-Taser mix-up was blamed is the 2009 fatal shooting of Oscar Grant on a train in Oakland, reports the Washington Post. The Michael B. Jordan movie Fruitvale Station is based on the incident. “It’s totally shocking that it would occur, even yesterday,” the lawyer who represented Grant’s family tells the Post, referring to the Wright shooting. “But the beat goes on,” says John Burris. “Even if this one turned out to be tragic, the initial conduct, the racial profiling—that happens all the time.”
- Charges: Officers in such cases are rarely charged or receive only minimal jail time, notes the New York Times, which has an interactive graphic on gun-Taser comparisons. (The officer who shot Grant served 11 months for involuntary manslaughter.) It remains unclear if Potter, who killed Wright, will face charges herself. She is heard on video yelling “Taser” three times before shooting, a trained action to warn other officers a taser is about to be deployed. Then she says, “Holy shit, I shot him,” clearly surprised that she had fired her handgun.
It’s almost certain more research will be conducted on this phenomenon in the wake of this most unfortunate shooting. It has been reported that some officers refuse to use tasers on unarmed subjects, which is curious because this is precisely why they are used.
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I’m with you on this Mike and I also hadn’t heard of this slip and capture, and it could make sense, but I’m not going to commit either. Interesting article though. Thanks man.
Here I come to piss in the cornflakes. Nope, stopped myself from saying something I will totally regret. Do not ask me, I’m not saying
LOL! You can tha knows. I got the “tha” from you. Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.
Probably a typo when I was high, which is damn near all the time 😉
That’s an interesting theory and one that would explain a lot of different things, not only in law enforcement. Thanks for the information.
Thanks Howard. I’m posting this for information only. I don’t have enough data to make a decision as to the soundness, or lack of it, regarding this theory.
Good post, Mike. I think that this may well be a “muscle memory” situation from training. Like you, I really have no more than you, but officers get far more situational training with their firearms than with a taser. In a fast-moving, chaotic situation their body reacts from training. While her mind was thinking “Taser”, her body, muscle memory reacted back to the most frequently practiced crisis which would be her firearm. I do believe that this was an unintentional act but in either case, a man is still dead. Unlike the Virginia situation which I think that at least the lead officer was acting out racist feelings. I truly believe that had the subject been white the officers would have handled the whole incident would have been handled differently. It became a “You disrespected me” situation.
I agree with everything except your last sentence. That’s a knee-jerk reaction based on times gone by and does nothing but fan the flames of racial unrest and cop hate. We can agree to disagree.
Perhaps you are right Mike but at some point we have to call it what it is. How many times do you see two police officers leave their vehicle with guns drawn and pointed at a driver being stopped for no tag, even though there was a temporary tag clearly posted in the back window of the subject’s car? The second officer was out of position or he would have clearly seen the military uniform. I have, and perhaps you have as well, the behavior that the lead officer displayed when someone doesn’t instantly obey an officer’s command. The subject was clearly holding both of his hands out of his car window. They were using a felony stop for a traffic citation, would not listen to the subject and it was clearly, in my mind, because the subject did not instantly stop in a darkened area. He did as any citizen should do: slow down, turn on his flashers, and proceeded to the next well-lighted area, turned off the ignition, and put his hands in clear sight of the officers. At a minimum, the lead officer was being a dick head. I have no doubt about the reason he was being a dick, the driver was a black guy and he was not saying “yas sir” to him. The officer made a nothing case into a cluster-fuck. At some point Mike you will need to start calling fuck ups. This was one of those. I know you, Mike. After that incident, I would like to think that when it was over if you were his supervisor, you would correct his behavior. Quite honestly, had I been that subject I would have been afraid to get out of the car as well.
One other thing. The lead officer knew he screwed up or he would not have threatened the subject to not say anything about the incident. That does not coincide with an individual who had done everything right. His chief compounded the error by saying his officer did nothing wrong. That is a major problem today and why people contend that police be held accountable for their actions. It would have taken 2 or 3 seconds for the officer to, at a minimum, for the officer to have apologized to the subject and use the stand by, “We had a complaint about a car that fit the description.”
Bill, as we spoke for a couple of hours on the phone, I don’t disagree with you at all.