How Lexington cops are trained to respond to resistance, what happens when officers shoot

May 02, 2023

As one of the largest police departments in Kentucky, the Lexington Police Department conducts its own investigations into police shootings that are separate from Kentucky State Police investigations.

Lexington police officers have fired their weapons in response to resistance nine times in the last five years, according to data provided by the police department and previous Herald-Leader reporting. Five of those incidents have occurred since the beginning of 2022.

While police have declined to comment on why there has been an increase in the incidents, officers say investigations by the department's Public Integrity Unit have found no policy violations by officers who fired, according to Chad Bacon, the commander of the Public Integrity Unit.

In addition to investigations by the Public Integrity Unit, those incidents also were investigated by Kentucky State Police's Critical Incident Response Team. In the investigations that have been closed, no Lexington officers were found to have committed wrongdoing or have faced criminal charges.

The Public Integrity Unit investigation differs from KSP's investigation in that it's focused on whether or not officers violated LPD policy.

"We look at it from an administrative side to see if there's any policy violations involved in that shooting," Bacon told the Herald-Leader. "We look at it from a training aspect or we’ll send it to the training unit for them to review it as well. And those we can include the planning/analysis unit to bring them in to look at certain policies to make sure that the officers acted within policy."

When facing resistance from a suspect, Lexington police officers are permitted to fire their gun if they believe the suspect could cause serious injury or death to the officer or to others, according to the police department's policy on responding to resistance.

But short of that threat, officers are instructed to use verbal commands and to try to de-escalate a situation. They’re also instructed to use lesser force, such as a taser, if the lesser force would be enough to regain control of a situation.

"Officers who encounter a situation where the possibility of violence or resistance to lawful arrest is present should, whenever possible and appropriate before resorting to force and to reduce the need for force, defuse the situation through verbal persuasion," the Lexington Police Department's order on responding to resistance says.

Lt. Chris Cooper, who oversees LPD's training department, said LPD is always looking for ways to improve de-escalation.

"I would say we always strive to improve in that," Cooper said in an interview. "We’re constantly evaluating, whether it's something as significant as an officer-involved shooting or another example of a lesser incident of a response to resistance or use of force, whichever way you’ve ever heard that term used.

"We’re always looking and evolving, trying to keep up with best practices in that realm."

An officer choosing less-lethal force over firing at a suspect depends on the circumstances on the incident, Cooper said.

LPD tries to get officers who fire their gun to a stable environment quickly, but that can be difficult to do amid an active crime scene.

"Really, in any kind of officer-involved shooting, obviously that officer is the first one there," Bacon said. "They’re dealing with whatever is going on, so initially they’re in charge of that scene until another supervisor, whether it's a sergeant or lieutenant or commander, shows up and takes over that scene.

"I think we always, as soon as possible, the supervisor is going to remove the officer from that scene."

Lt. Randall Combs, who oversees the Police Officer Support Team at the department, said his team helps officers deal with stress and trauma that can arise from firing at someone.

"Our POST team is a team of officers that are trained peer supporters and we immediately respond to where the officers usually are coming to," Combs said. "We mainly assess the critical incident, the trauma that's associated with that and we talk with them and find out what needs they have."

It's common practice for LPD to place an officer on administrative assignment after they’ve fired their gun at a suspect. Combs said the support team will assign the officer a peer supporter to make sure the officer is handling the stress afterward.

"Sometimes it's often forgotten that the stress that the officer is under during these times, so we try to be very intentional about keeping up with them and making sure that them and their family that they’re holding up throughout this process," Combs said. "To us, that's an important part of the officer being able to recover from the trauma and the stress of the incident and being able to return to full duty is making sure that they know that the department is there for them, that we care about their well being."

Combs said the support team operates independently from investigations into these shootings.

"We encourage officers, not just the ones that are involved in critical incidents, but all officers to routinely reach out and to talk to people, whether that be a counselor or a spiritual advisor or close friend," Combs said. "I would answer and say it would be my hope that we are continuing to do that, all of us.

"But obviously an officer is not going to return to the street until they are 100 percent ready to do the job that they’re going back to, but we would certainly encourage all of the officers to continue to seeing people, continue dealing with the trauma that this job tends to carry with it."