When Cops Kill: An Insider’s Perspective

BY DANIEL DELEON

I WAS INSPIRED TO WRITE THIS ARTICLE AFTER reading Michael Shermer’s July 2015 column in Scientific American titled “Outrageous: Why Cops Kill.” I thought readers might gain some insight hearing an answer to the question of why cops kill from a cop himself. I begin with some background and then consider the many circumstances in which we cops find ourselves that can lead an incident to escalate into violence.

I am a 34 year-old white male and grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles. I served in the U.S. Army with the 2nd Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment. I did a tour in Afghanistan, finished my time in the Army and went on to obtain my college degree. Finally, at the age of 26, I became a police officer with what I consider the greatest department in the world—the Los Angeles Police Department.

One of my earliest memories was of my grandfather’s answer to my question about what I should be when I grow up. His response: “Son, do what makes you happy. So long as it keeps a roof over your head and food on the table, do it.” My immediate response was, “I want to be a police officer.”

Why? I don’t know, and I cannot remember any experiences with law enforcement at that time that would have led me to choose this profession. I guess you could say it was a “calling” for me. I geared my entire life toward becoming a police officer.

As I grew older in my childhood, I always had a strong desire to protect others who were being harmed. Even though I was a skinny little kid, I never hesitated to fight a bully who was picking on someone. I often played scenarios in my head of helping someone in a life-threatening situation.

I did my best to stay out of trouble, never doing drugs and never committing any crimes more serious than a traffic violation or using Napster. I knew a tour in the military would instill in me a disciplined mindset, and it surely did. I knew education would give me the writing and legal skills I would need to survive in my chosen career.

The Los Angeles Police Department was the only choice I considered. While growing up the LAPD’s uniform always impressed me—it seemed like there was no other like it. Seeing how the officers of the department carried themselves motivated me to be like them some day. Most of all, a personal experience with a single LAPD officer set it all in stone.

When I was around 6, my parents were going through a custody battle. My mother was drinking and using drugs regularly, and I did not wish to be around her. One day it was my father’s turn to have custody, and I told him that I did not want to be with my mother anymore. Long story short, a lone LAPD officer showed up and talked to me in private. I told him everything my mother was doing and that I did not want to stay with her. He said, “I’m going to make sure you’re safe, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that happens.” That talk resonates with me today and has been a guiding force for what kind of a police officer I became.

My academy training started on March 05, 2007. Having been in the military and, more specifically, in a special operations unit, my expectation of how rigorous LAPD academy tactics and discipline would be was not especially high. I do not say this to sound demeaning—I felt the standards of tactics and discipline of my military experience were set at near unimaginable heights. But my opinion changed very quickly. The LAPD’s training curriculum and corps set a very high standard.

Tactics and discipline were its main areas of focus, and officer safety was the pinnacle of almost everything we did. “Never turn your back on a suspect.” “Always watch the hands.” “Never leave your partner’s side.” These were a few of the rules drilled into us. Self-defense, tactics, and firearms were also significant parts of our training. These were also the areas that caused recruits to drop out.