offi cer down Slowly Developing Threats:
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. At what point did Deputy Dinkheller lose control of the situation? What led
you to this conclusion? How important is command presence to the control of potentially violent encounters?
See “Subject Control” section or click here for analysis
2. It appears that Deputy Dinkheller struck Brannan once with his baton, but only once, and with too little force, which only angered Brannan further. What does this say about the amount of force that should be applied when physical force is necessary? Does indecisive and/or minimal force do anyone any favors? See “Application of Force” subsection or click here for analysis
3. Under what circumstances is it safe to allow a motorist to return to his vehicle?
See “Permitting a Motorist to Return to His Vehicle” section or click here for analysis
4. What factors might have caused Deputy Dinkheller to withhold fi re as long as he did? What might cause other offi cers in similar situations to hesitate before using deadly force? What can be done to deal with this problem? See “Reluctance to Shoot” section or click here for analysis
5. What role might the duration of this confrontation have played in Deputy Dinkheller’s reluctance to open fi re? What can be done to deal with this problem? See “Slowly Developing Threats” section or click here for analysis
6. When armed with only a handgun in a confrontation with a suspect who is armed with a rifl e, is it better to increase or decrease the distance between you and your adversary? Why? See “Safe Distance from Rifl es” section or click here for analysis
7. Deputy Dinkheller was under incredible stress, and it showed in his accuracy (one hit in 33 shots). He also appeared to have been using his patrol car for cover. What does this say about the importance of realistic fi rearms training? See “Firearms Training” section or click here for analysis
8. Brannan was not wanted and had not been involved in any criminal activity prior to the stop. It appears that he just did not like Deputy Dinkheller. What does this say about the cop killer mindset?
See “Cop Killer Mindset” section or click here for analysis
9. Deputy Dinkheller fought back until the very end. Discuss how this might have affected the outcome if the circumstances had not been weighed so heavily against him?
See “Winning Mindset” section or click here for analysis
The Kyle Dinkheller Incident
DISCUSSION & ANALYSIS It is obvious that Deputy Dinkhel- ler waited too long to employ deadly force, but it would be much too sim- plistic to assume that he hesitated just because he didn’t have the nerve to pull the trigger. T ere are a number of reasons why offi cers in situations like his might hesitate to shoot, and it would be unfair to him and dan- gerous for other offi cers in similar situations to ignore those possibili- ties. T ink about how often we’ve seen offi cers repeatedly order armed off enders to put their guns down, or have been guilty of doing it ourselves. Unless we examine the reasons why offi cers so often make this mistake, how can we ever hope to correct it? T e following analysis will address this point in greater detail, as well as a number of other key lessons from this incident—lessons that can save lives. We owe it to Deputy Schoen and all our other fellow offi cers to learn as much as we can from this incident. Before you read the analysis, however, please review the following discussion questions and work through your own answers.
ANALYSIS Subject Control
Deputy Dinkheller’s murder provides a sobering example of what can happen when an offi cer loses control of a situ- ation. If Deputy Dinkheller had deci- sively put a stop to Brannan’s aggressive actions early on, Brannan would never have been able to get to his rifl e and this tragedy would have been averted.
Command Presence Subject control starts with proper command presence. People like Bran- nan have no respect for the uniform, and will test an offi cer if they detect any signs of uncertainty, fear or weak- ness. When Brannan refused to take his hands out of his pockets, a slight but discernable hint of uncertainty crept into Deputy Dinkheller’s voice (this change can be heard, though only
38 The Police Marksman May-Jun 2014
www.policemarksman.com
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