offi cer down: Off-Duty Ambush: The Steve Franks Incident
info) while distracted by family matters. Envision, for example, pulling up in front of a convenience store in your marked car to pick up a gallon of milk while you are distracted by your kids arguing in the back seat and a hold-up is in progress inside. In Franks’ case, we don’t know what, if any, danger signs he might have missed, except the downed mailbox (see next para- graph for further info), because if they existed, he has no conscious recollection of them. What we do know, however, is that, like most off -duty offi cers, his mind was on off -duty matters, his hands were full—something most officers carefully avoid when on duty—and he didn’t see the attack coming. T ere is no reason to be overly cautious, but we can’t aff ord to let our guard down either. Remain alert dur- ing your off -duty time, particularly when in uniform and/or driving a marked unit, going to and from work, and/or traveling through high-crime areas, and even more so when accompanied by loved ones. Furthermore, it is very important to pay close attention to our instinctive defense mechanism when off duty as well as on duty. A stark example of this can be seen in the way Capt. Franks reacted to the downed mailbox. It had made him feel mildly uneasy—not alarmed or even con- cerned, just slightly uneasy—but he had ignored the feeling because of his off -duty mindset and hurry to get inside. Ironically, he is now convinced that the mailbox was a “stopper” (i.e., an obstacle placed in the path of an ambusher’s victim to cause the victim to stop squarely in the hot zone just before the attack). Franks believes Barnes used the mailbox to halt him and Mary in the middle of the yard, where he would be able to shoot Franks fi rst and then kill Mary at will. But when Mary stopped at the mailbox and Franks kept going, it split them and forced Barnes to delay his attack until Franks stopped at the front door. Ironically, although this may have saved his life, Capt. Franks had made a poten- tially fatal error by ignoring his instincts about the mailbox. T is is a very common mistake, because we fail to realize that danger cues are often very subtle and not
47 The Police Marksman Mar-Apr 2015
recognized at the conscious level. Our sub- conscious minds are able to detect and ana- lyze these cues very quickly, but our much slower conscious minds cannot; therefore, the subconscious mind must fi nd a way to let us know about the danger without tak- ing the time to explain it. It does this with emotions like alarm when it clearly sees imminent danger, or in less obvious situa- tions, concern or uneasiness. It is common to ignore these gut instincts when focused on something else or to dismiss them by rationalizing them away, but we need to re- member that our instincts are often very re- liable. We do well to pay attention to them and adjust our actions accordingly. T is is not meant to condone overreact- ing when our instincts warn us of possible danger, but we should at least raise our awareness, reassess the situation, and be ready with a plan. In this case, for example, Capt. Franks could have started looking for other danger signs while returning to his vehicle with Mary, and then decided on his next move from there. Depending upon what he observed, he might have de- cided to leave and come back later, drive to a neighbor’s to call the police, or tell Mary to drive a short distance down the cul-de- sac while he carefully checked his property by circling it from a distance and using the surrounding trees for concealment. T e es- sential point is to trust our instincts. Return to Question 2
Off-Duty Family Concerns Another matter that came into play in this case, and which is of even greater impor- tance than our own safety, is one we have already mentioned briefl y but needs further attention here—our family’s safety. We are trained and mentally prepared to protect ourselves, but we don’t think much about how our jobs might aff ect the safety of our families. T ough we may never be targeted by a stalker, the risks of the job don’t disap- pear when out of uniform and accompanied by family members. Ten percent of the of- fi cers feloniously killed in the past 10 years were killed while off duty. Over a quarter (28%) of these attacks were ambushes and over a third (37%) were robberies, either
one of which would be unthinkably dan- gerous for our family members if they were caught up in one. How often do we plan for this distressing possibility? T ink about how you would react if, while off duty with family members, you stumbled into a holdup or other violent crime, witnessed an offi cer in serious trouble, or were am- bushed. Discuss this with your family in as nonthreatening a manner as possible, but seriously and from a calm, practical per- spective. Since their safety is top priority, your goal should be to direct or escort them to a safe place before taking any action to intervene. Children who are old enough to notify the local police of the situation should be told to do so, and to include a full description of you and your clothing; but only if they can do so without putting themselves in any danger. T ough pre-planning is crucial, it doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, it is better to keep it simple and generic enough to be applicable to as wide a variety of situations as possible. For example, consider telling your family to either take cover or exit the hot zone immediately if you ever have to take any kind of police action in their presence, and then explain that you will try to distance yourself from them before you act. T is is also a good time to educate them about cover and concealment, and to emphasize the importance of maintaining constant awareness of the nearest avail- able cover, concealment and escape routes. You may even want to make a game of it by randomly asking them to identify the various escape routes and items of cover and concealment in their immediate vicin- ity. T e idea is to get them into the habit of exit/cover awareness so they won’t have to stop and think about where to go in an emergency. It is also a good idea to have everyone memorize a code word that you will use to warn them before you take any kind of police action.
Your best course of action when travel- ing by car with your family is usually to just keep going and call 9-1-1, but you may come across a situation that you cannot in good conscience ignore, such as an offi cer in need of aid, citizen in lethal danger, or
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