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CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) The following is an editorial issued December 14th by Valley City Police Chief Fred Thompson.
“Over the past several weeks there have been numerous news and media articles related to the “toy gun” incident that occurred in early October in which I was a party to. As the media frenzy grew, and a subsequent request to the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NDBCI) to investigate the incident submitted, it was in my best interest, from both a legal and official standpoint, not to comment on the issue. I stayed in the background and watched. Now that the NDBCI is completed, and I have been exonerated of any wrong doing, I could be happy and let this die a graceful death but I feel that it is appropriate for you to hear my side of this story.
But before I do that I would like to thank all of the citizens who called me, stopped me on the street, sent me emails and letters, and/or commented in the media, expressing support for my actions in this incident. Unlike some, you took the time to at least try to understand and put yourself in the shoes of a police officer working the street and the challenges that they face.
Briefly, this is what I saw. While driving down the street, in a marked patrol car, my peripheral vision picked up movement to my left. I quickly looked there and observed children moving to their left and trying to hide behind an object. I then quickly looked in the direction that the children were looking to see what they were looking at. All I saw was a large tree. Then stepping out from behind the tree was a male. He moved from behind the tree and took up a position standing, holding what appeared to be an AR-15 type rifle, pointing in the direction of the children. The majority of the barrel of the weapon was hidden by the tree as the male was standing in what firearms instructors call a “barricade position” where a portion of the weapon or the shooter is against the “barricade” to give the shooter a more sturdy shooting position.
I took this to be a male, with a weapon, pointed at and endangering the lives of those children. At a distance of approximately 75 – 100 feet away, and no time to call for backup, I slammed on the brakes, jumped out of the patrol car, drew my sidearm, pointed it at the male and yelled, “Police, drop the weapon!” I continued to repeat the command. My sidearm was pointed at the individual during this time, who at first replied, “Are you kidding?” I replied, “Police, drop the weapon!”
Watching the weapon I observed that the attitude of the weapon was changing and that the barrel of the weapon was no longer pointed directly at the children but was still in their general direction. Again, I still could not see the end of the barrel of the weapon. The male then stated, “It’s a toy gun.” I yelled, “I don’t care, drop the weapon!” It was then that the male then brought the weapon out from behind the tree where I could see the orange tip on the barrel indicating that it should be a “toy weapon.” He then threw it on the ground. Hearing the sound that the weapon made as it hit the ground, it was obviously made of plastic. I then holstered my sidearm and walked over to the male.
All of this occurred in approximately 15 seconds. A lot less time than it took me to type this out on my computer.
I then had a discussion with the citizen about the incident, what I saw, what I believed, and why I did what I did. I offered my apologies for upsetting him and then went on my way. This was late on a Saturday afternoon. On the following Monday morning I presented myself to the City Administrator and detailed for him this incident in its entirety. On Monday afternoon I met with the citizen again, again offered apologies for possibly scaring him, but not for my actions.
One would think that this would be the end of this story, but it was not. A couple of weeks later I hear a rumor that I was being investigated by NDBCI for this incident. I was not contacted by NDBCI prior to the start of this investigation, nor was I informed that it was taking place. In fact I was not contacted by the NDBCI at any time during the investigation and was never interviewed as to my observations, actions, and comments.
Later when I obtained a copy of the NDBCI report from a reporter and had a chance to review it, it stated, “S/A Lang noted while reviewing the email and the letter written by (citizen) that the sheriff’s department stated that the Mayor of Valley City, North Dakota, had sent (citizen) to see the sheriff.”
Somehow the fact that this incident occurred, and a NDBCI investigation was in place, got out to the public knowledge. This resulted in one individual calling for my immediate termination stating, “We’ve got a chief of police right now that’s the biggest idiot. He pulled a gun on a citizen… a guy that was playing with his two kids. He can’t tell the difference between an M-16 and an airsoft gun” as quoted in the Fargo Forum.
The Mayor did not contact me, or the City Administrator to my knowledge, prior to contacting NDBCI or having the citizen contact NDBCI reference this incident or to even ask what happened. Nor did the citizen who was quoted in the Fargo Forum contact me and ask what happened, he just went about spreading accusations with no personal first-hand knowledge or observation of the events in question.
The Washington Post recently did an analysis of Officer Involved Shootings in 2015. It can be seen at https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/police-shootings/ . To the date of the last time I checked this report there had been 30 officer involved shootings involving toy guns in 2015. While the shooting of any individual brandishing a toy gun is a tragic event, it points to the snap decisions officers have to make in life and death situations involving weapons. It is real or not? The time it takes to make that decision can cost the officer, or the citizen they are trying to protect, their life. In fact, there are documented cases where criminals have made real firearms look like “toy guns” to deceive law enforcement personnel and you can now buy your “real” firearm in a multitude of colors and patterns giving it the appearance of a toy.
I would challenge the accusatory citizen to allow me, with the media observing, to put him into various training scenarios that are used to train police officers and see how well he does when faced with a life and death decision where his own life is at “risk”. Time to time you will see these types of reports in the media and in every case the reporter has come away with a new appreciation of the difficulties in being a police officer. Just google “Reporters training as police officers” or “Police training for reporters” and read the articles.
There has been some question as to the VCPD Use of Force Policy and Procedure and whether or not it was followed in this incident. The quick answer is yes. The VCPD Use of Force Policy was developed from combining examples from Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) accredited law enforcement agencies from around the United States, adapting that language to fit VCPD and our jurisdiction, and then submitting it to the City Attorney for Valley City for his approval.
Today the U.S. Supreme Court uses the decision in Graham v. Conner 490 U.S. 386 (1989) for “Use of Force” determinations which states that an officer’s use of force will be judged from the standpoint of what a reasonable officer would do. “The “reasonableness” of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, and its calculus must embody an allowance for the fact that police officers are often forced to make split-second decisions about the amount of force necessary in a particular situation.” As a law enforcement executive who still inspects, reviews, and gives an opinion as to whether or not other agency’s Policies and Procedures will pass CALEA requirements, I am confident that the VCPD Use of Force Policy and Procedure meets current best practices around the United States.
About my training. I was first certified as a Firearms Instructor at my former agency in January 1988 and have successfully attended multiple firearms instructor classes, for multiple weapons systems, over the years to maintain my certifications. I am currently certified by North Dakota Peace Officer Standards and Training as both a Firearms Instructor and a Police Subjects Instructor.
I served as a SWAT officer for multiple years and was a SWAT Team Leader for years after that as well. I have just short of 6000 hours of training received and 1300 hours of instruction given. You should also know that during the “toy gun” event my finger was never on the trigger of my sidearm. It was alongside the “slide” or barrel of the weapon, as that is how I was taught, and train others. “Finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you are ready to fire.”
About my experience. In my years as a police officer I have been involved in multiple calls where one or more officers at the scene discharged their weapon, including one in February 1991 when I engaged in a gunfight with a bank robber who was shooting at another officer whose firearm had jammed. I received a Medal of Valor for that action. I have been shot at, and thankfully missed. I take my career very seriously. I am confident of my training and abilities, and will apologize again to the citizen for scaring him because I know what it is like to have a gun pointed at you, but I will not apologize for the actions I took in that incident to protect what I believed to be at the time, if only for a few seconds, children in danger.”