On 03/20/2019, Officers Laguerre, Carter and Orozco responded to a call regarding threats with a knife. Upon arrival, the complainant advised that his wife was not taking her psychiatric medications and that she had a violent episode toward him. He stated that his wife armed herself with a knife and a pair of scissors, and attempted to stab him. He further stated that during the course of the attack he was able to wrestle both weapons from his wife’s hands and call the police for help.
At that point, officers made contact with the complainant’s wife inside of a bedroom in the residence. She was sitting on the bed and appeared to be in an altered mental state. The subject disregarded several loud verbal requests to exit the bedroom and appeared to become increasingly agitated. She then armed herself with a large butcher knife and began to aggressively yell at the officers.
The officers immediately recognized that they were within the subject’s reactionary gap and quickly moved to a safe distance to avoid being seriously injured. Without hesitation, Officers Carter, Laguerre, and Orozco reverted to their training and utilized verbal and nonverbal techniques in an attempt to defuse this violent encounter. The subject continued to disregard several loud verbal commands to drop the knife and became more aggressive. She then approached officers at the threshold of the doorway in a threatening manner. The officers deployed their less-lethal Tasers in accordance with policy. The subject was subsequently subdued and taken into protective custody without further incident.
In the midst of controversy surrounding police deadly force encounters throughout the country, these officers are to be recognized and commended for their act of bravery and restraint. They maintained their composure and reverted to their training by applying essential techniques in an attempt to deescalate this dangerous confrontation. Their swift, but deliberate actions were instrumental in preventing a potentially deadly force encounter.
