The Ross Jessop Incident

Most of us in the LE community have seen the video accompanying this article. If you haven’t seen it, click and watch it now. Then come back and we’ll talk (figuratively). I’ll wait…

 

 ….OK, you’re back. So what do you think? Good shoot? To me, obviously it was. No question! But who am I? Nobody, so let’s examine the facts.

 

Raymond Thane Davis was the motorist. According to his obituary, he was a lover of the outdoors who had a “passion for hitching horse hair and Western arts.” In addition, “he loved old country music and Ford Mustangs.” What isn’t mentioned is a violent background (he spent time in the Idaho State Prison system for assaulting a police officer) and, more importantly, he had a desire—and indeed did try{C}{C}{C}{C}—to kill an innocent young police officer.

 

We, citizens of this country, too often live in an alternate reality. From politics to history, from geography to sanitation, the reality of how our world works and how we got to here eludes most. This is especially true when it comes to violence—real violence.

 

But wait a minute—everyone understands violence. Hollywood teaches us all about it. Video games allow us to experience it. Bullets strike a body and there's an immediate physical reaction: blood flows, flesh explodes, the victims fall down. In fist fights, people can get kicked in the head 40 times, blown up, fall off buildings and get up to continue their fisticuffs. Gravity means nothing as we all know it is possible to jump 20 feet into the air, stop for a few seconds, throw a couple of roundhouse kicks, change direction and land safely on a balcony. And outrunning cars, fire and rushing water{C}{C}{C}{C}{C}{C}—no problem.

 

In reality, we live in a world where real violence is totally avoided and misunderstood. The police get called when two 8-year-old boys punch each other on the playground. Teasing someone gets you suspended. Many school systems around the country have stopped allowing students to pick teams at recess. You know why? Because someone will be picked last! Oh, the humanity! Not only do we avoid allowing our children to experience physical pain, but we don’t even let them get their feelings hurt. 

 

Bottom line: The reality of human existence is being erased.

 

But that can't happen in law enforcement. We have spent too many years training the wrong way for the wrong reasons. 

 

So what does that have to do with Ross Jessop? 

 

Ross was in a firefight for his life! Some miscreant lowlife who gave no regard to Ross Jessop’s existence wanted, and tried, to end it! He had no thought of Ross Jessop’s wife and family, his friends and co-workers. He wanted to kill Ross so that’s all that mattered when he pointed the gun and pulled the trigger.

 

And Ross reacted. Did he do everything right? No, and Ross would be the first to tell you that. 

 

Officer Jessop’s Story

I know Ross. I met him shortly after this incident occurred. I was teaching my Arresting Communication Seminar in Bozeman, Mont. I showed the video and talked about the pros and very few cons. We mostly addressed the stress and subsequent behaviors. I made mention that Ross didn’t appear to appreciate that Davis challenged the reason for the stop. But I concluded that the shooting was excellent. On the break that followed, I was informed that the officer involved, Ross Jessop, was sitting in the front row. With that I sought Ross out and apologized if I offended him in anyway. His response? “Are you kidding? I found about seven or eight things I did wrong.”

 

So we went to lunch and Ross told me the whole story.

 

Davis was approached by two other police officers in a parking lot. They found him to be intoxicated. He promised not to drive but a short time later Ross found Davis to be doing just that. Ross told me that some of his mistakes were as follows:

So Ross is like every other officer in this country, he made, admits, shares and tries to learn from his mistakes. 

 

Well, allow me some leeway here from an emotional standpoint.

 

Before I ever met Ross, I was watching a national news channel. Some idiot who claimed to be a cop for 20 minutes somewhere at some time was analyzing the video. I have no problem with addressing some of the above tactics (neither does Ross), though they're minor and something all officers do at some point. But, my real problem is with the stated belief that Ross never should have fired his weapon at a moving vehicle—especially a vehicle moving away from him.

 

In other words, bad shoot.

 

Now I understand that certain TV folk and some particular TV channels seem to revel at harping on the supposed mistakes made by street cops. I don’t like it but, hey, that’s America. However, it’s a different thing when it happens within the profession.

 

Don’t mistake what I’m saying. I’m a huge believer in analyzing incidents and thinking outside the box. And if we make mistakes, we need to take responsibility, make corrections and learn. 

 

I travel the country conducting seminars and meeting thousands of cops every year. I try to ‘poke the dog’ and create controversy and discussion. Get a different paradigm to take hold if you will. In the vast, vast majority of times we make the right decisions and correctly apply force. But, sometimes we make mistakes for a variety of reasons. We arrest people who don’t need arresting, hit people when they shouldn’t be hit, and shoot when we shouldn’t shoot. But, make no mistake about it, the Ross Jessop shooting isn’t one of those cases.

 

I know that some trainers and supervisors around the country have made official stands about what Ross did that night. And their conclusions are that he shouldn’t have fired. They are teaching that to young officers.

 

I’m going to follow up this article in two weeks. In the meantime, you think about it. Watch the video, again. Consider what Ross’s options were in that split second. And if he didn’t fire, what were his choices? What would he have done? I’m curious to hear opinions that reflect mine but I’m even more curious to hear a contrary view. I’ve heard some in person and I’ll recap those, but please reach out to me direct and let’s discuss any thoughts that may bring another view to this. I look forward to the next article.