Punta Gorda police officer Lee Coel Is escorted out of the Charlotte County Jail on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, with his attorney Jerry Berry after posting bond. He was charged with felony manslaughter in the death of Mary Knowlton. (Photo: Andrew West/The News-Press)
USA Today reported Tuesday that the officer who shot the woman attending the Citizen’s Police Academy during a scenario where the training officer was playing the “bad guy” has been charged criminally. If convicted, he faces 30 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The chief of that agency has also been charged and faces up to 60 days in jail.
The full article from USA Today can be read clicking this link.
We are not playing around anymore. There are over 30 dead people at the back of the book Training at the Speed of Life – Volume One who were slain due to haphazard safety practices. Every one of these tragic deaths were easily preventable using simple safety protocols that continue to be ignored on a daily basis across America and throughout the world.
It is a tragedy for the agency, a tragedy for the individuals involved, a tragedy for the community, and a harsh reminder to those who choose to venture into the realm of the various types of Reality Based Training exercises. These tragedies are no longer being treated as horrible accidents where both the perpetrator and the victim are considered victims. The perpetrator, and those who empowered the perpetrator by either willful negligence or ignorance, are being held to the same criminal accountability standards as any other person who causes the negligent, even if unintentional, death or seriously bodily harm to another, and should be. If a person decided to teach their child or significant other about home defense and inadvertently shot and killed them or seriously injured them, their well-intentionedness does not enter into it. They have committed an inexcusable homicide or criminal assault.
The rules are simple. Learn them, Use them. Or DO NOT DO this type of training.