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'Officer-involved' shootings statistics

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 22, 2007

The latest statistics show there are on average 600-700 "officer-involved" shootings each year, with 30 percent of those being fatal.

Florida's law enforcement officers are trained to respond with deadly force, but it's often the aftermath that they aren't prepared for, experts say.

"The guilt feeling is a tough one," said Terry Morgan, senior chaplain for California-based Placer County Chaplaincy. "Over the course of the week they will be questioning themselves."

Usually an officer easily slips into the groove of training when facing an armed suspect. But adrenaline is flowing, especially if a shot is fired at deputies first, as was the case on Tuesday when a 25-year-old man was killed on Banyan Road.

It feels like a dream, Morgan explained, because the brain slows down the action while simultaneously bringing every detail into sharp contrast.

Afterwards, the realization that a person is dead by your hand will sink and a variety of emotions will play out. It's critical from the beginning that the department as a whole and trusted friends support the officers involved, said Tom Gillen, director of the Central Florida Police Stress Unit in Orlando.

Without support, officers tend to leave 3-5 years after the event. That can sometimes be attributed to an officer's spouse who suddenly realizes how lethal the profession is and wants the officer to quit the job.

It can also lead to an officer freezing up or having a bad reaction if placed in a similar situation, even years later.

"These are normal feelings to an abnormal situation," Gillen said.

Steve Klapka, president of the local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police, said he's talked with both deputies involved and it's still sinking in for them.

Glatfelter serves as treasurer for the FOP.

Overall, morale at the department has been "as good as can be expected," Klapka said. Chaplains were provided by the sheriff's office for deputies and dispatchers needing to talk out their feelings.

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