By Matt Day
Whenever there is a police officer-involved shooting in Oregon, a predetermined series of events is put into motion.
That was the case when Silverton Police Officer Tony Gonzalez shot and killed Andrew James Hanlon the night of June 30.
According to the protocol, the police agency connected with the case can’t conduct an investigation of its own officer. Instead, an organized team from other agencies is immediately called. The Marion County Homicide Assault Response Team, led by the Woodburn Police Department and supplemented by officers from police departments around Marion County, is handling the Silverton investigation.
Following procedure, Gonzalez was placed on administration leave pending the
outcome.
The Marion County Homicide Assault Response Team is charged with collecting evidence about the incident so the Marion County District Attorney’s Office and a grand jury can determine whether Gonzalez’s actions were consistent with police policy and procedure.
Findings from the investigation are expected to be released before the end of the month.
Silverton Police Captain Jeff Fossholm said he couldn’t comment on the specifics of Gonzalez’s case with the investigation ongoing, but he did offer an overview of the training Gonzalez received in the use of force and firearms.
The phrase officers are taught to keep in mind in determining the legitimacy of an action, Fossholm said, is the “reasonableness of the action given the situation as perceived at the time.”
“The officer has to make split-second decisions at the time an incident occurs,” he said.
The Silverton Police Department Policy Manual states the use of deadly force on another person is justified under two sets of circumstances.
The first deals with self-defense and protecting others. “An officer may use deadly force to protect himself/herself or others from what he/she reasonably believe[s] would be an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury,” the policy states.
The second criteria for use of deadly force concerns the parameters for dealing with fleeing suspects.
“An officer may not use deadly force to stop a fleeing suspect unless the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect has committed, or intends to commit, a felony involving the infliction, or threatened imminent infliction of serious bodily injury or death. Under such circumstances, a verbal warning should precede the use of deadly force, where feasible,” according to the manual.
The policy continues, “Facts later discovered, but unknown to the officer at the time, can neither justify nor condemn an officer’s decision to use force.”
All Oregon police officers are taught the specifics of such policies during their 16-week training program at the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training. They must graduate from the program before reporting for full-time assignment with a police department, a process Gonzalez completed prior to becoming a full-time officer with the Silverton Police Department in 2007.
Fossholm described an academy training exercise in which a cadet with a simulated holstered firearm stands 21-feet from a “suspect” holding a simulated knife. The suspect charges at the cadet and is able to “stab” him before the cadet can draw and fire his weapon.
“That scenario teaches you how quickly the scenario can change,” Fossholm said. “Someone could go from holding a knife to their own neck to stabbing you before you could do anything.”
As a result of the 21-foot rule, officers are taught to draw their firearms if a potentially dangerous suspect is nearby.
Another element of officers’ education on the use of deadly force features simulator training. Cadets react to an on-screen suspect’s actions, and are critiqued based on their choices.
“A guy could pull a lighter out of his pocket, or he could pull out a wallet or it could be a gun,” Fossholm said. “The officer has to react and whether he chooses to shoot or not, the officer will be judged.”
Once an officer has decided to fire his weapon, Fossholm said, training teaches the officer to aim for the “center of mass” and fire as many or as few shots as are necessary to “stop the threat.”
Officer training doesn’t stop after they graduate and move into full-time duty.
After finishing at the academy, Fossholm said the new officers spend as long as five months with a coach who rides with them on calls and helps to review policy.
Every day, Silverton police officers are expected to complete a five-minute online policy test, and review the policy in question if they answer questions incorrectly.
“It’s scenario based,” Fossholm said. “The quizzes basically say, ‘If someone is doing x, how do you react?’ And it gives them a list of options.”
