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Rolling Hot
Dec. 5th, 2014 09:10 amA few months back, police in a Chicago suburb killed a 95-year-old man in a nursing home. IIRC, three cops in riot gear were at the scene when the fatal shots (from a beanbag gun) were fired. Recently, Cleveland cops killed a 12-year-old boy two seconds after rolling up on him in their squad car. Over the summer, six cops were called to subdue a man in Staten Island charged with selling untaxed cigarettes. He died.
These cases have several things in common, such as the obvious one of people getting killed by cops. But what I think is the fundamental commonality is a decision made before any action is taken. The police were "rolling hot."
In the military, rolling hot was originally a term for an aircraft moving in to drop bombs or conduct a strafing run, and now is more generally used to mean moving to immediate combat. In these police cases, the officers involved had decided at some point in advance of taking action that somebody was going to get arrested and whatever force was needed was going to be employed.
In the case of the guy in the nursing home, the idea of barricading him in his room and waiting him out was never considered. In Cleveland, the idea of pulling up some modest distance away from the kid and giving him time to react (or even thinking that the gun might not be real or loaded) was not considered. In Staten Island, the idea to just give the guy a citation or tell him to leave was not considered. The police were rolling hot.
The problem is that these were American citizens in America, not Taliban or ISIS fighters in some sandbox overseas. The problem is "rolling hot" is a military concept, not a police concept.
These cases have several things in common, such as the obvious one of people getting killed by cops. But what I think is the fundamental commonality is a decision made before any action is taken. The police were "rolling hot."
In the military, rolling hot was originally a term for an aircraft moving in to drop bombs or conduct a strafing run, and now is more generally used to mean moving to immediate combat. In these police cases, the officers involved had decided at some point in advance of taking action that somebody was going to get arrested and whatever force was needed was going to be employed.
In the case of the guy in the nursing home, the idea of barricading him in his room and waiting him out was never considered. In Cleveland, the idea of pulling up some modest distance away from the kid and giving him time to react (or even thinking that the gun might not be real or loaded) was not considered. In Staten Island, the idea to just give the guy a citation or tell him to leave was not considered. The police were rolling hot.
The problem is that these were American citizens in America, not Taliban or ISIS fighters in some sandbox overseas. The problem is "rolling hot" is a military concept, not a police concept.
