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Sometimes you have to improvise. Every police department has its codified rules and procedures. The Los Angeles Police Department’s manual, for example, contains hundreds of pages broken down into six volumes, and every year it grows larger with the addition of “special orders.” Added to this are hundreds of additional pages of training bulletins, divisional orders, bureau directives, and heaven knows what else the office-bound bureaucrats at headquarters can commit to paper and inflict on police officers out in the field.
But nowhere in all those pages of jargon and esoterica can be found the precise instructions on what to do when some lunatic is walking down the street firing a rifle into the air. And while I’m not familiar with the policies and procedures of the Marana, Ariz. Police Department, my guess is that the question is not specifically addressed there, either.
Which brings us to the recent “front-bumper takedown” employed to great effect by Officer Michael Rapiejko. Video of the Feb. 19 incident was just released, revealing how the tactic of running down and armed man with a police car, though unorthodox, was entirely justifiable and indeed preferable to other types of force that might have been considered.
Police say Mario Valencia had gone on a crime spree across Tucson that morning, one that included a robbery, an arson at a church, and the theft of a car. Valencia allegedly made his way to the Walmart in Marana, a town of about 35,000 people adjacent to the northern part of Tucson. It was at the Walmart that he is said to have stolen a .30-30 caliber rifle and ammunition before fleeing on foot. He was walking on a nearby street when he was spotted by an officer.
This first officer’s dash-cam video was also made available, and in it we can see his perspective as he drives up on Valencia, who turns to face him and puts the barrel of the gun to his own chin. “Stop,” Valencia shouts, “or I’ll f***ing do it,” an apparent threat to commit suicide. “You don’t want to do this,” the officer answers as Valencia turns and resumes on his path.
The officer broadcasts his location and a description of Valencia, then instructs other officers on which way to respond. “Put the gun down!” the officer shouts as Valencia, having turned a corner, is now out of the camera’s view. As the police car makes the turn, we see Valencia continuing down the street, at which time a passerby tells the officer that the gun “has a lock on it.” “Are you sure?” asks the officer as Valencia turns to face him, now holding the rifle in a more threatening manner. A few seconds pass before Valencia points the rifle skyward and fires a single round. “Okay,” says the passerby, “never mind.” Never mind, indeed.
Valencia continues, stepping into the street to walk around a parked motor home. When another police car comes into view at the end of the block, making the turn from the frontage road next to the Interstate 10, the officer warns his colleague that he has entered the kill zone. “Stand off, stand off,” he says. “The gun is loaded.”
Moments later, the car driven by Officer Rapiejko zooms past, driving around the first police car, into the oncoming lane and straight into Valencia, throwing him into the air before knocking down a cinderblock wall. Valencia spent two days in a hospital before being booked into jail. End of problem.
Or perhaps I should say, the end of one problem, the beginning of another. With the use of force by police so much in the news these days, the graphic images of Valencia being mowed down attracted media attention from coast to coast and beyond. To his great credit, Marana police chief Terry Rozema made the cable TV rounds to defend Officer Rapiejko’s actions. “If we’re going to choose between maybe we’ll let him go a little bit farther and see what happens,” he told CNN, “or we’re going to take him out now and eliminate any opportunity he has to hurt somebody, you’re going to err on the side of, in favor of the innocent people. Without a doubt.”
Kudos for that, Chief.
And it got even better. “As far as other things we could have done, yeah, you can Monday-morning quarterback,” Chief Rozema said. “Not being a patrol officer I have the benefit of sitting in my office or sleeping on things to make those kind of decisions. This officer made a split-second decision, and in retrospect, when all the dust clears, I think we look at this and say, yeah, there are things that we can learn from this, but the entire community is safe, all the officers are safe, and even the suspect in this case is safe.”
Differing with this, of course, is Valencia’s public defender, Michelle Cohen-Metzger. “Quite honestly, it’s miraculous that my client didn’t die,” she said. “He hit him full speed ahead.”
Not exactly “full speed ahead,” counselor, but fast enough to achieve the objective.
So let’s address Ms. Cohen-Metzger’s grievances and those of others who may feel Mr. Valencia was dealt with too harshly. Retired Secret Service agent, author, and failed political candidate Dan Bongino spoke with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on Tuesday (transcript is here). “I have to question this tactic a bit,” he said. “I think setting up a secure perimeter and at least making some attempt to negotiate may have been far more efficient.”
In this Mr. Bongino offers us a lesson on being wary of the opinions of so-called experts. He was with the New York Police Department for just four years before joining the Secret Service, so while he may be well qualified to opine on issues related to dignitary protection and standing a fixed post for eight hours, his street experience is minimal. How, I would ask him, might the police have set up a secure perimeter without exposing themselves and the hundreds of employees in the nearby businesses to rifle fire? Add to this the potential danger to motorists driving on the I-10, which was just down the street and well within the range of Valencia’s weapon.
No. Valencia had to be stopped at once, and a Taser or a beanbag shotgun or pepper spray or whatever fantasy weapon someone might dream could have been deployed were all out of the question. The only sane alternative to running him over would have been to shoot him, preferably with a rifle, something he likely would not have survived.
Three cheers for Officer Michael Rapiejko for doing what he did, and another three for Chief Terry Rozema for defending him in the media.
More from Jack Dunphy:
Why I’m Not Convinced Michael Slager Is a Cold-Blooded Killer
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