How officers train to keep suspects’ hands off their guns

FENTON, Mich. ( WLNS ) — One of the biggest fears for law enforcement officers is losing their weapon during a struggle with a suspect.

Lansing police say that happened earlier this month . Two detectives had their weapons taken by a suspect during a struggle. Two uniformed officers were shot by one of those detective’s guns.

That got the attention of other departments in the state, including the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department. WLNS, News 8’s sister station in Lansing, was invited to see how the department trains to make sure suspects don’t get their hands on deputies’ weapons.

Wrestling with a suspect who’s grappling for a gun is a serious situation and it happens often in the field, Genesee County Sheriff Christopher Swanson said.

“Most of our confrontations are close quarters, most of them go to the ground,” he said. “What we’ve learned from other incidents is … that’s when you have to maintain control and weapon retention. And we’ve experienced that in 1999. We had one of our deputies that was disarmed and that weapon was taken and used to kill two people in Chicago.”

Once a month, Swanson’s department conducts rigorous “simulations” to prepare officers for anything that may happen in the field and come out on top and safe.

“It’s every cop’s nightmare to lose their weapon,” Swanson said. “You’re responsible for every bullet that leaves that barrel. And when you carry that weapon that can be used for deadly force, you are responsible for that weapon.”

Swanson said the simulations are based on the experiences deputies have had on patrol. He said the department — and law enforcement in general — learn from mistakes and implement those lessons in their training.

“We debrief every part of that scene,” he said. “What we could have done better, what we did well and what we need to do different. That’s good policing, and that’s police evolution.”

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