USEFUL LINKS

"A police officer should always be thinking about what can happen to you. I don't know if it runs through my head now or is just a part of life."

Cobb County Police Sgt. Lester Maddox

The tragic murder of Georgia State Patrolman Chad LeCroy Dec. 27, 2010, has served as a reminder to officials at the Cobb County Police Department and law enforcement agencies across the nation of the dangers that could be involved for officers making a vehicle stop.

LeCroy was shot after he pulled over a car on Hightower Court in Atlanta after spotting a broken tail light on the vehicle. Yet while the shooting brings more attention to the possibilities of incidents such as the one that cost LeCroy his life, veteran Cobb County Police Sgt. Lester Maddox said officers in Cobb's department are prepared for the chance of such events.

Cobb County Police Sgt. Lester Maddox makes a traffic stop for a broken tail light on Busbee Pkwy. Jan 17. Maddox said officers must quickly assess a situation before deciding how to approach a vehcile that has been pulled over.

"A police officer should always be thinking about what can happen to you," said Maddox, who has been with Cobb County 16 years. "I don't know if it runs through my head now or is just a part of life."

Maddox, who spent 10 years with the Cobb County SWAT team and now serves as patrol supervisor in Precinct 1, said training within the police department teaches officers to be cognizant of their own safety, as well as the safety of others. To do so, there are a number of things an officer must consider when puling over a vehicle, and there is little time to wait.

"Decisions have to be made quickly," Maddox said. "I will let the radio know I am pulling over a vehicle, call in the tag number and, if possible, wait until I get some information back on the vehicle before approaching it. I also watch occupants as soon as I start to pull them over. If someone gets out of his car, I get out of mine as soon as possible. Their (vehicle occupants) actions deem how things are going to go. Officers should be polite, courteous and professional, but they also have to consider what needs to be done for their own safety."

Teaching how to make the decisions Maddox referred to begins early in training, according to Cobb County Police Precinct 1 Commander Jerry Quan. He also said the type of vehicle stop dictates the type of action that needs to be taken.

"Everyone is taught early on that officer safety is paramount," said Quan, who had a gun pulled on him once in his career. "You have to look at all the variables in a situation and make a threat assessment. Sometimes it warrants taking a gun out, but more often it does not. A felony traffic stop, however, is different than others. That's when you know you have someone in the vehicle you've stopped with warrants or they're running. In that case you give commands to them over the P.A system on your car, and guns are drawn. Officers are trained in the academy for that."

Involved in that training is Ofc. R.K. Franklin, who teaches defensive tactics for the Cobb County Police Department. The Training Division focuses a majority of its instruction on teaching recruits the importance of adapting the proper mind-set for uniform patrol. Training also emphasizes that only repetitive training through stress can prepare an officer to use skills needed in the field.  

"Grace under pressure in dangerous situations is an everyday occurrence in an officer's life," Franklin said. "The willingness to push through physical exhaustion and determination to win often times is the determining factor in life-threatening encounters. We analyze footage of other officers during dangerous encounters. This teaching method brings to light how seemingly routine calls can quickly escalate without warning and catch an officer off guard if the officer safety methods that have been taught are not followed."

Franklin added that the training method also stresses the importance of team work and the training is rigorous. Recruits endure hours of defensive training tactics, training in emergency vehicle operations and firearms, along with an extensive physical training and work in other areas.

"You just have to be ready for it all," said Maddox. "It's just a part of life. If you thought about it all day, though, you couldn't function."

Since it went into existence in 1924, five Cobb County Police Officers have been killed in the line of duty, with three of the deaths involving shootings. Those in the department dedicate themselves to avoiding a sixth being added to the list.

Officer Stephen Gilner and Sergeant Stephen Reeves were shot and killed during a SWAT raid on July 24. 1999.

On July 13,1993, while checking a suspicious person near the railroad tracks in the Elizabeth area, Sprayberry High School graduate Officer Robert Ingram was shot to death by a man who had recently been released from prison. He had a .380 caliber automatic handgun hidden in a bag he was carrying.

On December 17, 1983, Officer Drew Brown was operating radar in the median on Highway 41 northbound, north of Blue Springs Road, when a drunk driver struck the rear of his patrol vehicle. Officer Brown was killed instantly when his vehicle exploded.

Lt. John Hood was killed June 18,1960, just after midnight on June 18, 1960. Lt. Hood responded to a call concerning drag racing on State Highway 120 east of Marietta, known today as Roswell Road. With emergency lights and siren operating, Lt. Hood's patrol car crested a hill on Roswell Road and was hit head on by one of the two racing vehicles. An 18-year-old was driving the vehicle on the wrong side of the road and traveling in excess of 100 miles per hour when he hit Lt. Hood, who died seven days after the accident.