Background on "Disarming Attacks" against Police Officers

We need to be careful about jumping to conclusions and ‘laying blame’ about the incident in the Atlanta, Georgia courthouse.

We need to pass disarming legislation.

We need to educate America - and politicians in particular -- about the risk and dangers faced daily by America’s brave men and women in blue -- there are approximately 60,000 assaults on law enforcement annually.

LEAA’s disarming legislation was introduced in GA in 1996. OUR BEST RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT IT HAS NOT BEEN PASSED. We need bad guys to know that they face increased penalties!

Recognize that every attack on an officer involves at least one gun in some way. This attack is part of an increasingly visible issue: violence in -- and around -- courthouses

Depending on the year, as many as 10-20% of the officers killed in the line of duty are killed by bad guys who take the officer’s gun and use it against them.

Bad guys routinely practice dis-arming techniques in while serving time in prison -- often while they are ‘bulking up’ with prison weight lifting equipment. We allow this to continue in jails and prisons across America.

We need to empower officers to use whatever force necessary, to include deadly force, to repel and resist violent attacks.(particularly since a violent physical attacks is a necessary precursor to disarming an officer.)

In most local courthouses in America the Sheriff’s department provides the security. These deputies are called Balliffs; they are usually the only armed law enforcement inside the courthouse.

In many -- if not most courthouses -- police officers arriving in the courthouse must disarm and lock up thier guns. Usually, Police Officers are usually NOT allowed to carry inside the courthouse.

As a result of the apparent increase in violence in and around courthouses, some states are moving to allow more people to carry guns for self-defense at the courthouse. LEAA supports efforts to allow the ‘good guys’ to carry guns so that they have a fighting chance.

Sadly, in many courthouses in America there is an irrational stigma about moving criminal defendants in cuffs/restraints. Criminal defendents awaiting trial have thier cuff/restraints removed BEFORE they enter the courtroom because defense lawyers claim that by being cuffed, their ‘clients’ won’t be treated fairly.

Sadly, even after conviction, when convicts return for sentencing, appeals, etc., they are brought into the courtroom without restraints. Had the alleged rapist in Georgia been kept in even the most modest of restraints, the heinous crime attributed to him that resulted in the death of a judge, a court reporter and a police officer could not have taken place.

Only rarely, and then only with the worst, most violent criminals, will a judge allow restraints to be kept on the criminal in the courtroom. As a society, we need to recognize that there are dangerous, violent people in this world and many of them come through the doors of the courthouse.

Steps we can take to help solve this problem:

1. We should pass disarming legislation to increase the penalty for such acts in an effort to deter bad guys from considering attacking law enforcement

2. We should empower, authroize and encourage officers to as quickly as necessary escalate their own use of force, including deadly force, to repel violent physical attacks

3. We should allow more good guys, such as Judges, attorneys and police officers to carry guns for self-defense in otherwise restricted venues such as courthouses, where interaction with violent and potentially desperate criminals is more likely.

4. We should increase the use of restraints , such as handcuffs or shackles, for criminal defendants who are in jail awaiting trial, or for convicts moving between the courthouse and detention centers for sentencing / hearings, etc.

LEAA has been a leader in the fight to protect law enforcement from disarming attacks!
Read The State of Disarming, an article from the summer 1999 issue of Shield magazine.

Read LEAA's
Press Release
on the March 11 Georgia Courtroom Shooting