Use-of-force expert explains why serving a warrant can be so dangerous
MINNEAPOLIS -- When a police officer is tasked to serve a warrant, for some, it's considered one of the most unpredictable assignments to have.
Use-of-force expert Joe Dutton says officers are at the disadvantage when they're walking into someone's home who is wanted by police.
"Police officers are only reacting to the subject they're dealing with's actions," Dutton said. "Best they can, they'll be cautious, they'll be aware."
In the past two days, three police officers attempting to serve warrants were shot by the person they were attempting to arrest.
Monday, In the city of Winsted, west of the Twin Cities, two sheriff's deputies entered the house of a man wanted on a warrant and were met with gunfire. Both are expected to survive.
Late Tuesday night it was a White Bear Lake officer, hit in the stomach three times, after a suspect he was trying to serve a domestic violence warrant to opened fire.
"These situations happen quickly and officers are making split-second decisions on how much force or if any force in that kind of a situation," Dutton says.
Dutton says officers are often told to walk into warrant situations -- on alert -- so they're ready to de-escalate a situation or quickly react to one.
The name of the White Bear Lake officer has not been released.
