Burlington, Vermont Police Chief Brandon del Pozo was in Wisconsin on Monday. He and five other police chiefs from across the U.S. met with House Speaker Paul Ryan to discuss new training guidelines issued by the Police Executive Research Forum that are aimed at reducing the use of force. Chief del Pozo explains that the Burlington department became involved after a fatal encounter in the city last year.
“One of the things we did in the light of the killing of Phil Grennan a man who attacked our officers with knives last April is start looking around for ways to insure that when we have somebody who is in an acute mental health crisis, someone who is armed with something other than a firearm, we could subdue that person and get them the help they need or if it’s appropriate arrest them while minimizing the need to use lethal force.”
Del Pozo notes that the meeting with Speaker Ryan reviewed the new training guide designed to reduce use of force. “He was very intrigued in my opinion by the idea that police executives themselves were offering a curriculum that would accomplish these two goals: officer safety and reduced force in police-citizen encounters.”
Police chiefs from New Orleans, Camden County, NJ, Tuscon, Arizona, Volusia County, FL and PERF’s Executive Director joined Del Pozo in Janesville, WI for the meeting with Speaker Ryan to discuss the “Training Guide for Defusing Critical Incidents.”
