Police warned: Don’t end up on Drudge, CNN

The website PoliceOne.com is featuring a training column urging officers to move fast to contain a suspect in a way that doesn’t grab the media’s attention in the way a longer fight, with other officers joining in a scrum, would.

In the section titled, “I Don’t Want to End Up on CNN!” the law enforcement resource website with 650,000 members, warns: “We’re now policing in the age of YouTube. No matter what we do, it’s likely to end up on social media, cable news or the front page of the Drudge Report — often within minutes.”

Author Betsy Brantner Smith, a former officer and police consultant, said smaller officers, especially women, especially need to heed the advice to move fast.

“Think about it — what looks worse to the general public: a fast ‘shock and awe’ technique that gets the offender under control immediately or multiple officers at half speed spending seven or eight minutes trying to arrest the bad guy without successfully controlling him?

“Smaller officers need to remember that if you’re alone and trying to control a violent offender, you must go at it 100 percent, because if you try and fail, you’re in even more danger. It also bears repeating that force never looks pretty, so when a crowd gathers and the cell phones start recording, get control quickly and do what you need to do,” wrote Smith.

What’s more, she advises that officers also film the event.

“Make sure your cameras continue to roll, consider taking photos of the crowd, clear the scene as soon as possible and notify your bosses immediately.

“A police brutality claim that ends up on Twitter can often be immediately eradicated by a good press release combined with the use of the department’s own social media postings, preferably with video and photos,” she added.

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].