opinion

Judy Putnam: Deadly encounter didn't have to happen

LANSING – The "what-ifs" and "if-onlys" run deep in the tragic shooting death of a Grand Ledge High School junior by an Eaton County Sheriff's sergeant. How did a routine traffic stop go so wrong so quickly?

Watching the videos released this week by Eaton County Prosecutor Doug Lloyd chilled me to the bone. In less than six minutes, the polite and restrained exchanges between Deven Guilford, 17, and Sgt. Jonathan Frost grew deadly, and the teen was shot seven times as he fought with the officer.

The prosecutor cleared the officer of criminal wrongdoing in the February death, saying the officer feared for his life, which justified the shooting under Michigan's 2006 self-defense law.

On the videos, it was clear that Guilford was operating with bad information about his rights, refusing seven requests to turn over his driver's license and registration while documenting it on his cell phone video.

If you're driving a car, and an officer stops you for a suspected traffic violation, you need to show your license. In this case, Guilford could have explained that he left it at his girlfriend's house when he drove to a church basketball game. That was one of many "if-only" moments, when he may have just ended up with a ticket.

Lloyd said Wednesday he tells his own teen-age sons to obey the officer and then argue later if they feel they have been wronged.

"I'm never going to counsel someone that the appropriate place to argue that you're right and the officer is wrong is on the side on road," he said.

What may have been misguiding Guilford, in my mind, is a misunderstanding from the ongoing discussion about citizen rights in police encounters. The national debate over excessive force by police has focused on cases of black citizens, though Guilford and another man killed in a recent police shooting in Eaton County were white. Indeed, the youth's girlfriend and family said the teen had been watching videos and was interested in civilian-police encounters.

Police cannot simply stop pedestrians, for example, and demand their identification.

Guilford also asked the officer for his badge number, which is not printed on Eaton County deputy badges. As a longtime reporter, I've driven lonely roads at night. Making sure you are stopped by a legitimate officer is just common sense for your personal safety.

In this case, the marked car and uniform would have been enough for me, but Guilford persisted in seeing the badge number. What if the officer had simply explained that the number isn't on his badge or told him what it is? Instead, he told the teen that he didn't have to show it to him, and you can feel the tension rise in the exchanges.

According to Lloyd's 19-page news release, "There is no legal requirement of a police officer to provide his or her badge number to the driver." The officer gave his name, rank and department, which Lloyd said was sufficient. Guilford clearly thought he was entitled to the badge number, and I have to admit, I would have thought so, too, an apparent omission in Michigan law that deserves a review.

Mark Fancher, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, said the officer should have given the number. He said it's in law enforcement's best interest to do that to combat police impersonation.

"That's an important thing for a police officer to do, especially if they're asked. It's a reasonable concern of any citizen," he said.

Eaton County Undersheriff Jeffrey Cook said that officers are required to give the badge number and supervisor's name if asked.

Another tragic layer to the story is that what triggered the deadly encounter in the first place was a simple flashing of lights, something I and other drivers do all the time. Guilford flashed his lights at Frost's patrol vehicle, thinking the brights were on. It's hard to see, especially on a dark road, with high beams in your eyes.

According to the prosecutor, that's a violation if you're within 500 feet of an approaching car. The officer denied having his bright headlights on and the teen argued with him. In Guilford's view, the officer was the one violating the law. Frost said in the video that other drivers had mistook his regular headlights for the high beam. What if he had just let the headlight flashing go?

The officer also called for backup after the teen refused to exit his car. The officer physically pulled him from the car, ordered him on the ground and tried to handcuff him before the youth resisted. What if he had waited for the backup he had already summoned?

Police are there to protect our safety. Sometimes, that means making us safe from ourselves when immaturity, intoxication, poor judgment, medication, a health disorder, uncontrolled anger or a bad day take over.

Cook said deputies do have extensive training on how to defuse a tense situation. A special training was just completed on how to deal with those with autism, he said.

"We train our people to deal with a wide variety of situations including dealing with confrontational people, dealing with mental health conditions" and other situations, he said, adding that they are also trained to step in to make the arrest when needed. He said an internal review will be undertaken to look at the officer's actions.

Doing a good job of defusing an escalating situation must be part of the public safety response. From watching the videos, there were many what-if and if-only moments when that might have happened on both sides. Sadly, for all involved, it did not.

Judy Putnam is a columnist with the Lansing State Journal. Contact her at (517) 267-1304 or jputnam@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @judyputnam.