The Knife in the Driveway
At 0215 hours you respond to a domestic disturbance. A 38-year-old man stands in his driveway holding a 10-inch kitchen knife, yelling, 'I'll cut anyone who comes near me.' His wife is inside with two children; she says he has not touched anyone but threw a chair through a window. He is about 12 feet away, not advancing, pacing in a tight circle, and repeatedly says he wants to die. Two officers arrive behind you; one draws a Taser, the other a patrol rifle. Neighbors are on their porches, and a 12-year-old is filming from across the street. After 4 minutes of talking, the man turns his back on you and walks toward the front door where the children are.
1. You are asked on scene whether deadly force is authorized right now. Answer, and identify the moment the analysis changes.
Read the worked answer
Now: no. Under CGS 53a-22 as amended, an officer may use deadly force only when he reasonably believes it is necessary to defend himself or another from imminent death or serious bodily injury, or to apprehend a fleeing person who committed a felony involving serious bodily injury where escape poses a significant threat of death or serious injury. A man 12 feet away, pacing and not advancing, is a threat but not an imminent one. Distance, cover, and the absence of forward movement are your justification for waiting.
The analysis changes when: he closes to striking distance of an officer or a family member, moves through the door toward the children, or raises and orients the blade to strike. At that point, necessity and imminence are evaluated in seconds, and the rifle or your duty weapon becomes an option if less-lethal has failed or cannot be applied in time.
Intermediate: Taser with lethal cover is a legitimate option at this range with a prepared second deployment, but a single probe hit against a moving man with a knife is a plan for failure - plan the follow-up before you deploy.
2. You have 90 seconds before he reaches the door. Give the tactical and de-escalation steps in priority order.
Read the worked answer
1. Protect the people inside first. Radio the wife to lock the interior door and move the children to a rear room; that single act may remove the reason to rush. 2. Control the space. Have the rifle officer take cover and cover the door, move neighbors back, and put the filming juvenile out of the line of fire. 3. Slow the clock. One voice only - yours. Use his name, drop the commands to a short set, and acknowledge what he said: 'You said you want to die. I'm not going to let that happen tonight. Talk to me.' Ask what happened, ask about his meds and drinking. 4. Offer a face-saving exit: put the knife on the ground, or on the hood of the car, and step back. Give him time to comply. 5. If he enters the house: follow with cover and containment rather than a solo entry; the children's location makes a barricade the priority.
Everything you say and the times you say it go in the report - de-escalation is a documented tactic, not a courtesy.
3. Moments later the man drops the knife and is taken into custody. A second officer, angry, pins his forearm across the man's throat for about 6 seconds while he is handcuffed. What are your obligations?
Read the worked answer
Intervene, immediately and out loud. Under Connecticut's accountability statutes, an officer who observes another officer using force beyond what is objectively reasonable must intervene when in a position to do so and must report it. A forearm across the throat of a handcuffed, controlled subject is not a permitted restraint and is deadly-force-adjacent in effect.
Sequence:
- Verbally stop it and physically take over control of the head and shoulders if needed.
- Medical: the man was choked; assess breathing, voice, and swallowing, and request EMS. Any airway complaint is a hospital evaluation.
- Report it up the chain before the end of shift, in writing, factually and without editorializing about the other officer's character.
- Write the truth in your own report: what you saw, the duration, what you said, and what you did. Your report will be compared to body-camera video.
Failing to act is itself a violation and, in a civil case, the fastest way to lose the department's defense.