Stonington police use de-escalation to subdue man thought to have knife
Stonington – Police say the were able to subdue a Waterford man who said he had a knife and wanted officers to shoot him Wednesday night by using so-called de-escalation techniques.
They were eventually able to take Lucas P. Page, 24, into custody without injury. He was charged with first-degree criminal trespass, second-degree threatening and second-degree breach of peace. He was arraigned in New London Superior Court Thursday.
Police said that at 11:54 p.m. Wednesday, they received a call that Page was refusing to leave his girlfriend’s home at 3 Hillside Ave. in Pawcatuck and was armed with a knife. They said he had threatened both the woman and her brother with the knife.
When police arrived, they found Page outside the home. He refused to comply with officers’ instructions, kept his hands in his pockets and told police he had a knife. He repeatedly told police to shoot him.
That’s when an officer with crisis intervention training began talking with Page to try and diffuse the situation and end the standoff. After an extended period of time, police said, another officer was able to come up from behind Page and subdue him. Neither Page nor the officers was hurt. Police said it turned out that Page did not have a knife in his pocket when he was taken into custody. The knife was recovered nearby.
“From what could have been a nightmare turned into what happened — no one was hurt and he was taken into custody,” said Capt. Todd Olson. “It was the perfect example of officers getting to the scene, slowing things down and spending time talking to someone in crisis. It was also the perfect example of the professionalism of Stonington police officers and using de-escalation techniques.”
The benefit of such techniques have received increased attention over the past several years, after a number of controversial police-involved shootings across the country.
Earlier this year, 11 national police organizations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the Fraternal Order of Police Officers, endorsed a new use-of-force policy that for the first time included the use of de-escalation techniques.
In part, the policy reads, “An officer shall use de-escalation techniques and other alternatives to higher levels of force consistent with his training whenever possible and appropriate before resorting to force and to reduce the need for force.”
This means that police offers try to calm down a subject by talking to them, create space between themselves and the subject and try to avoid using their guns if the subject does not have one. Locally, Norwich police have recently begin training all officers in de-escalation techniques and implemented a new use-of-force policy that encourages the use of the techniques when possible.
Olson explained that the techniques includes “slowing things down” by talking to the person and trying to determine the underlying issue that is bothering them.
“You get a dialogue going and build a rapport with the person. You let them know you’re not there to make their day worse but get them the help they need to get through this,” he said.
Olson said the department plans to expand crisis intervention training for all officers.
“Last night was the perfect example of how this pays off,” he said.
j.wojtas@theday.com
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