Experts weigh in on Madison police use of deadly force in Ruiz shooting
MADISON (WKOW) — Body camera footage shows an officer tried to tase Corey Ruiz before police shot him.
According to Madison Police Chief John Patterson, during the struggle, the man pulled out a large fixed blade knife and an officer was injured.
“Any instrument that has the potential of causing great bodily harm or death to an officer or another, officers are trained to respond with deadly force,” said Brian Landers, a former law enforcement officer and owner of Landers C-R-T, an accuse practices expert witness consulting firm.
Landers described the officer’s response to the knife with gunfire as following standard training.
“None of those officers are expected to risk their life in trying to grapple with a person armed with a knife, especially a knife of that size, and [that] person was clearly showing their intent not to go into custody and to try to harm officers,” Landers said.
Questions have arisen about why officers shot Ruiz. Landers addressed the issue of shooting to wound.
“Officers are trained to shoot to stop the threat,” Landers said. “Any idea of shooting to wound or shooting to…shoot guns or knives out of people’s hands — that’s fantasy. That’s Hollywood. That doesn’t occur.”
Madison Police Chief John Patterson says shots followed a failed taser.
Use-of-force researcher and U-W School of Law professor Ion Meyn acknowledges training limits options against knives but questions the chief’s statement.
“I’m watching someone’s arms collapse toward his legs and him being brought down to ground,” Meyn said when watching the eye-witness video after Ruiz is tased.
Meyn understands the reality of officers’ training but disagrees with it.
“It’s unfair to subject officers to the training that they have, because it puts officers into a fear-based mindset that leads inevitably to unnecessary uses of force,” Meyn said.