Ask any man or woman who makes a career out of serving the community in the field of law enforcement: it's a tough job. Police officers embody a unique group of people who tirelessly give of themselves for the greater good of the public, all the while constantly risking his or her life. The most trying challenge of the position, however, lies in the responsibility of brandishing a handgun - a burden where a strong sense of self-restraint easily trumps a case of trigger-happy hands.
For Lt. Mike Hanson, a 13-year veteran of the Alachua County Sheriff's Office, responding to a traffic incident on Friday quickly turned into a fight for his life. According to an article in The Gainesville Sun, Nicholous Vertex Weeks, an 18-year-old Gainesville resident, had been weaving in and out of traffic on foot as he tried to knock out car windows and pull a woman from her car. Less than a block south of the intersection of Northwest 39th Avenue and 34th Street, Hanson encountered Weeks, where the two men began fighting.
Relying on his Taser gun to subdue Weeks, Hanson's weapon failed to deter the assailant - presumably due to his 6-foot-4-inch, 225-pound frame. What transpired, by all accounts, was a brawl in which Hanson suffered injuries to his face and head. With his glasses smashed and radio left inoperable, Hanson shot his gun several times at Weeks, leaving the man dead after he made repeated attempts to gain control of the lieutenant's weapon.
At initial glance, the officer responded to the scene in a logical and reasonable fashion given the circumstances. Not only was Hanson's life in immediate danger, but one could only assume what may have happened if Weeks managed to gain possession of the lieutenant's gun. Given the innumerable bystanders within proximity to the altercation, Hanson was left with no choice but to remedy the situation by any means necessary - a decision that came after all other plausible options were exhausted.
Yet, according to Jennifer Weeks, the grandmother of the deceased, Hanson fired seven bullets at her grandson. This information, if true, raises the issue of how many shots are enough to adequately control an assailant without risking the safety of the officer and bystanders at the scene. Can three bullets be deemed an appropriate course of action, while seven indicates excessive force on the end of the officer?
The most telling figure is the fact that the average police officer will never fire a single shot in the line of duty over the course of his or her tenure. To say Hanson acted inappropriately or responded in an unsuitable manner would be to contend that such a situation reflects a common occurrence rather than a once-in-a-career event. While Hanson and all police officers receive training to respond to hellacious incidents such as the one that transpired Friday, the emphasis should not be placed on how many times Hanson fired his weapon at Weeks. Simply put, police officers, like all people, are fallible individuals who run through a gamut of emotions when faced with the prospects of shooting another person.
This is not to argue that Hanson was out of line for the number of shots he fired to end any chance of Weeks causing him or anyone else further harm.
Rather, what matters is the fact that Hanson was left with no other choice but to rely on his handgun as a last resort to subdue Weeks - especially considering his Taser gun's lack of effectiveness. Given the severity of the circumstances and the uncontrollable demeanor exhibited by Weeks, Hanson's actions speak of a law enforcement official exhibiting courageousness and heroism to the umpteenth degree.
For showing immense restraint before turning to his handgun, we applaud Lt. Mike Hanson as he endured a shift more akin to South Central Los Angeles than North Central Florida.
