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Reality Training: What’s a good distance to keep from an inmate?

By C1 Staff

In this video, a CO is shown trying to get an inmate to move to a holding cell. In the video, the officer is shown standing very close to the noncompliant inmate before pepper spraying him.

The inmate reacts instantaneously. He takes a swing at the CO, then bodily slams into him before throwing him to the ground. It takes several responding officers to bring the inmate to a halt.

Could this incident have been prevented? Take a look at the video, and then follow up with the questions below.

Questions:

- What does the inmate’s body language tell you?
- Is the CO acting impatiently? Watch his commands and gestures. How would you have kept your cool in this situation?
- Is the CO standing too closely to the seated inmate? What’s a good distance to keep from an inmate in any confrontation?
- What are the steps that should have been taken in this incident by the CO when the inmate proved to be noncompliant?
- Was OC spray necessary?
- Did backup respond quickly and accordingly?

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