Guilford County Sheriff’s Office leaders speak on training, procedures on serving warrants after fatal Charlotte shooting
GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — Local law enforcement officials in the Piedmont Triad are expressing their condolences for their fellow law enforcement officers who were killed while attempting to serve a warrant at a home in Charlotte.
The number of people who serve a warrant and tactics can vary, but the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office shared what the standard procedures are and what training officers undergo to prepare them for these duties.
Here are the resources available for police officers coping with the loss of four of their own
Captain Marcus Moore with GCSO’s Legal Process Division said training starts with basic law enforcement training at a local community college or a police academy. Once hired by a law enforcement agency, they go through field training and are later sent to survival schools or advanced tactics schools to further develop those skills.
The number one thing Moore said they stress is to account for unknown threats and remain prepared.
“You could have someone that does not have a criminal history, and they could be just as dangerous as someone with a criminal history. But we do like to prepare for that and plan for it,” Moore said.
Moore said when serving warrants, a threat assessment is conducted before deputies go out to determine if additional personnel is needed or a specialized team is needed.
“We look at them and we try to determine how many people might we need. We may do a history on the person that’s wanted to see what their criminal history is to see if they’re more likely to be a threat,” Moore said.
Even with taking these steps, law enforcement officials said it can still be difficult to know how a situation will resolve.
“That doesn’t predict what someone’s going to do because you don’t know what the mindset is of these people,” Moore said. “When you encounter them, you’re at their home or at their place of business or even on the side of the road when you’re dealing with them.”
“We’re in a day and time … where nothing is normal anymore … Law enforcement has changed. The public has changed. Crime has changed,” Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers said.
They still prepare for the unknown.
“We like to instill into our officers … serving warrants or any type of process, whether it’s a warrant or a civil process or responding to calls, to always think ahead and expect the unexpected. Always preplan,” Moore said. “Think of the plus one rule … There’s one threat. There’s another threat.”
Regarding the incident in Charlotte where a total of eight law enforcement officers were shot, and four of them were killed when attempting to serve a warrant, Rogers said the GCSO is prepared to extend assistance to law enforcement agencies in Charlotte.
“Anybody needs anything, they would call us, and we would definitely go and assist … Our goal is to make sure that we continue to keep them in our prayers, and we’ll be there on the day of the services to make sure that we render the need and aid that they need,” Rogers said.
The Winston-Salem Police Department said they currently have an officer in Charlotte who serves alongside the U.S. Marshall Service as a task force officer and is there for family and officer support.
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