I was a bit worried over that use of force on Tuesday. Because it got a bit botched as far as communications went and because he had to go out for stitches I figured it would have come under extra close scrutiny.And when that happens everyone who sees the tapes gets that "Back seat driver" thing going and they tend to over-analyze and criticize each and every part of what happened. That's when fingers start getting pointed and it just gets ugly from there. And there are a few of our higher ups who are famous for doing that sort of thing.
Not that I think we did anything wrong. What we did was totally justified and covered by policy. My guys functioned well as a team.... Even after I spattered them with pepper spray and then made them wrestle a lunatic.
But then, it didn't go perfectly, either. I take the blame since I was the supervisor. If there is really any blame to take.
For one thing, we should have tackled him while he was still down on the bunk instead of letting him get to his feet. That was a bad move on my part.
I was actually kind of flabbergasted that he stood up like that. It was just about the last thing I had expected. That made me hesitate.
And once I realized that my 10-5 call didn't go out, I should have tried again to call for assistance. Maybe one of those "ASAP" calls that always make everyone nervous.
And I definitely should have chewed on Porcupine a little bit for not calling for help when he saw us struggling with him. That's his job! But I'm just too nice, sometimes. Dammit.
See? I back seat drive myself. I don't need any outside help.
But anyway, I called Lt Sienna and he said it went through just fine. No kicked back reports, no questions. That took a load of worry off of my mind.
I could just see getting pulled into the Wardens office and hearing "Why did you bash that mans head into the heater vent?"
I didn't. But... **sigh**
