January 2021 | Vol. 15 Iss. 01
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NATIONAL LESSONS LEARNED AND APPLIED AT A LOCAL LEVEL By Mimi Darley Dutton | m.dutton@mycityjournals.com
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raper is a growing and changing city, moving forward into a future with modern-day challenges. 2020 was not only the year of the pandemic, but also one of movements toward racial equality and police reform. Those national issues have come home to Draper in the city’s efforts to move forward in the right direction. Two such examples are the newly established Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Board, and a training program for police that exceeds state requirements and trains on de-escalation when possible. Police Chief John Eining said dispatchers received a call in August of a man with a gun, called in by a boy who was with the armed man. “Officer (Robert) Barlow was the first to arrive on the scene…he (Barlow) encountered a man in his garage who had a rifle and he (the suspect) had fired a few rounds into a car in the garage. There was a young boy hiding underneath the car at the time. As Officer Barlow was approaching, he ordered the man to drop the weapon. The man then turned and pointed the gun at Officer Barlow. It was alleged that he fired at Officer Barlow. At the time, Officer Barlow (a K-9 officer) had his dog out, so he didn’t return
fire. He took cover. He didn’t send the dog because the boy was in close proximity. He ordered the man to drop the gun again. The man started running, took off across the street. Officer Barlow followed, ordered him to drop the gun again. This time he complied and he was taken into custody.” Eining clarified that Officer Barlow didn’t deploy his dog because of the boy, explaining that the dog would have to determine which person (the armed man or the boy) he would go after. “You’d hope he picks the adult.” But Eining clarified that Officer Barlow could have fired his gun without endangering the boy because officers are trained to be exact in firing. “The firing a firearm, that’s not really endangering the child at all…there’s no reason why he couldn’t return fire, he just chose not to,” he said. The chief said Officer Barlow was first on the scene and alone in responding until the suspect was taken into custody, at which point multiple police had arrived. “It just happened so fast once he arrived that (he was alone the entire time)… it was all very fluid.” K-9 Officer Robert Barlow (kneeling) was first on the scene of an incident with an armed man. He de-escalated the situation without firing Continued page 4 on the suspect. (Photo courtesy Draper City)
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