Why Deion Patterson is Alive
Why Deion Patterson is Alive
After an 8-hour manhunt for the 24-year old Black man, Patterson was captured and not killed. Is anyone asking why?
I work for a company that helps clients prevent and prepare to respond to violent incidents, including active shooters. When Deion Patterson ran from the Midtown Atlanta hospital where he shot 5 women, killing one, I was certain he would be eliminated by police. After all, that’s what happened in Nashville, Louisville, and lots of other places. So why is Deion Patterson still alive?
The most basic answer is the law enforcement officers who responded did not shoot him. The question worth answering, though, is why did the responding officers not shoot Deion Patterson?
Dedication to Discipline
Life as a Priority
Integrated Response Preparation
Dedication to Discipline
Imagine a two-sided scale: one side is civilians and the other side is law enforcement. For 8 hours, this community was blasted with the phrase “Armed and Dangerous”. The message was meant to deter civilians from engaging with Patterson; that side of the scale went down. In an equal and opposite reaction, the law enforcement side went up.
Pressure to apprehend Patterson was at a fever pitch. Adrenaline was pumping. Radios were incessantly chirping. Sirens, lights, and orders blasted every sense available. And, yet, when they found Deion Patterson, they did not react in fear because they operated with self-control.
These officers understood this is how communities are traumatized and, without law and order, there would not be healing. This is dedication to discipline.
Life as a Priority
”Wanted dead or alive” is a slogan that with any luck will be relegated to wild west posters. Modern psychological science has proven trauma manifests in both the brain and body. In order for victims of trauma to better process the horrors of the past that live in their present, they need answers. Dead people don’t give answers, so their victims are left to speculate. Therapies such as EMDR and Prolonged Exposure can be successful without such answers, but the whole truth is preferred.
We have seen “death by cop” and suicide take away the opportunity for restorative justice, which not only helps the victims of the crime but also those who have (or had) relationship with the perpetrator.
In order for justice (restorative or otherwise) to be served, the accused or convicted must be alive. Perhaps Patterson’s mother who was with him at the time of the shooting will get the answers she deserves about the man she raised. I can’t even imagine what was going through her mind these last 20 hours.
Integrated Response Preparation
Perhaps the most encouraging reason Deion Patterson is still alive is because the Atlanta-area law enforcement agencies were all on the same page. Had these groups not trained together or had conversations relating to this kind of situation’s response strategy, it would have been reasonable for one department to go in with the intent to eliminate the shooter while another department wanted to negotiate surrender.
The first time these agencies work together should not be in an active and violent situation. Courses like Active Attack Integrated Response (AAIR, pronounced “air”) brings multiple agencies—state, local, medical, fire, perhaps federal—to work together to stop the killing, stop the bleeding, and stop the dying. More metropolitan areas should prioritize this training in their city budgets.
