ROBBERY-IN-PROGRESS. [Clift was] a big guy, he knew his capability, but he was levelheaded (T. Granado, as quoted in AP, 2011).

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1 OFFICER NAME: LEWIS, Clifton DATE OF INCIDENT: December 29, 2011 LOCATION: CLASSIFICATION: Chicago, IL OFF-DUTY JOB ROBBERY-IN-PROGRESS ABOUT THE OFFICER Officer Clifton Lewis, 41, was an eight-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department. At 6 5, with a deep, commanding voice reminiscent of the actor James Earl Jones, Officer Lewis was known to many officers and citizens as the gentle giant in his district (Gorner, Nix and Sweeney, 2011). One officer said: [Clift was] a big guy, he knew his capability, but he was levelheaded (T. Granado, as quoted in AP, 2011). He was also an experienced member of the tactical team (AP, 2011). The mayor said: Officer Lewis died as he had lived, serving and protecting his community where he worked each and every day to preserve the safety and well-being of the community. His courage and sense of duty are examples for us all (R. Emanuel, as quoted in Dudek and Main, 2011). Officer Lewis had recently proposed to his long-time girlfriend. On Christmas Day, in front of their families, she said yes to his proposal (AP, 2011). Four days later, he was killed when he tried to intervene during an armed robbery. He left behind a fiancée, her son and his daughter. CIRCUMSTANCES OF INCIDENT Around 8:30 p.m. on a Thursday evening, Officer Lewis was working an off-duty job providing security at a convenience store that had been robbed three weeks earlier (Ford, Hopkins and Gorner, 2011). The site was a high-risk location. Shots had been fired by an off-duty officer during the last robbery, which involved gang members (WGN-TV, 2011). However, the store was located about one mile from Officer Lewis home; he was a regular patron (Dudek and Main, 2011). On the night of the incident, Officer Lewis was filling in for another officer who usually worked there. Copyright 2012 Dynamic Police Training 351

2 Officer Down 2012: Lessons Learned from Line of Duty Deaths Two armed men entered the store wearing masks. Officer Lewis, who was dressed in plainclothes behind the counter, identified himself and drew his weapon (Gorner, Nix and Sweeney, 2011). An eyewitness said: It happened so quickly (D. Davis, as quoted in Ford, et al, 2011). OFFICER LEWIS was working an off-duty job at a convenience store. The store had been robbed three weeks earlier. One of the men fired a burst from a Tec-9 automatic weapon at Officer Lewis, striking him multiple times. ABOUT THE SUSPECTS 29-year old Tyrone Shawty Trip Clay, a black male, was one of two shooters in this incident. He was a gang member with a long criminal history. A second, unnamed man was described as the second shooter of Officer Lewis and was the suspect who disarmed him after Officer Lewis was killed. He has not been apprehended or named as of May 18, year old Edgardo Colon, a Hispanic male, was described as the getaway car driver. He was also a gang member with a long criminal history. LEFT: TYRONE CLAY was a gang member with a long criminal history. RIGHT: EDGARDO COLON was the getaway car driver. They have been charged with first degree murder of a police officer. HISTORY OF THE SUSPECTS Little has been reported about the two apprehended suspects in this case. Clay and Colon have been described as local men with ties to an unnamed street gang (Chicago News Report [CNR], 2012). Two other men remain at large. Edgardo Colon s criminal history began in 1999, when he was 22 years old. He began serving a four-year jail term for a variety of gun and marijuana charges. Once he was released, he continued his criminal ways. In 2005, Colon was sentenced to one year in prison for obstruction of justice. In 2006, Colon was sentenced to four years in prison for manufacture/delivery of cocaine. He did not remain in prison for long. In April 2007, Colon was sentenced to six years in prison for his part in a home invasion robbery. He reportedly used a firearm during that offense. Yet, he was released from prison again in October Copyright 2012 Dynamic Police Training 352

3 Nothing has been written about Clay s criminal history. On December 12, 2011, just two weeks before the robbery and murder of Officer Lewis, Clay made a post using Facebook (CNR, 2012) referring to a need for cash: need to get paper get at me real nigga only (as quoted in CNR, 2012). On the day of the shooting, Clay posted a happy birthday message to a dead friend using Facebook that seemed to indicate a desire to do something to mark the occasion: rip eppi happy bday my nigga we going to get it in my nigga real nigga amor (as quoted in CNR, 2012). DISPOSITION OF THE INCIDENT After shooting Officer Lewis, one of the suspects, still unidentified, jumped up on the counter and fired down at the officer, killing him. Officer Lewis was struck four times once in the abdomen and three times in the back (NBC, 2012). The suspect on the counter then jumped down from the counter and took Officer Lewis s duty weapon and badge (Ford, et al, 2011). Three men, including Clay, Colon and an unidentified shooter, then fled the store into a getaway car driven by Colon. They managed to steal a total of $670 in cash (NBC, 2012). Subsequent investigation revealed that the suspects may have intended to target the off-duty officer involved in the previous incident three weeks before. On the night of the shooting, Officer Lewis was working off-duty in that officer s place. Officer Lewis s family said he took the job to earn extra money to pay for his upcoming wedding (Dudek and Main, 2011; WGN-TV, 2011). The suspects used a TEC-9 during this incident. Both Clay and Colon were arrested in January, 2012 after a traffic stop. Colon was found in possession of a.357 handgun with two live rounds, a violation of his parole. The suspects were probably turned in by accomplices or a police informant. Both will face first degree murder charges in After their arrests, Clay s girlfriend told the media that Clay was home on the night of the robbery and did not know Colon. The media responded by examining Clay s Facebook friends list online. They discovered that Colon was listed as a friend (CNR, 2012). Clay s mother also reached out to the media, claiming that her son had a mental capacity of teenager and was innocent, saying simply: He s not a murderer (L. Jones, as quoted in NBC, 2012). Copyright 2012 Dynamic Police Training 353

4 Officer Down 2012: Lessons Learned from Line of Duty Deaths DISCUSSION Officer Lewis is among several other officers who were killed during off-duty incidents or while working an off-duty, extra job. 45 Of these incidents, the murder of Detective Morgan is the most similar in circumstances. Both men faced an armed suspect and both reached for their own weapons when they were shot. Officer Lewis did not make a tactical error in this case by identifying himself and trying to stop a robbery. However, are there alternatives police officers can take when faced with a similar situation? The answer is yes. Police officers can comply wholeheartedly with robbers and, perhaps, become victims anyway. We could also train our personnel to flinch from danger, run from confrontation, or not work extra jobs at dangerous locations. None of these options seems a good choice. Law enforcement officers are warriors, not cowards. There is one best option: teaching our officers when taking action immediately, including the use of deadly force, is the unquestionable right answer. Imagine this scenario: Officer Lewis stands behind the counter dressed as a plainclothes civilian when armed robbers enter. They point their guns at everyone and demand cash. Officer Lewis pretends to comply and makes no sudden movements. As a large and dominating presence, he is an especially risky target for animosity by the fearful suspects. He must be very convincing as a non-threat. Yet, he is merely waiting for his opportunity to draw and fire at the suspects. He will not give a verbal warning or identify himself. He will simply take them out, starting with the suspect armed with the Tec-9. Under these circumstances, would Officer Lewis be justified in shooting these men without a verbal warning? Absolutely. The argument for planned covert action against these suspects is very easy to articulate. The suspects outnumbered the officer. They were better armed. They were committing an armed robbery. They were threatening to kill people. The rules of fair play in combat do not apply to this kind of criminal conduct. In truth, shouting Police! just before shooting at the suspects may give the suspects an advantage. Without the warning, they would not know who was shooting one of them or someone else. However, the fog of war is a fact of combat. They deserve no sympathy. They should have considered the possibility that they would face the police, and deadly force, when they decided to commit a felony. Police officers should be trained to do whatever it takes to survive an incident, whether that means fighting dirty, shooting first or even facing potential prosecution months later. As the saying goes: I would rather be judged by twelve than carried by six. What are the alternatives to cooperating with armed robbery suspects? Is a verbal warning required? 45 The other officers were: Officers Hall, Tirado, and Morgan. Copyright 2012 Dynamic Police Training 354

5 IMPLICATIONS FOR TRAINING See MORGAN for discussion of facing a robbery suspect while off-duty. Training police officers before they are permitted to work extra jobs in an enforcement capacity might be a revolutionary idea, but it might save lives. Candidates for the training should have at least one year of experience as a full-time officer. In jurisdictions with the ability to increase requirements, more experience is preferable. This class should place an emphasis on scenariobased training, especially crimes-in-progress response. The curriculum should cover extra duty job clothing requirements, off-duty carry recommendations, how to prevent friendly-fire incidents, when to intervene and when to call for on-duty responders and a series of scenarios for experienced officers to practice response to inprogress actions. These scenarios might include an armed robbery of a business, a domestic that occurs inside the business and an opportunity for initiating a foot chase of a suspect from the location. Teaching police officers what departmental policy requires and testing their decision-making skills during off-duty employment situations is a valuable endeavor. Without practice, police officers will always fall back on their training. Without providing training in specific off-duty and extra-job skill sets, the results can be deadly. REFERENCES Associated Press. (2011, December 31). Police seek help in Chicago officer slaying case. Chicago: APO. Dudek, M. and Main, F. (2011, December 31). Slain cop got engaged days before his death. Chicago Sun-Times, Pg. 2. Ford, L., Hopkins, J. and Gorner, J. (2011, December 30). Off-duty cop killed in Austin; veteran officer is shot during food store robbery. Chicago Tribune, Pg. 6. Gorner, J., Nix, N. and Sweeney, A. (2011, December 31). Dreams died when cop killed. Chicago Tribune, Pg. 1. Gorner, J., Nix, N. and Sweeney, A. (2012, January 1). Police search for 2 cop killers. Chicago Tribune, Pg. 8. Sobol, R. (2012, January 3). Funeral set for fatally shot officer. Chicago Tribune, Pg. 4. WGN-TV. (2011, December 31). Superintendent McCarthy: cop killing assault on the entire community. Chicago: McClatchy-Tribune Business News. Copyright 2012 Dynamic Police Training 355