Police Attend Special Classes to Make Split-Second Decisions
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A frightening confrontation in downtown Atlanta, a man carrying a 14-inch knife with an 8-inch blade stabbed a Georgia State University police officer who was in plainclothes. But then an Atlanta police officer pulled out her gun, and she shot the suspect. The suspect survived the shooting, all of it caught on cell phone video. But before we play it for you, a quick warning, it does happen quickly, and you may find it disturbing.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no! Oh, no!</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey!</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No!</s>BANFIELD: Again, that suspect survived. Both of the officers involved were hospitalized as well. That suspect was shot in the lower torso. His condition has stabilized. But yesterday's incident, if anything, it's a scene that police officers face every day across the country. They're forced to make life-or-death decisions and forced to do it in a split second, too. So our Gary Tuchman took us to the police confrontation lab in Spokane, Washington, for an amazing look at the training.</s>GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This Spokane, Washington, police officer is getting wired so his brain and body functions can be monitored as he gets ready to make life-or-death decisions.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Spokane police! Police department! Talk to me!</s>TUCHMAN: Decisions in a most unique laboratory.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you doing? Let me see!</s>TUCHMAN: Corporal Jordan Ferguson is one of many police officers, military members, and civilians who have volunteered time in this violence confrontation lab, complete with frighteningly realistic actors and a huge virtual reality scene.</s>ANNOUNCER: You receive a call from a person who says a convenience store is being robbed. Do you understand?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.</s>ANNOUNCER: Stand by.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back up! Back up! Back up! Put your hands up! Put your hands up! Drop the knife! Right now, drop it!</s>TUCHMAN: While the volunteers make split-second decisions, brain waves and heart rates are checked. It's all part of an ambitious research project at Washington State University, partly funded by the Defense Department, with the goal of improving justice in America. Professor Brian Vila is the man in charge.</s>PROFESSOR BRYAN VILA, WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY: We don't know yet, still, a hundred and some years since Teddy Roosevelt had the first police firearms training in New York. We still don't know whether there's a connection between the training we give police officers and their performance in a combat situation.</s>TUCHMAN: Sergeant Terry Preuninger is told he has pulled over a stolen car.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I see your driver's license, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want my driver's license?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys! Dude!</s>TUCHMAN: The researchers say these volunteers' hearts are generally racing, because it's all so realistic. Many findings from the study will be released by the end of the year, but some have already been published. The research is declaring that volunteers of all races all view African-American suspects as more threatening than white suspects, but they may have subconsciously overcompensated because of those biases.</s>VILA: The surprise is they were more restrained in shooting African- Americans than they were whites.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police officer! Let me see your hands! You at the counter, let me see your hands. Don't move! Stop! Stop!</s>TUCHMAN: The officer never knew if the man had a gun, but did not shoot.</s>SGT. TERRY PREUNINGER, SPOKANE POLICE DEPARTMENT: Sometimes we don't know if we made the right decision or wrong decision. We make a decision and live with it for the rest of our lives.</s>TUCHMAN: Now they're also used as volunteers. So with the cops guiding me, I pull over a suspicious car with a broken taillight. Hello, sir, your taillight's broken. Do you know that? Sir, take your hands out of your pockets. Sir, Sir! Sir, take your hands out of your pockets. Sir! Sir! Put your hands on the steering wheel. Sir! Sir, you're not listening. Hands on the steering -- OK, thank you. Yes, that guy looked like he was getting a gun out. So I took the gun out, didn't point it at him, proper way to deal with it.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey! Stop, stop! Police!</s>TUCHMAN: There is a lot more to learn, as these researchers try to make life safer for citizens and for the cops who serve them. Gary Tuchman, CNN, Spokane, Washington.</s>BANFIELD: Great report from Gary Tuchman. Gary, thank you for that. You more than likely have seen a pretty famous, now-famous mug shot, the Texas governor, Rick Perry, fingerprinted, photographed, indicted? Really? Should he be for what he says was simply exercising his right as governor to veto? Is this an abuse of power, or is this big and political? And what of the d.a. who was hauled in on a DUI at the center of it all? We're going to sort out this whole mess, after the break.