Officer Benjamin Kelly: The mindset to win a split-second confrontation
Monday, December 14th, 2009with Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith
Officer Benjamin Kelly: The mindset to win a split-second confrontation
Maurice Clemmons’ body was probably still warm when I started getting text messages and e-mails from my friends in the Seattle/Tacoma area early Monday morning. The manhunt was over. The mainstream media reported that a “routine stolen vehicle check” had led to the righteous shooting death of Clemmons by Seattle Police Department’s Officer Benjamin L. Kelly, a five-year veteran assigned to the South Precinct. The Seattle Times wrote that Kelly is “fortunate to be alive.”
I beg to differ. I believe Officer Kelly is alive because he trusted his instincts, employed his training, and had the mindset to win that split-second confrontation with Clemmons instead of becoming Clemmons’ fifth law enforcement victim.
