Retired Lakeville FBI agent's new book examines the use of deadly force# BY JOSEPH PALMERSHEIM SUN NEWSPAPERS
(Created: Sunday, June 7, 2009 3:10 PM CDT)
The echo of a gunshot fades within seconds - but the ramifications of deadly force can linger for a lifetime, as one Lakeville author shows.
In his new book, "Pulling the Trigger," former FBI agent and Lakeville resident Larry Brubaker examines the results of police officers using deadly force. In researching the book, he found that use of deadly force is a life-changing event, not only for those shot and their families, but for the officers that pulled the trigger. Brubaker interviewed nearly 200 people involved in these incidents for "Pulling the Trigger."
"Each person reacts differently," he said. "I've found that the ones that deal with it best say it was something they were forced to do. 'It was either this person goes home to their family, or I go home to my family.' When it happened, all of [their] training went into effect."
For the majority of those officers interviewed, nearly 95 percent remained in law enforcement after being involved in a deadly force incident. Some left due to health reasons, and others left because they did not deal with the incident well emotionally, Brubaker said.
Brubaker's book has its genesis in a 10-year study on use of deadly force Brubaker wrote while taking master's degree classes at the University of St. Mary's in Winona in the early 1990s. The paper sparked an interest, and he "kept going and going," working on the project for the next 15 years. The process was delayed by the events of 9/11, which left Brubaker, then still with the FBI, inundated with work.
His path to the FBI has an unlikely beginning. After receiving a bachelor's degree from the University of Montana in the late 1960s, he taught school and coached for three years before joining the FBI in 1971.
"I'd considered an FBI career in high school and in early college, and I thought the easiest way to get in was to be an accountant," Brubaker said. "By my junior year, I decided I didn't like [accounting], and switched to history. [When I was teaching], I found out the FBI was hiring, I applied, and they hired me."
During his 29-year career, Brubaker's teaching skills were put to good use as an instructor in "interpersonal violent crimes." He also became an expert on Munchausen by Proxy, a disorder in which people purposely exaggerate, invent or even cause disease symptoms. He also served in the field, and said he was lucky enough to have never fired his weapon in the line of duty despite being in many arrest situations.
"I wrote this book for [several] reasons," he said. "I want the general public to understand the dynamics that go into these events - I hope they understand that police officers aren't just shooting at anything that moves. Second, it's a chance for people considering a career in law enforcement to consider if they can do this. This is one side of the field that a lot of people don't look at."
Brubaker lives in Lakeville with his wife of 41 years, Shiela. They have two sons. One is a police officer with the St. Paul SWAT team, and the other is a sergeant in the U.S. Army. Coming up, Brubaker has presentations planned for the Minneapolis SWAT team, and said the law enforcement response to his book has been very good.
"I had [one officer I interviewed for the book] come up to me after a presentation, and he said, 'Larry, when you were describing what officers go through, with the tunnel vision and the hearing loss [during a shooting incident], I swore you were talking about me,'" Brubaker said. "'It hit home with me.'"
Author's name: Larry Brubaker
Community of residence: Lakeville
Latest title: "Pulling the Trigger"
Previous books: None
Publisher: Galde Press
Publication date: Spring 2009
Where available: galdepress.com, amazon.com
Price: $29.95
Book summary: A retired FBI agent examines the use of deadly force with a 25-year study
This site and its contents Copyright © 2007. Sun Newspapers
- Main Office: 952-829-0797
suninfo@acnpapers.com -
