Daytona Beach police chief works to reduce use of deadly force

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Daytona Beach police officers said a man armed with a knife challenged them to shoot and kill him, but instead officers shot the man with a Taser and were able to arrest him.

Chief Mike Chitwood told Channel 9 on Thursday he's working to cut down on the number of times his officers have to resort to deadly force, and his officers are now receiving special training.

Chitwood said split-second decisions are tough to make, but doing something as simple as parking a patrol car down the road can give officers more time to act without deadly force.

In an incident that was captured on bodycam, suspect Derrick Fletcher walks toward Daytona Beach police officers with a knife. At first, they tried to talk to him.

"Derrick, why are you acting crazy?" on officer said.

Then, as Fletcher swung the blade, one of the officers shot him with a Taser.

Chitwood said shooting Fletcher was an option, but he said his department is working to reduce the use of deadly force.

"We don't want them to put themselves in a situation where they have to use deadly force," he said. "We're trying to preach to them to use time and distance to their advantage."

Chitwood's officers are currently receiving de-escalation training to help lower the chances of a deadly encounter, even though officers are already trained to use other options.

"What we're doing with our training is, we're making it a priority," Chitwood said. "We want you to use the equation, 'Time and distance equals safety for everybody.'"

Chitwood said confronting an armed suspect from 6 to 8 feet away will give his officers time to decide, but the closer they get increases the need to use lethal force.

However, Chitwood said he still wants his officers ready at all times to use deadly force when necessary.

"It's our responsibility to make sure everybody goes home safe," he said.

The chief said he hopes to have all of his officers trained by mid-September.

WFTV