Officer who killed unarmed black man responds to critics of her 'critical incident' course

A white Oklahoma officer, who was acquitted of manslaughter charges in the fatal 2016 shooting of an unarmed African-American man, defended herself amid protests that have erupted over her teaching a class to sheriff's deputies.

"I talk about the challenges that I face after my critical incident; the challenges that my husband and I were not prepared for," former Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby told "Good Morning America" in an exclusive interview of what her classes entail.

"So I take what I learned and developed what I call tools and I pass that on to other officers so maybe they can be better prepared to deal with a critical incident."

Despite the demonstrations this week, Shelby, now a nearby sheriff’s deputy, went ahead Tuesday with the scheduled class titled "Surviving the Aftermath of a Critical Incident," attended by about two dozen Tulsa County sheriff's deputies, officials said.

The "critical incident" does not solely refer to an officer-involved shooting, Shelby said, but can be an event that simply "tests the limits of their coping skills."

"It can be an officer who responds to a hostage situation or saw a very severe car accident where a child died,” she told “GMA.”

“It can be an array of things. An officer can see many critical incidents throughout their career. We are well-trained in how to use the tools that we're given but what we're not prepared for are the events afterwards.

"Of course, it’s critical to the person that's involved but it may affect people differently," Shelby, who is not paid for teaching the classes, added

To receive more updates from Frayokit News, kindly SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER or follow us on FACEBOOK and on TWITTER
For inquiries, adverts placement and news tip off, kindly call +2348083720023, +2348073006684 or send us email on: obeyafriday@gmail.com
Add Frayokit News On BBM. Pin: 5C130E7E or add us on WhatsApp. WhatsApp number: 08083720023