Slips and capture
{{Short description|Human error in high-stress situations}}
Slips and capture is a type of error that may occur in high-stress situations. It has been described as a phenomenon in the psychology of human error, such that a person may inadvertently perform one action while intending to do another.
The term "slips and capture" became more widely known in the early 21st century in the United States, after being referred to by law enforcement in two prominent fatal police shooting cases in 2009 and 2015. In both cases, the police officer claimed to have shot a suspect while intending to use a Taser.{{cite web|title=Tulsa Officer Says He Mistook Handgun for Taser|url=https://www.wsj.com/video/tulsa-officer-says-he-mistook-handgun-for-taser/810FC2F7-60C6-482B-BFEA-6B9CEF4C9D39.html|website=The Wall Street Journal}}{{cite web|title=Officials call shooting a "slips and capture" event|url=http://www.onenewspage.com/video/20150410/2747679/Officials-call-shooting-slips-and-capture-event.htm|website=One News Page}}{{cite web|url=http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2015/04/tulsa-sheriffs-office-says-volunteer-deputy-is-victim-of-circumstance-after-shooting-unarmed-man-video/ |title=Oklahoma Deputy Tells Dying Man Shot by Accident, "Fuck Your Breath," as he Gasps His Final Breaths – PINAC |website=Photographyisnotacrime.com |date= |accessdate=2015-05-02}}
Background and history
The concept of "slips and capture" has been studied in the psychology of human error, and efforts to prevent error.{{cite web|url=http://www.humanfactorsmd.com/psychology-of-human-error |title=Intro to the psychology of human error and medical errors |website=HumanFactorsMD |accessdate=2015-05-16}} It was thoroughly described in 1990 by James Reason.{{cite book|url=https://www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/human_error_slips_and_mistakes.html |title=Human error – slips and mistakes |publisher=Interaction Design Foundation |accessdate=2015-05-16 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118044333/http://www.humanfactorsmd.com/psychology-of-human-error/ |archivedate=November 18, 2015}}
The concept has been addressed in efforts to improve business, including computer and program design,{{cite web|url=http://www.crewresourcemanagement.net/4/27.html |title=Skill, Rule, and Knowledge-Based Behaviours and Errors |publisher=Crew Resource Management |accessdate=2015-05-16}} and medical practices in order to avoid preventable error.{{cite web|url=http://www.patientsafetysolutions.com/docs/April_21_2015_Slip_and_Capture_Errors.htm |title=Patient Safety Tip of the Week Archive|publisher=Patient Safety Solutions |accessdate=2015-05-16}} Both terms are used in error terminology:{{cite web|url=http://www.mistakeproofing.com/glossary.html |title=Glossary of Error-Proofing Terms |publisher=Mistakeproofing.com| accessdate=2015-05-16}} slips are defined as "errors in the performance of skill-based behaviors, typically when our attention is diverted;" and capture refers to "a type of slip where a more frequent and more practiced behavior takes place when a similar, but less familiar, action was intended."{{cite web|url=http://www.usabilityfirst.com/glossary/capture-error |title=Usability First – Usability Glossary – capture error |accessdate=2015-05-16}}
Shooting of Oscar Grant
{{Main|Shooting of Oscar Grant}}
Early on New Year's Day of 2009, Oscar Grant III was fatally shot by Bay Area Rapid Transit officer Johannes Mehserle, who was detaining Grant with other officers after a reported fight on the train.{{cite web|url=http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/07/30/appeals-court-gives-oscar-grants-father-ok-to-sue-mehserle-for-fatal-shooting/ |title=Court Gives Oscar Grant's Father OK To Sue Ex-BART Cop For Fatal Shooting « CBS San Francisco |publisher=CBSlocal.com San Francisco|date=2013-07-30 |accessdate=2015-05-02}} At his bail hearing in late January 2009, Mehserle said that he had intended to use his Taser, but inadvertently grabbed his pistol instead.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/10565543 |title=Violence after California police shooting trial verdict – BBC News |website=BBC |date= 2010|accessdate=2015-05-02}}{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/30/BABI15KCD5.DTL&type=adfree |title=Skeptical judge grants bail to former BART cop |last=Bulwa |first=Demian |date=January 30, 2009 |website=San Francisco Chronicle |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203071629/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2009%2F01%2F30%2FBABI15KCD5.DTL&type=adfree |archivedate=February 3, 2009 }} In 2010 a jury convicted Mehserle of involuntary manslaughter, acquitting him of charges of voluntary manslaughter.
The phrase "slips and capture" was used by Bill Lewinski in 2009, a consultant in police use of force who was part of Mehserle's defense team. Lewinski was reported by the Wisconsin State Journal to have a doctorate in psychology from Union Institute & University, an online college.{{cite web|url=http://host.madison.com/news/local/crime_and_courts/expert-in-deadly-force-training-criticized-for-record-on-police/article_20a0f770-c507-5312-90b4-dc5d291a377b.html#ixzz3XF51oY18 |title=Expert in deadly force training criticized for record on police shootings |work=Wisconsin State Journal |publisher=madison.com |date=2014-07-31 |accessdate=2015-05-02}} His company, Force Science Institute, specializes in consulting to police departments. Its website advertises: "We save lives and reputations."{{cite web|url=http://www.forcescience.org/phone/about-force-science.html |title=About Force Science |publisher=Forcescience.org |date=2014-02-03 |accessdate=2015-05-02 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151007113712/http://www.forcescience.org/phone/about-force-science.html |archivedate=October 7, 2015}} Lewinski published a newsletter article on the "Slips and Capture" theory in his "Force Science News #154" after he began work on the defense of Mehserle.{{cite web|url=http://www.forcescience.org/fsnews/154.html |title=Force Science explains "slips-and-capture errors"...|work=Force science News #154 |date= |accessdate=2015-05-02}}
Shooting of Eric Courtney Harris
{{Main|2015 shooting of Eric Harris}}
On April 2, 2015, 44-year-old Eric Courtney Harris was shot to death by Tulsa city police during an undercover sting in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As Harris was being subdued, Tulsa County Reserve Deputy Robert Charles "Bob" Bates, 73, fatally shot Harris in the back, according to the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office. Bates used the concept of "slips and capture" in his defense, saying that he had intended to use his Taser on Harris.{{cite web|url=http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepage1/sources-supervisors-told-to-falsify-reserve-deputy-s-training-records/article_a6330f10-a9fb-51e3-ab5e-4d97b03c6c04.html |title=Sources: Supervisors told to falsify reserve deputy's training records; department announces internal review|work=Tulsa World |publisher=Tulsaworld.com |date=2015 |accessdate=2015-05-02}}{{cite web|url=http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/crimewatch/video-of-fatal-shooting-by-reserve-deputy-shown-at-sheriff/article_9d77cce0-75e6-5ddf-a782-cf048ad4064b.html |title=Video of fatal shooting by reserve deputy shown at Sheriff's Office press conference |publisher=Tulsaworld.com |date=2015 |accessdate=2015-05-02}}
See also
- Shooting of Adam Salter, a 2009 shooting that a coroner suggested may have been intended as a Taser firing
- Shooting of Daunte Wright, a 2021 shooting in which the shooting officer claimed slips and capture as a reason for firing her gun instead of her Taser.