Addressing a spike in deputy-involved shootings, L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca rolled out new guidelines Wednesday that would encourage deputies to contain armed suspects until backup arrives, rather than give chase. 

Deputies fatally shot 16 suspects in the county last year, doubling the number of such deaths that occurred in 2008.

The department said it believes the new guidelines are the first of their kind in the nation.

"It's the idea of reverence for life," Baca said of the new protocol. "We really want to make the best decisions possible."

A recent rash of deputy-involved shootings has put the Sheriff's Department under intense scrutiny. In six of those cases, deputies mistakenly thought an unarmed suspect had a gun, said Michael Gennaco, an attorney with the county's Office of Independent Review, which looked into the cases.

The most recent deputy-involved shooting took place Feb. 10 on Parmalee Avenue in Compton. However, the deputy did not wound the suspect, who remains on the loose. 

The bulk of the shootings occurred in July and August of last year. According to the Sheriff's Department Web site, during the week of July 24-Aug. 1, four officer-involved shootings took place.

Avery Cody, a 16-year-old from Compton, died July 17 trying to escape two deputies from the Sheriff's Department's gang unit.

A news release regarding the incident says the deputies spotted Cody and three of his friends hanging out on the corner of Alondra Boulevard and Poinsettia Avenue in Compton. Cody took off before the deputies could question the group about their involvement in some recent gang-related incidents. As deputies chased after him, Cody turned and pointed a gun he held in his left hand at them.

One of the deputies, fearing for his partner's safety, shot Cody in the upper torso. A loaded hand gun was found near Cody's body.

This case and others like it go through an intense administrative review, where they are investigated by the Sheriff's Department and a number of independent agencies.

Deputy Jeff Curran said that deputies never want to get involved in a shoot out.

"As a department, our goal is to stive to cautiously, persistently, do our duty in apprehending suspects," Curran said. "I have never worked with anyone that said, 'Hey, I want to go shoot somebody.'"

Unlike decades past, deputies now have a number of resources at their disposal such as radios, tasers, and highly trained police service dogs. It's important for deputies to use these resources to the fullest extent possible, Curran said.

As a master field training officer, Curran helps oversees the training of deputies at each of the Sheriff's Department's 23 stations. The Master Field Training Officer program, which launched in January 2009, ensures that deputies receive the same training no matter what their assigned station.

A 30-page booklet entitled "Split-Second Decision: The Dynamics of the Chase in Today's Society" spells out the new policy. A task force Baca put together after the rash of shootings designed both the booklet and the policy.

The booklet presents eight common scenarios in which an officer may have to confront an armed suspect. Deputies can resolve most of the scenarios without resorting to violence. 

Each scenario is based off an actual incident.

In one scenario, a deputy entered a darkened apartment to find an armed robbery suspect hiding in the closet holding what looked like a gun. The "gun" turned out to be a pair of pliers the suspect used to simulate a handgun in hopes the deputy would shoot and kill him, the booklet said.

The deputy shot the suspect in the abdomen, but did not kill him. 

The booklet concludes the deputy should have trapped the suspect in the apartment and called for back up, or chosen from among a number of other possible ways of handling the situation.

"We just want to change the culture of the department and the way of thinking," Curran said, adding that the booklet will hopefully give deputies the opportunity to mentally rehearse how they would react in such situations.

Baca said the booklet will be used as a training manual, and every deputy in the department will receive a copy.

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