Police and Guns

[Eevee]

Hey just a quick question...are the police allowed to shoot anyone if they are a threat? OR does the person have to be carrying a weapon? Thanks.

-EV

[Macdaddy Warsaw]

Um...I'm sure it varies, but I'm pretty sure an officer with a gun on you will pop you one if you make any threatening motion.

I've even see two officers empty both of their clips into a suspect who had fired upon them and was now fleeing. This was on one of those most amazing cop clips shows, so I figure it's even ok for cops to shoot you in the back if it might prevent later danger.

[Lazymeatball]

cops shoot people who rush them with knives or suspicious looking cellphones.

[slickpoppa]

[ QUOTE ]
cops shoot people who rush them with knives or suspicious looking cellphones.

[/ QUOTE ]

or wallets

[ThrillFactor]

a police officer must be able to justify the use of deadly force just like any other citizen.

[Voltron87]

what hapens depends on the color of your skin...

The quick answer is no, and anybody who says otherwise is an idiot.

[Gunny Highway]

Are you considering threatening some police, or just curious? If it's the former, please let us know how it turns out.

Use of force by the police is applied along a continuum. "Command Presence" is on the bottom and "Deadly Force" is on the top (with several levels in between). Police must apply force that is commeasurate with the threat. Policies dictate that the threat will be handled with the lowest level of force required.

As far as the use of deadly force is concerned, here is an example policy:

"The necessity to use deadly force arises when all other available means of preventing imminent and grave danger to officers or other persons have failed or would be likely to fail. Thus, employing deadly force is permissible when there is no safe alternative to using such force, and without it the officer or others would face imminent and grave danger. An officer is not required to place himself or herself, another officer, a suspect, or the public in unreasonable danger of death or serious physical injury before using deadly force. Officers will fire at a person only in response to an imminent threat of deadly force or serious physical injury against the officer or other individuals."

[ QUOTE ]
Um...I'm sure it varies, but I'm pretty sure an officer with a gun on you will pop you one if you make any threatening motion.

I've even see two officers empty both of their clips into a suspect who had fired upon them and was now fleeing. This was on one of those most amazing cop clips shows, so I figure it's even ok for cops to shoot you in the back if it might prevent later danger.

[/ QUOTE ]

Macdaddy, here is an example of a fleeing subject policy:

"Officers can only use deadly force to prevent the escape of a fleeing subject if there is probable cause to believe:

(1) The subject has committed a felony involving the infliction or threatened infliction of a serious physical injury or death; and

(2) The escape of the subject would pose an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or to another person."

LG,

Quite on point in the gun threads today.

Appreciatively,
yasher