i believe the cops should shoot to kill if a person points a firearm at them. The person who has the lame *** opinion of a drunk person or a kid pointing a firearm by mistake should be shot just for bein a dumbass. If you own a firearm, be responsible. We cant afford to lose good cops because some liberal idiot doesnt want his drunk child or drugged up buddy to be shot because he thought it was funny to point a weapon at a police officer. If you clear leather, use it or face the consequenses.
Gaunteng SOUTH-AFRICA
2006-07-13 02:31:55 · 28 answers · asked by muffin 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
Ok, here we go:
Firstly, in law enforcement, one never fires to kill. We shoot to stop the person's unlawful and dangerous actions. Shooting with the intention to kill is called murder.
Secondly, an officer is allowed by law and policy to fire in self defense if he reasonably believes that his life is in immediate, deadly danger. Pointing a weapon at him satisfies this requirement. By law and by policy, he can fire. If you point something at him that reasonably looks like a gun, he can fire. Example: an airsoft gun. This is tragic, but waiting to find out if the bad guy's gun is real or fake can result in the Officer's death.
Thirdly, Officers are taught to shoot center of body mass, not at the stomach. The idea is to make the person stop what they are doing, and hits to the lower body and arms/legs are not effective. Example: If I shoot and hit you in the leg, and you shoot and kill me, I lose. If I shoot you in the chest, and you drop your weapon, so I call you an ambulance and you survive, I win.
2006-07-13 06:57:58 · answer #1 · answered by tyrsson58 5 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Yes I agree shoot first ask questions later and I don't think cops should be punished for it either.
As to the guy in the underground, the Police asked him to stop and he ran so they shot him. Good on them. He shouldn't have been in this country anyway as his visa had expired.
We have lost too many good police officers lately, just because some idiot decided to point something at them and don't forget if you are faced with a mad man pointing a water pistol at you, you don't know if it is real or not.
I read years ago that police aim for the stomach because there is more body tissue and fat, If they aimed for the arm or leg, they could miss and a stray bullet could hit someone else who maybe passing quite innocently.
2006-07-13 09:54:01 · answer #2 · answered by sarah w 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i don't think that shooting to kill in all these situations is a good thing. if this did happen and the person pointing the firearm at a cop ends up to be a teen of child with a water pistol- it can cause alot of mental anguish to the cop that shot the person. stupidity or not it is death that could have been avoided. if an office has a weapon pointed at him i belive that he should shoot to disable the person but not to kill.
2006-07-13 09:37:48 · answer #3 · answered by angelcdm228 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Shoot first ask questions later. We had a 12 year old pop up in an open field, pointing a shotgun at the officer who was searching for him. Thankfully the officer was quicker and was able to go home to his family unfortunately the kid was not. But if you point a gun ,real or not, at an officer that could be one of the out comes.
www.odmp.org
2006-07-13 17:19:51 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Often cops are allowed to shoot if they see a firearm. However, in America cops have notoriously bad aim. I think they do wht the guy on Reno 911 said they do..."empty the chamber and let the lord decide."
2006-07-13 09:35:07 · answer #5 · answered by Hunter S. Thompson 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Time to update this: Can an officer legally SOS if he/she is searching for a person who has already murdered officers (for the sole reason that they are LEO's), and threatened to shoot more? This has, unfortunately, become not uncommon in the USA as of 2014.
2014-09-20 19:25:17 · answer #6 · answered by ? 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you have a gun pointed at you, defense is in order. Shooting to kill is in order. Playing a head game or waiting game to try and salvage a situation is playing God. Point, shoot and empty the gun. The handicapped man who tried to board a plane and told people he had a bomb in his back pack, then tried to run, was shot and killed. Regardless of his mental health, I applaud the US Marshall for his actions. We recently had a prisoner steal a gun, in our hospital, and try to escape. Our security guard brought him down, outside the ER with one shot. The prisoner made the decision to threaten all our patients and employees, and was killed...as opposed to us dying from his gun. There are no grey areas here.
2006-07-13 09:37:50 · answer #7 · answered by erlifesaver 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No police should not shoot on sight as they might shoot someone totally innocent like they did in a London Tube Station last year. They should only shoot when they are fired upon.
2006-07-13 09:38:38 · answer #8 · answered by ? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Coundn't agree with you more...you point a gun towards an inocent person...cop or not, a cop has a fully legit reason to shoot you down, drunk or not....it is upto his discretion wether he shoots you in shoulder or head! There are punk kids who aim laser light without gun at cops...if cops shoot them and they die...tough luck! Hopefully other kids will learn a lesson. Cops are as much entitled to self defense as they are obligated to protect us.
2006-07-13 09:38:20 · answer #9 · answered by dude 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In America, we do shoot the second a gun is aimed at a Police Officer and thank goodness for that!
2006-07-13 09:35:26 · answer #10 · answered by mrscmmckim 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋