How come Police Officers have to kill suspects?

Question

Whenever I catch the local news, they talk about how Police Officers shot the suspect and killed them. How come Police Officers can't shoot them (supects) in their legs or other places instead of shooting them to death? If there dead, there not able to tell their side of the story. Can anybody explain please?

One of the common reason is Officer safety, but what else?

Answer 1

In training, you are taught to shoot for center of the mass. If your target still poses an immediate threat to your life or others, you keep shooting (within reason) in order to neutralize that threat. Handguns are not as light as they may appear, and not as powerful as TV and movies make them out to be. They are heavy, hard to aim, and also do not have alot of "stopping" power, and as such sometimes require multiple shots to render a suspect disabled.

99.9999999999% of the time an officer will fire his weapon in order to save his life or that of someone else; they are trained to do so, and only do it within the confines of the law and their use of force policy. Yes, suspects die in the process. What you have to remember is that individual was part of a situation in which an event or series of events took place culminating in the end of their life, and that is ultimately what counts. Whether they had a story doesn't usually matter at that point; they already took it to a level where deadly force was necessary.

Answer 2

I'm sure the answer you want is because they want to kill people, but I don't believe that every cop that has killed someone did so for the thrill of it. Just like the community at large, there are some bad apples that taint the barrel.

For the most part, I think cops attempt to incapacitate an assailant, but if they believe that their life, or the life of innocent bystanders, is at risk, they have the right, and the responsibility to use deadly force if necessary.

And for another thing, I don't think most of the guys who get shot are standing still, and if you're shooting from a long ways away at something that's moving, you've got a reasonably good chance of hitting something vital, even inadvertently.

Just my two cents...

Answer 3

this is a very touchy subject. when a police officer is authorized to use deadly force there is no choice of how it must be done. for instance a police officer may point a gun at a suspect this is using deadly force. you have to remember the use of deadly force maybe used when a officer feels that his/her life is in danger or a third party. what to you do if a suspect has a knife in there hand and charges you. OK STAND STILL WHILE I SHOOT YOU IN THE ARM. comeon to much tv . the deadly situation was presented who goes home the good guy / or bad guy ?? put in other terms your mom is getting robbed by a man with a knife . would you want a officer to shoot the suspect in the arm so he may stab her or would you want the officer to meet the suspect with the same deadly force? if you shoot to wound that person he may get up and stab your mom. WHEN a officer decides to use deadly force it's because there is a situation that called for it. IF HE MAKES IT TO COURT IT'S BECAUSE HE PROBABLY GOT SMART AND DID WHAT HE WAS TOLD WHEN HE HAD A GUN POINTED AT HIM "" DEADLY FORCE""

IT'S VERY EASY BEING A MONDAY MORNING QUARTER BACK . OFFICERS HAVE SECOND TO DECIDE LIFE OR DEATH IF MY FAMILY MEMBER IS INVOLVED DO NOT HESITATE PLEASE. I LOVE MY MOM.

Answer 4

Their legs aren't holding guns. Imagine for a second that someone who intends to kill you is pointing a gun right at you, and you know that they plan to pull the trigger. You have a family at home. You're just doing your job--you don't want to die. You have a gun pointed at them. What you do is pull your trigger until the danger is GONE. Believe me, they would love nothing more than to be ABLE to take a moment to analyze whether or not this person is serious, or if shooting them in the legs would stop them from killing them. They don't have that luxury. They need to do whatever they can to take themselves, their fellow officers, and any innocent bystanders out of danger. The majority of time they're correct in the decision that they make. Occasionally, they aren't. Just be thankful that you don't have to make split-second decisions like this as a part of your job.

Answer 5

Officers are trained to incapacitate if not armed but will be told to kill if armed. Not to be unfair or anything but a bullet in the head will insure the suspect doesn't shoot back. Getting shot in the leg will still hurt but the suspect might keep shooting because of adrenaline.

Answer 6

OK. Let's give a 200lbs crackhead and you both a gun. The 200lbs crackhead knows the only way to get away from you (the cop) is to either run or kill you. he chooses the latter. Would you shoot him in the leg and ask him politely to stop? Or would you do what you had to do to walk away from the shootout? The answer is quiet simple if you ask me. If you dont like your family then go ahead and shoot him in the leg. I on the other hand love mine and will do everything I can to see them again at the end of the day.

Answer 7

Call your local news station and ask them why they don't report the WHOLE story. On a daily basis law enforcement personnel are faced with life and death situations. Many of these require a split second decision. The scum out there that they have to deal with are trying their best to kill a police officer to get away with what crime they have committed. They don't care how many police officers they kill or how many wife's they leave without a husband or how many children they leave without a father. Since you seem to care so much about the scum, call them next time you need help and leave the brave law enforcement officials alone to take care of those who appreciate them and their sacrifices.

Answer 8

They don't have to. Few of them do 'cause they are racist or they feel superior to other people just for having a different job. I wanna think most of them are not like that.

By the way, you don't need to shot 15 times to protect yourself. I do understand that sometimes a police officer life is in jeopardy and they have to shot but it's not in all the cases. We've seen in the media, images of police officers punching people for the sake of doing it. You can say it's not the rule, but tell it to the guy being punched. If they want to avoid people having bad opinion about them, they should investigate to the fullest any incident and if the police officer is found guilty, fire him/her immediately and obviously judge them on a regular basis.

Training police officers to deal with this kind of situations is key. Sometimes they may kill someone, but it'll be less frequent. Also hoping that the person dying is not innocent, which would be more dramatic.

Answer 9

because we (law enforcement) are trained to shoot center of mass to stop the threat. if you try to shoot a limb you have a good possibility of missing or in most situations that involve an officer pulling and shooting his gun, if the officer does not stop the threat, the officer himself will be killed. It is not the officers fault that some person decides pull a weapon on them, and most of the time if they pull it on an officer they intend to use it. how would you feel if you were a cop and some guy pulled a shotgun on you, would you shoot to stop the threat, or would you shoot him in the legs and give him a chance to blow you away. Please put yourself in the officers shoes

Answer 10

because the suspect probably has a gun pointing at them and they just aim for the best spot hope that helped you and they don't really mean to kill them and sometimes the officer is the one who gets shot and they die I've had friends parent shot and killed because off the SUSPECT AND HOW DO YOU THINK THE family of the officer fill he didn't deserve it either the SUSPECT did though