Question about cops.?

Question

If someone is wielding a weapon against a police officer, is the officer trained to shoot with the intention of killing the would-be assailant or with the intention of immobilizing the attacker?

Are the deaths that occur from this sort of thing generally accidental - i.e. with live ammunition do they shoot for the legs, or arms - or the head/ Chest?

Answer 1

We are trained to shoot to stop the threat. Generally you aim center mass and fire twice. If that doesn't work you you repeat that process. We also train head shots should the need and conditions arise that that is your only shot, but Police Officers, not snipers, will tell you that they train to stop the threat. The threat is the person wielding the weapon.

Answer 2

First I must explain that I am now a retired police officer after 33 years in that profession. Among a long list of assignments I was a certified police firearms instructor and did that for more than 20 years.

I taught my fellow police officers that when they make the decision to use deadly force they were to shoot with the intention of stopping whatever behavior gave them cause to do so. Primarily in defense of self or others. No warning shots, no aiming to wound or disable. Shooting for the largest target, center mass, between the neck and the waist. That not always being possible, and the officer needs to take action, whatever part is available.

Having said that, I also taught that when an officer discharges their firearm, they are responsible for the bullet that exits the gun. If it doesn't hit the person they are trying to shoot and accidentally hits someone else, they will have to answer for that. A bad guy has no such restriction and can shoot indiscriminately. A police officer cannot. They must know what is around them and behind the bad guy in the potential line of fire.

In a perfect world a police officer could be taught to shoot down the barrel of a bad guys weapon and no one would then get hurt. This isn't a perfect world and it is not possible to teach thousands of police officers to shoot with TV and movie skill. Just isn't possible.

Answer 3

The term 'Deadly Force' comes from the fact that a gun produces death. If a police officer is in a situation where deadly force is needed to interviene, then they shoot. They aim for center mass. It is very ignorant to think that you can train to shoot any other way. They are aiming to destroy a vital organ on their assailant so they can not harm them or anyone else. They are going to keep on shooting till this is accomplished. They are going home to their family at the end of the shift. Always keep in mind the Police are there because it is their job, not some random occurance.

Answer 4

It is impossible to accurately shoot to disable someone. You see it in the movies all the time...cop shoots the gun out of the badguys hand...but that is laughably unrealistic.
Police are taught to stop the threat. If that takes killing the person, or shooting htem many times, thats what it takes.

one of the rules of firearm safety is "know your background." Police aren't shooting at the range, but out in public with other people and property. Aiming at a torso gives a much higher rate of hitting the suspect than aiming at an arm or leg that moves...giving the higher possibility of hitting an innocent person that may be a couple hundred yards behind the suspect.

Answer 5

Officers are trained to aim center mass and shoot to stop the threat. It is not reasonable to ask an officer involved in a high stress encounter to shoot at a moving hand or leg. Even if the officers was successful in shooting the armed defendant in the arm or leg there is no guarantee that it would stop the threat. Aim center mass, shoot until there is no more threat, and go home at the end of your tour.

Answer 6

Good question! In Michigan officers are trained to shoot for the head. About six months ago a schizophrenic came out of her house with a knife and began moving towards one of several officers, she is no longer with us. They blew her head clean off. Keep in mind that any object in your hand can be considered a weapon. Never run at an officer with a stick. Oh I just wanted to add that officers are usually to busy handing out traffic tickets to hard working people to protect the public, so when they are confronted with a real threat of course they are gonna shoot. I've never met an honest cop, or a cop that didn't try to use his position to throw his weight around. I've never met a cop that didn't act like a P**, if you get my drift. YUK to cops! : (

Answer 7

We are trained to shoot to stop, not to kill. All of our training revolves around aiming for center mass of the body for two reasons: (1) It is the largest target and easiest to hit in a high stress situation, and (2) Center mass of the body contains the greatest concentration of vital organs, that when disrupted by hydrostatic pressure and a wound channel will most likely result in the stop of the threat. There are 'non-stoppage' drills that train you to shoot twice to center mass and once to the head if the first two shots have no effect (suspect might be wearing body armor). To be justified in using deadly force you must be in immediate danger of serious physical injury or death. Taking a shot at someone's legs or arms in those circumstances would be foolish.

Answer 8

We shoot to stop the threat. We DONT shoot to kill, but the reason we pull the trigger is to stop the person's actions. If the person has a gun, we shoot center mass because we have the greatest chance of hitting the person there.
All those movies where Mel Gibson laughs, shoots the guy in the shoulder, spins his pistol, and walks away is pure fantasy. ( I love the Lethal Weapon movies BTW)
If the only shot I have is to the head....so be it.
I'd prefer never having to shoot at all. But that's not my choice. It's the suspects.

Answer 9

When I became a police officer back in 1967 (yes ... I'm that old!) we were trained to shoot for the arm or hand. We were supposed to disable the shooting arm or hand and knock the gun out of the bad guy's hand. The practice target we shot at then was similar to today's torso silouette, but it included the target's right arm as if he was drawing a gun from a hip holster. We would stand at an angle to the target and hold our old 6-shot Colt revolver at arm's length until the whistle blew to start shooting at whatever pace we chose. Shots were scored higher if you hit the arm or hand, or if you 'winged' him in the shoulder, etc., but your shot was worth 'zero' if you hit the target in the head or chest. In those days we didn't question the wisdom of our superiors. As a young cop I therefore learned that all bad guys used hip hosters and didn't reach for their gun until you faced them. They were all right-handed males, and would just stand there while you blazed away at their arm or hand. That started to change in the seventies and evolved into the modern system of putting the bad-guy out of commission quickly and effectively. When I retired about ten years ago the general procedure was simply to 'tap' two shots into the largest body mass to stop the threat. Any cop who aims for a bad guy's arm or hand is either dead, permanently working in an office where he can't get any of his buddies killed, or most likely didn't make it through his/her probation on the job. Times change and we change with them.

Answer 10

The Police are trying to STOP the persons actions. Not kill, maim or wound, but to STOP.

You can't shoot to cripple and that thinking was done about 35 years ago. The end result may be death. Whenever a firearm is used by anyone against another, death is always a possibility.