Can a police use deadly force if:...?

Question

a person runs from the police when he yells stop, and if the suspect reaches in his pocket....

Answer 1

It will require a boatload of paperwork, but if the police officer can prove that he/she had a reason to believe you had a deadly weapon in your pocket... then yes, you could be on the receiving end of a lead enema.

And guess what? You reach into your pocket suddenly while running from the cops? You probably deserve to be shot.

Answer 2

Insufficient information.

I once saw a guy I had arrested for assault the previous month. When he saw me he took off running. There were no warrants out for him so I had no reason to even chase him much less consider using deadly force to stop him.

Sooo, why is your person running in the first place. A good officer in a foot pursuit for, say a traffic violation, sees the suspect reach into his pocket. The officer will have to assume the worst and draw his weapon. Now the question becomes when is he justified in shooting the suspect. While his hand is in the pocket? When the hand starts to come out of the pocket? When the officer sees a dark or even shiny object in the suspect's hand? Or should he wait until the suspect fires a round his way? Much depends on the desperation of the suspect. The officer does not have to wait until rounds are coming his way. If he feels that his life is in immediate danger, he is allowed to shoot. If it turns out the suspect was reaching for his wallet, then it's a tragedy for both the suspect and the officer.

All of the options in ending a possible deadly force incident rest with the suspect, not the officer. The more wrong decisions made by the suspect the more the officer is forced to come to the decision to fire his weapon.

Answer 3

1

Answer 4

It would be a hard sell to a court.

Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985)[1], was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that under the Fourth Amendment, when a law enforcement officer is pursuing a fleeing suspect, they may use deadly force only to prevent escape and the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others.

Answer 5

There is not enough information in your question to properly answer that question. If the police officer feels his life or the life of another person is in danger then he has the right to use deadly force. Under the circumstances you describe, I would have a hard time justifying deadly force if these were the only facts. Why would the person be running? Did they just commit a violent crime or was it minor such as a a curfew violation? In any such case, a police officer needs to be prepared to take action. Drawing their sidearm would be reasonable, but there would need to be more of your story to justify firing it.

Answer 6

Yes, if the Officer sees the criminal reaching into his pocket, deadly force can be used. Police holler stop !!! What is it with many criminals when they have committed a crime and run, that they can not follow orders ?? No Respect for the Law. That is exactly what causes the Police to use force or deadly force.

Answer 7

It depends on what led up to the suspect running. If he just murdered some people or inflicted serious harm on someone, then yes, the perceived threat would be high and the Officer would be allowed to shoot. Also in this same situation he could shoot just to prevent the escape of a dangerous person.

Answer 8

At straightforward regulation, deadly rigidity became into approved for use against a fleeing felon. One reason this became into allowed became into because of the fact in the process the easy regulation era, almost all felonies have been punishable by ability of death. maximum states interior the U. S. had a statute that codified that straightforward regulation rule and allowed deadly rigidity against fleeing felons. even nevertheless, in 1985 in Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. a million, one 0 five S.Ct. 1694, 80 5 L.Ed.2d a million, america spectacular court held is became into unconstitutional to apply deadly rigidity against all fleeing felons. especially, the court held that deadly rigidity won't be used against a fleeing felon "except this is important to circumvent the escape and the officer has probable reason to have confidence that the suspect poses an substantial threat of death or serious actual harm to the officer or others."

Answer 9

the law used to allow you to shoot a fleeing felon.now if he is running away you can not shoot.the courts have ruled that the threat is leaving when the run away. now on the other hand if by allowing the guy to run you create a risk to others then you are allowed. the courts will still find you were wrong reguardless of the law. so what is allowed and what is the law are different. you can not shoot someone fleeing unless he is some astronomocal threat.now you ask what if he reaches in his pocket.that is a immediate perceived threat and you can defend yourself by any means necessary.
----retired texas deputy sheriff----

Answer 10

yes... they have reasonable cause to do so...

could cause a huge controversy though, this is how the 2001 riots happened in cincinnati... a boy was running from the police, reached into his jacket and the officer shot and killed him. they ended up finding no weapons on the boy, causing a big outrage in the black community (and the rest of the community in general). however i agree with the officer's decision, if i was in that situation i probably would have reacted the same.

because of the incident the officer resigned from the cincinnati police department and now patrols for a suburb of the city.