NCJ Number
90185
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 50 Issue: 5 Dated: (May 1983) Pages: 29-44,54-64
Date Published
1983
Length
27 pages
Annotation
A series of articles covers such issues as State statutes on the use of deadly force, the need for written directives and training on the use of deadly force, officer attitudes toward shooting policies, investigating deadly force incidents, officers murdered in California for 1980-81, and the use of police dogs as reasonable force.
Abstract
The deadly force laws examined include codification or judicial adoption of the common law rule, modification of the common law rule limiting the use of deadly force to forcible felonies, and adoption of the Model Penal Code. In the article on deadly force written directives and training, a written directive model is provided, and training programs designed to instruct officers in how and when to use deadly force are considered, along with procedures for investigating deadly force incidents. A survey of 149 patrol officers to determine their ranking of four shooting policies indicated they preferred the policy that allows officers only to defend themselves or another against death or serious bodily harm or to apprehend a suspect believed to be dangerous. Another article details procedures for investigating a deadly force incident, with attention to the pros and cons of using an outside investigative team and ways in which such a team might be used. Another article presents a tabulation of officers murdered in California in 1980-81, with narrative information used to expand the data presented; implications for survival and tactics are considered. The next presentation shows deficiencies in the deontologist's attempt to justify police use of lethal force, and the final article concludes that police dogs are a legitimate, nonlethal police tool which can be used when force is required in apprehending resisting suspects.