NCJ Number
138914
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 40 Issue: 9 Dated: (September 1992) Pages: 41-45
Date Published
1992
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article outlines the criteria for the selection of ammunition and critiques some current standards.
Abstract
Among the facts that should be considered when selecting ammunition for police use are that the only reliable way to stop the aggression of a fearless assailant is to disrupt the assailant's vital body structures; ideal bullet penetration depth in the body is between 12 and 20 inches; those bullets with the largest expanded diameter are the most effective; bullet hits in the torso cannot be relied upon to produce immediate incapacitation; several well-placed hits are more likely to incapacitate a person than a single shot. Much of the confusion that has surrounded duty-bullet choices could have been prevented if the National Institute of Justice had not adopted flawed theories in the development of the Relative Incapacitation Index (RII). RII theories hold that the temporary cavity size of the wound determines the incapacitation produced in humans by a handgun bullet. This theory fails to take into account that most parts of the human body are elastic, such that they can stretch and expand to absorb most handgun- produced temporary cavities and avoid significant damage. Also, a database for bullet effectiveness should not be based on single-shot tests, given that this does not accurately simulate most police shooting situations. Officers are most likely to deliver multiple shots to an assailant's torso. It is dangerous to select a duty bullet under the belief that one hit anywhere in the torso will immediately incapacitate an assailant.