NCJ Number
182343
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 48 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2000 Pages: 84-88
Date Published
March 2000
Length
5 pages
Annotation
A series of controlled tests conducted by the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Police Department focused on the advantages and disadvantages of using tactical disarmament by shooting at weapons held by suicidal individuals to save these individuals from killing themselves.
Abstract
The idea of keeping individuals from killing themselves by shooting at them is frightening and dangerous and is also illegal in most States. The tests involved shots at 20 different weapons clamped into a plywood device onto which two steel vises were bolted. Cardboard panels covered with blank white paper documented the flight of fragments, debris, and bullets around the clamping device. Four members of the Fort Lauderdale Police SWAT/Sniper team fired the test shots using bolt-action .308 rifles or a .223 AR-15 at a distance of 25 yards. The Fort Lauderdale Police Video Unit took videotapes and digital still photographs of each shot and its aftermath. Results revealed that a police agency cannot guarantee the safety of anyone at the scene of a shooting directed at a weapon. They can remove and neutralize a weapon held by a suicidal person without injuring the individual or bystanders on a perfect day in a perfect world. However, the suspect’s weapon will probably be in motion and partially obscured. Substantial fragmentation will probably occur; displaced metal will travel fast enough to lacerate, blind, or kill. A loaded firearm may discharge following the impact of a rifle shot. Thus, the final outcome of this type of use of force is almost completely random. The shooter cannot avoid injury or death. Therefore, police agencies should consider carefully whether this approach is still a viable tactical option. Photographs