You've Heard It - The Police Do Not Shoot To Kill

The recent shooting of an airline passenger by federal marshalls in Miami has brought into question whether the police shoot to kill or not. Police spokespersons will always tell you that the police never shoot to kill. Instead, theysay that the police "shoot to stop" or "shoot to incapacitate." What a bunch of politically correct hogwash!

Of course, the police shoot to kill, and they are trained to do so. Police are trained to use their firearms as the very last resort for protecting themselves or other persons from an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury. They are trained to hit CENTER MASS, meaning the chest of the person they are shooting at, and that is shooting to kill. Furthermore, they are trained to DOUBLE TAP their shots, meaning that each time they shoot, they will fire a burst of two rounds. Double tapping ensures that if the first shot was a little off target, the second shot is more likely to be right on target - the chest of the person being shot at. If the person being shot does not die, it is only because the officer was a little off center mass.

People are always qustioning why the police do not shoot a person in the arm or leg, or why they don't shoot a gun or knife out of the hand of the perpetrator. They have been watching too many western or other action movies. Police officers are just not that good at shooting, especially during a stressful confrontation. It should be noted that if they shot at the perpetrator's arm or leg and missed, they would be more likely to hit an innocent bystander. Almost all police agencies prohibit their officers from firing warning shots because what goes up must come down, thus endangering distant innocent persons. Some officers, who claimed to have fired warning shots, were actually trying to hit a perpetrator and were too embarrased to admit they missed.

Years ago, in New York at night, as I was approaching one of my favorite bars in the Times Square area, I saw two armed men running out of the bar. At that moment, a police officer was walking his beat right in front of the bar. One of the robbers ran into and accidentally knocked the officer down. The robbers took off in opposite directions. The officer picked himself up, tapped his nightstick on the curb (a way of summoning nearby officers), and ran after one of the perpetrators who, upon reaching the end of the block, hid behind a car. When the officer got within about 20 feet of the car, the perpetrator popped his head up and fired one round. The officer fired once, shooting the perpetrator's thumb off, thus knocking the gun out of his hand. I ran up to the officer and congratulated him for shooting the gun out of the perpetrator's hand. I can still remember his response: "Shit! I wasn't trying to shoot that fucking gun out of his hand. I was trying to hit the cocksucker between the eyes."

Since officers can only use their guns to save their own lives or those of other persons, there is no reason why we can't be honest and admit that when the police shoot, they shoot to kill.