Is it illegal for cops to shoot unarmed suspects?

mommas homeboy said:
So, I guess the question is, what is a threat that warrants a cop shooting someone? If some guy pushes a cop, can't a cop just hit him with his stick or do something else to immobilize him, or is that enough for him to shoot the guy.

I mean, I wonder what cops are told in training warrants deadly force.
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The reason police give verbal commands during these altercations are so that you know what you shouldn't do.

For example, reaching into your pocket quickly, or turning away from police so that they don't have a visual on your person. They do not know if you have a weapon on you until the dust settles, so if you act like you're a legitimate threat, they're going to address you like you are one.

The shooting in the leg thing made me laugh. If you've ever fired a weapon in a stressed situation, you'd know that nobody's accuracy is going to be that good. Legs and arms move and are much smaller areas of mass to try to hit, coupled with that the legs are riddled with arteries and could lead to death just as well as being shot in the head or in the torso. The torso is the largest body mass on the body and this is why police and military aim for that.

There are many instances where the police will use other tools, like the baton, but if there's distance between you and the suspect and you believe the suspect may have a gun and isn't complying with your commands, he will be able to shoot you before you are able to get near him, and the last thing you'd want to do is get into a scuffle with a person with a gun.

So yes. Police can shoot people who are later deemed to be unarmed. Those on here that claim it's the police excuse to execute someone do make me chuckle. The last thing police want to do is shoot somebody. The sad truth is - most of the time, of course there are some bad cops - the level of force used is solely up to the suspect. If everyone was compliant to police commands (and if police are wrong, the justice system exists to address that), then there would probably be no police shootings.
 
j98 said:
Then you raise your weapon at the intruder and you are shot dead. Turns out it was a swat team with the wrong address. you're dead. better luck next time!
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i guess when you can't speak intelligently make up nonsensical stories?
 
j98 said:
Then you raise your weapon at the intruder and you are shot dead. Turns out it was a swat team with the wrong address. you're dead. better luck next time!
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My question didn't say anything about a SWAT team or anyone being armed.

The question was about shooting when when the person had no weapon.
 
oldshadow said:
My question didn't say anything about a SWAT team or anyone being armed.

The question was about shooting when when the person had no weapon.
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Always legal, short of you shooting a black man in the back while he is running away and its all caught on video and gets picked up by the media. Otherwise you can claim you felt threatened.
 
j98 said:
Always legal, short of you shooting a black man in the back while he is running away and its all caught on video and gets picked up by the media. Otherwise you can claim you felt threatened.
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Spoken like somebody who doesn't know what he's talking about.
 
All you have to do is justify your actions.

If you feel your life is threatened than deadly force is justifiable.

Every fight that a cop enters is a gun fight because you have a gun.

Size of the suspect can be a factor, fatigue could be another factor. All it takes is for the opponent to overtake you and your life is at their mercy because at any time they could take your weapon and use it against you.

Also fleeing felon would be another instance where a cop would be justified. Take for instance when those 2 escaped fugitives who were in jail for murder, they were justified shooting them even though one was unarmed because they could potential harm or kill other people in the community.
 
j98 said:
Always legal, short of you shooting a black man in the back while he is running away and its all caught on video and gets picked up by the media. Otherwise you can claim you felt threatened.
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Again you avoided answering the question I posed.
 
Commissar said:
The reason police give verbal commands during these altercations are so that you know what you shouldn't do.

For example, reaching into your pocket quickly, or turning away from police so that they don't have a visual on your person. They do not know if you have a weapon on you until the dust settles, so if you act like you're a legitimate threat, they're going to address you like you are one.

The shooting in the leg thing made me laugh. If you've ever fired a weapon in a stressed situation, you'd know that nobody's accuracy is going to be that good. Legs and arms move and are much smaller areas of mass to try to hit, coupled with that the legs are riddled with arteries and could lead to death just as well as being shot in the head or in the torso. The torso is the largest body mass on the body and this is why police and military aim for that.

There are many instances where the police will use other tools, like the baton, but if there's distance between you and the suspect and you believe the suspect may have a gun and isn't complying with your commands, he will be able to shoot you before you are able to get near him, and the last thing you'd want to do is get into a scuffle with a person with a gun.

So yes. Police can shoot people who are later deemed to be unarmed. Those on here that claim it's the police excuse to execute someone do make me chuckle. The last thing police want to do is shoot somebody. The sad truth is - most of the time, of course there are some bad cops - the level of force used is solely up to the suspect. If everyone was compliant to police commands (and if police are wrong, the justice system exists to address that), then there would probably be no police shootings.
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Great post.....I think the main thing that leads to someone getting shot by a cop is noncompliance, because as soon as they think you don't respect them every little thing you do is blown out of proportion. That leads to small movements having grave consequences. And like another guy said, the cop may think you're going to grab his gun to kill him.

The thing is, the media ALWAYS mentions the fact that the suspect was unarmed when the cop shot them, so it seems like it's in cold blood.
 
mommas homeboy said:
All these occurrences of cops killing unarmed young black men has me wondering....is deadly force only justified when the suspect is armed?

I mean, is it okay to shoot someone when they aren't holding a gun or knife? I honestly don't know what police protocol is on this.
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Way to make it about race.
 
It's simple, visualize yourself as an officer. Someone is not armed but is either harassing or coming at you at abruptly with intent to do harm they can fire. Best thing to do is either just say hello or walk away. Some cops are people oriented and can speak well while others are not mentally equipped to speak even on reasonable sentence in which case most cops are not educated enough to handle a situation properly even with their training. :icon_chee
 
5H3RD0G said:
It's simple, visualize yourself as an officer. Someone is not armed but is either harassing or coming at you at abruptly with intent to do harm they can fire. Best thing to do is either just say hello or walk away. Some cops are people oriented and can speak well while others are not mentally equipped to speak even on reasonable sentence in which case most cops are not educated enough to handle a situation properly even with their training. :icon_chee
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Good satire.
 
"To set the scene, understand that the police were called on Glen Ellison by his neighbors because he was outside waving a firearm at people.

When a deputy arrived, he found Glen Ellison, 67, outside the home. Chief Pollan says the deputy approached Ellison who was extremely combative. Ellison walked over to a truck and picked up a handgun out of the back and got into a scuffle with the deputy.
The man hit the deputy in the head with the weapon.

https://www.dailykos.com/story/2015...-and-non-violent-One-white-one-black-one-dead
 
shouldn't matter. clearly the cops are taking 'imminent danger' to mean like a dude looking at you wrong.

I spent a year in Kabul, w/ varying levels of enemy conflict. we got legit shot at all the time w/o being allowed to shoot back for fear of collateral damage and not actually being in imminent danger (cats had horrible aim). numerous instances we faced greater resisitance than any cops in the history of the US, barring maybe that N. Hollywood russian bank robber shootout.

shit is not that hard, yet cops seem to routinely abuse their power. it's patently absurd
 
HunterSdVa29 said:
shouldn't matter. clearly the cops are taking 'imminent danger' to mean like a dude looking at you wrong.

I spent a year in Kabul, w/ varying levels of enemy conflict. we got legit shot at all the time w/o being allowed to shoot back for fear of collateral damage and not actually being in imminent danger (cats had horrible aim). numerous instances we faced greater resisitance than any cops in the history of the US, barring maybe that N. Hollywood russian bank robber shootout.

shit is not that hard, yet cops seem to routinely abuse their power. it's patently absurd
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I a prior military person (Navy) and always wondered about this. The police have a WAY more lax criteria to shoot people, its very odd.
 
7437 said:
I a prior military person (Navy) and always wondered about this. The police have a WAY more lax criteria to shoot people, its very odd.
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Don't think it's the criteria as it is lack of training, and populace from which they pool from.

Shit is not that hard, don't shoot unless you're literally about to be in danger of death. simple, end of story
 
HunterSdVa29 said:
Don't think it's the criteria as it is lack of training, and populace from which they pool from.

Shit is not that hard, don't shoot unless you're literally about to be in danger of death. simple, end of story
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But what if they move their hands near their waist?!?!?........ was something that never was mentioned as acceptable in training.
 
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