Police Shootings: Myths and Realities (From Crime & Justice in America: Present Realities and Future Prospects, Second Edition, P 122-129, 2002, Wilson R. Palacios, Paul F. Cromwell, and Roger G. Dunham, eds. -- NCJ-188466)

• NCJ Number: 188471
• Author(s): Roger G. Dunham; Geoffrey P. Alpert
• Date Published: 2002
• Length: 8 pages
• Sale Source: Prentice-Hall, Inc
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Drawing on a 10-year study of the Metro-Dade County police (Florida) as well as other studies, this chapter identified various patterns and trends in the police use of their guns to enforce the law.

Abstract

Agency statistics on the prevalence of shootings by police showed that officers fire their weapons infrequently, and when they did, they did not often hit their intended target. Police officers killed a suspect even less frequently. An ironic finding of the studies of shootings by police was the frequency with which police personnel unintentionally shot themselves or other officers. The most frequent circumstances for a purposeful shooting incident involved the police stopping someone for committing a felony, stopping someone who was suspicious or driving a suspicious car, or trying to arrest someone in the midst of committing a felony. Officers involved in purposeful shooting incidents were mostly male and young. The targets of police shootings were almost all males and tended to be young. As demonstrated by research findings, police shootings were rare and traumatic for the officers involved. Most officers completed their careers without having taken a life or fired their weapons at a suspect. Police agencies operate under a wide variety of rules and regulations, some asking officers to use their discretion and some restricting the use of firearms to specific situations. 11 references