bcla
On our rugged Eastern foothills.....
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2012
A non-lethal weapon here is usually a taser.
And officers MUST shoot to kill. Why? Because any bullet not placed right in the center of mass (the chest) has the potential to go through limbs and then through walls and doors, potentially killing innocent civilians. It also raises the likelihood of the officer missing his shot completely... and then again possibly hitting other people nearby.
There's a spectrum of different weapons, but many are really for rioting crowds and not necessarily appropriate when someone has a dangerous weapon.
A Taser is probably the most effective incapacitating weapon. Pepper spray may be painful, but I've certainly heard of people continuing to function even if they can't see.
I wouldn't say that they need to shoot to kill per se. The whole point is to shoot to stop the threat. A shot to the torso that stops the threat may not be fatal. It's certainly potentially deadly force. Also - most police use hollow-points that expand. Once they hit bone they'll mushroom, which increase the stopping effect and hopefully reduces the chance that the bullet will penetrate completely through the target.
And using a handgun certainly isn't like you'd see in movies where one can hit a dime. It's stressful, the target is moving, and handguns aren't particular accurate, especially when speed is important. Target shooting at a range can be taken deliberately with the sights carefully aligned. Trying to do that in a split second where there's life or death outcomes is another matter.