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Garland police shooting involving moving vehicle raises policy questions
11:03 AM CDT on Thursday, September 4, 2008
By RICHARD ABSHIRE / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]
A police officer's decision to use deadly force is often a split-second, high-stakes proposition, especially when a moving car is involved, as was the case last month in Garland.
And while the Garland police policy on deadly force doesn't mention shooting at vehicles, other local departments restrict or discourage it and some experts call for limiting officers' discretion in those situations.
"The reasons for that are that if you're unsuccessful [in disabling the driver], you'll probably get run over," said Geoffrey Alpert, a criminology professor at the University of South Carolina. "If you are successful, you don't know where that car's going.
"It's unpredictable and there's no sense in creating that situation which is far more dangerous than allowing the person to escape."
Charlie Wright kept driving, even after being shot twice early Aug. 23 by an officer who believed the 19-year-old was trying to run him down in the driveway of a gated apartment complex.
Garland police spokesman Joe Harn said Officer C. Stallings fired "several rounds" at Mr. Wright about 2:30 a.m. in the 2700 block of Lookout Drive, where police were investigating reports of a loud party.
"Our officers have a right to defend themselves," Officer Harn said.
But Mr. Wright insists he wasn't trying to hurt anyone.
"I didn't see the officer until the shots were fired," said Mr. Wright, who says he was shot through an open passenger-side window and from the back.
Wounded in the right shoulder and left thigh, he drove away from the apartments and was spotted about three miles away going the wrong way in the 2800 block of Belt Line Road, near Jupiter Road. He was arrested after hitting a parked car.
Mr. Wright has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, a first-degree felony punishable by five years to life in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
Officer Stallings, who was not hurt in the incident, was put on administrative leave and was not available to comment.
Last resort?
Dr. Alpert, who studies police use of force, believes agencies should ban shooting at moving vehicles except in extreme cases, such as if an officer has fallen or is trapped with no escape and deadly force is a last resort.
"And these extreme situations should be detailed," he said.
The Garland Police Department's policy authorizes the use of deadly force to "protect the officer or others from what is reasonably believed to be a threat of death or serious injury" or to prevent the escape of a violent felon. It doesn't address shooting at moving vehicles, but other local departments do.
The Dallas Police Department limits but doesn't ban the practice: "Discharging a firearm at a moving vehicle is prohibited unless necessary to prevent imminent death or serious bodily injury to the officer or another person."
The Fort Worth police policy says: "We will not shoot at moving vehicles unless there is no other option due to the risk of imminent serious injury or death."
Plano police also limit the use of deadly force against moving vehicles "except in self-defense, the defense of another police officer, or another person."
"The assumption that a fleeing vehicle is a deadly weapon ... is not in itself justification to use deadly force," said Officer Rick McDonald, a Plano police spokesman.
But Garland isn't the only agency that leaves the matter to an officer's discretion.
Maj. Charles Ruckel of the Collin County Sheriff's Department said that agency's policy doesn't address moving vehicles.
"If an officer's life is in danger or the life of another, they can use deadly force," Maj. Ruckel said.
The Texas Department of Public Safety, which includes the Highway Patrol, Texas Rangers and other state agencies, doesn't address the matter in its policy guidelines because "every situation is different," spokeswoman Tela Mange said.
"It's officer discretion," she said. "If they perceive that there's an imminent threat, they can take any action they feel necessary to protect themselves."
State policy
Local agencies can write their own policies on the use of deadly force, said Frank Woodall of the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Education, the state agency that licenses police officers.
But he said individual policies must be at least as restrictive as the state's basic police academy curriculum, which cites the Penal Code authorizing deadly force to defend oneself or a third person from an imminent lethal threat.
"That's the minimum that has to be taught," Mr. Woodall said.
However, the curriculum doesn't address shooting at moving vehicles.
Meanwhile, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, which helps law enforcement agencies defend policies and practices against liability litigation, discourages shooting at moving vehicles.
"Firearms should not be discharged at a moving vehicle unless a person in the vehicle is immediately threatening the officer or another person with deadly force by means other than the vehicle," according the organization's model policy.
The philosophy behind such a policy and the training that supports it, said Dr. Alpert and others, is to help officers avoid those split-second shoot/don't shoot situations in the first place.
"If you've got time to pull and point your weapon," he said, "use that time to get out of the way."
Garland police shooting involving moving vehicle raises policy questions
11:03 AM CDT on Thursday, September 4, 2008
By RICHARD ABSHIRE / The Dallas Morning News
[email protected]
A police officer's decision to use deadly force is often a split-second, high-stakes proposition, especially when a moving car is involved, as was the case last month in Garland.
And while the Garland police policy on deadly force doesn't mention shooting at vehicles, other local departments restrict or discourage it and some experts call for limiting officers' discretion in those situations.
"The reasons for that are that if you're unsuccessful [in disabling the driver], you'll probably get run over," said Geoffrey Alpert, a criminology professor at the University of South Carolina. "If you are successful, you don't know where that car's going.
"It's unpredictable and there's no sense in creating that situation which is far more dangerous than allowing the person to escape."
Charlie Wright kept driving, even after being shot twice early Aug. 23 by an officer who believed the 19-year-old was trying to run him down in the driveway of a gated apartment complex.
Garland police spokesman Joe Harn said Officer C. Stallings fired "several rounds" at Mr. Wright about 2:30 a.m. in the 2700 block of Lookout Drive, where police were investigating reports of a loud party.
"Our officers have a right to defend themselves," Officer Harn said.
But Mr. Wright insists he wasn't trying to hurt anyone.
"I didn't see the officer until the shots were fired," said Mr. Wright, who says he was shot through an open passenger-side window and from the back.
Wounded in the right shoulder and left thigh, he drove away from the apartments and was spotted about three miles away going the wrong way in the 2800 block of Belt Line Road, near Jupiter Road. He was arrested after hitting a parked car.
Mr. Wright has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, a first-degree felony punishable by five years to life in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
Officer Stallings, who was not hurt in the incident, was put on administrative leave and was not available to comment.
Last resort?
Dr. Alpert, who studies police use of force, believes agencies should ban shooting at moving vehicles except in extreme cases, such as if an officer has fallen or is trapped with no escape and deadly force is a last resort.
"And these extreme situations should be detailed," he said.
The Garland Police Department's policy authorizes the use of deadly force to "protect the officer or others from what is reasonably believed to be a threat of death or serious injury" or to prevent the escape of a violent felon. It doesn't address shooting at moving vehicles, but other local departments do.
The Dallas Police Department limits but doesn't ban the practice: "Discharging a firearm at a moving vehicle is prohibited unless necessary to prevent imminent death or serious bodily injury to the officer or another person."
The Fort Worth police policy says: "We will not shoot at moving vehicles unless there is no other option due to the risk of imminent serious injury or death."
Plano police also limit the use of deadly force against moving vehicles "except in self-defense, the defense of another police officer, or another person."
"The assumption that a fleeing vehicle is a deadly weapon ... is not in itself justification to use deadly force," said Officer Rick McDonald, a Plano police spokesman.
But Garland isn't the only agency that leaves the matter to an officer's discretion.
Maj. Charles Ruckel of the Collin County Sheriff's Department said that agency's policy doesn't address moving vehicles.
"If an officer's life is in danger or the life of another, they can use deadly force," Maj. Ruckel said.
The Texas Department of Public Safety, which includes the Highway Patrol, Texas Rangers and other state agencies, doesn't address the matter in its policy guidelines because "every situation is different," spokeswoman Tela Mange said.
"It's officer discretion," she said. "If they perceive that there's an imminent threat, they can take any action they feel necessary to protect themselves."
State policy
Local agencies can write their own policies on the use of deadly force, said Frank Woodall of the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officers Standards and Education, the state agency that licenses police officers.
But he said individual policies must be at least as restrictive as the state's basic police academy curriculum, which cites the Penal Code authorizing deadly force to defend oneself or a third person from an imminent lethal threat.
"That's the minimum that has to be taught," Mr. Woodall said.
However, the curriculum doesn't address shooting at moving vehicles.
Meanwhile, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, which helps law enforcement agencies defend policies and practices against liability litigation, discourages shooting at moving vehicles.
"Firearms should not be discharged at a moving vehicle unless a person in the vehicle is immediately threatening the officer or another person with deadly force by means other than the vehicle," according the organization's model policy.
The philosophy behind such a policy and the training that supports it, said Dr. Alpert and others, is to help officers avoid those split-second shoot/don't shoot situations in the first place.
"If you've got time to pull and point your weapon," he said, "use that time to get out of the way."
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