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Force Science News: Transmission #178
I. Important new reaction-time study addresses what's "reasonable" in armed-suspect encounters
You are confronting an armed suspect, no cover available. He faces you, with his gun at his side, pointed at the ground. Your gun is aimed at him and you're ready to shoot. He ignores your commands to drop his weapon.
Are you justified in pulling the trigger before he makes any move to point his gun at you?
According to conclusions reached by researchers in a unique new reaction-time study, your preemptively shooting under such circumstances may well be considered reasonable by the standards of Graham v. Connor. http://supreme.justia.com/us/490/386/ *
If the offender suddenly points his gun in your direction, you are highly unlikely to get a shot off to defend yourself before he shoots, the researchers documented. Even under ideal circumstances, you probably can fire no faster than simultaneously with the attacker.
These findings "serve to illustrate the extreme danger that armed suspects present to police officers," the researchers report. "Even when a police officer has his or her gun aimed at [an armed] suspect and the suspect is not aiming at the officer, the officer is still in extreme danger....
"The reasonableness standard [set forth by Graham] is based on what a well-trained, prudent officer would do in a given situation.... Our results show that even well-trained officers...with their guns aimed at a suspect cannot reasonably be expected" to react faster than a suspect can raise his or her gun and fire.
* Syllabus
Petitioner Graham, a diabetic, asked his friend, Berry, to drive him to a convenience store to purchase orange juice to counteract the onset of an insulin reaction. Upon entering the store and seeing the number of people ahead of him, Graham hurried out and asked Berry to drive him to a friend's house instead. Respondent Connor, a city police officer, became suspicious after seeing Graham hastily enter and leave the store, followed Berry's car, and made an investigative stop, ordering the pair to wait while he found out what had happened in the store. Respondent backup police officers arrived on the scene, handcuffed Graham, and ignored or rebuffed attempts to explain and treat Graham's condition. During the encounter, Graham sustained multiple injuries. He was released when Conner learned that nothing had happened in the store. Graham filed suit in the District Court under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against respondents, alleging that they had used excessive force in making the stop, in violation of "rights secured to him under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and 42 U.S.C. § 1983." The District Court granted respondents' motion for a directed verdict at the close of Graham's evidence, applying a four-factor test for determining when excessive use of force gives rise to a § 1983 cause of action, which inquires, inter alia, whether the force was applied in a good faith effort to maintain and restore discipline or maliciously and sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm. Johnson v. Glick, 481 F.2d 1028. The Court of Appeals affirmed, endorsing this test as generally applicable to all claims of constitutionally excessive force brought against government officials, rejecting Graham's argument that it was error to require him to prove that the allegedly excessive force was applied maliciously and sadistically to cause harm, and holding that a reasonable jury applying the Johnson v. Glick test to his evidence could not find that the force applied was constitutionally excessive.
Not that we are likely to be confronted with an armed opponent who has their handgun drawn but pointed at the ground while we already have our handgun drawn and aimed on target -- but ....
This study provides an answer to that "what-if" scenario question that seems to come up all the time - "When can I shoot the bad guy?" What's good for the goose vis-a-vis confronting armed individuals ought to be just as good for the gander. I'm NOT saying this study's results or the ruling in Graham v. Connor gives any legal immunity for a preemptive shooting. That is for a court and jury to decide. All I'm saying is to be aware of what the "experts" are telling the police.
And remember - this training is about responses to an armed person with their handgun already drawn. As long as your handgun remains in your holster this should not impact any encounter you have with the police while OCing.
stay safe.
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