deadly force use in modern law enforcement

br Since the days of the wild west we have delegated the use of deadly force to our police officers . Only under certain specific and narrow circumstances are civilians allowed to legally take the life of another Police officers alone , are given the right to use deadly force when a criminal presents an immediate danger to innocent victims , whether the potential victim is the officer himself or a citizen to be protected (Klinger 2005

At the same time as we delegate the use of force to police officers we expect those officers to

use that force judiciously . In the guidelines for every police department there is language that states that each and every citizen 's life has value . Society does not take lightly police officers ' use of excessive or unnecessary force . If in an instant heat of the moment , an officer makes the fatal decision to intentionally use deadly force , to shoot to kill , he must later justify his action . A killing by an officer , lacking jury or judge , will later be minutely scrutinized from all angles . An internal affairs investigation begins immediately after a fatal shooting . If there is public outcry that the use of deadly force was not justified , the officer will be demonized as trigger happy . If the public and the media support the officer 's action , he will be pronounced a hero (DOJ 2002

Surprisingly the technical legal definition of what constitutes deadly force varies from one police department to another . In some jurisdictions there must be...