Deadly Force

Law and Police Policy

There are two fundamental authorities that guide the appropriate use of deadly force by the police. The U.S. Supreme Court in Tennessee v. Garner (1985) established the minimum legal standard: Deadly force cannot be used against a nondangerous fleeing felon. Of course, police agencies can create policies that are more restrictive than what the Supreme Court requires, limiting officers from using deadly force except under specific conditions. These departmental policies are the second authority that allows police officers to use deadly force.

The Garner decision ruled that police shootings must be evaluated as seizures under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Under this analysis, all purposeful shootings by police that hit their intended target are considered seizures. Reasonable seizures do not violate the Constitution, but seizures that are unreasonable are illegal. Determining the reasonableness of a shooting is a difficult task. The Court acknowledged this in Graham v. Conner (1989: 396):

The Court left the understanding of an appropriate use of force to the reasonable officer; stated in a different way, the question is whether a reasonably trained officer would believe the use of deadly force necessary. Unfortunately, “reasonable” and “necessary” were left open to interpretation.

To assist officers in understanding the limits on the application of deadly force, police departments promulgate policies based upon the information presented in Garner. A wide range of polices exist: Some agencies adopt language taken directly from Garner without any definition or explanation, while others provide specific direction. This range of policies includes what are referred to as Garner or forcible felony policies, defense-of-life policies, and protection of life policies. These differ on the type of shooting that is permitted. Under the Garner or forcible felony policies, shootings are justified if there is a substantial risk that a person who is escaping will cause death or serious bodily harm if that person's arrest is delayed. This is the policy with the fewest restrictions; thus, departments that adopt it will have the greatest number of shootings. Defense-of-life policies occupy the middle ground. Agencies operating under this policy limit the use of deadly force to situations in which a life is in imminent peril. Protection of life policies require officers to use deadly force only as a last resort; agencies operating under this policy will have the fewest number of shootings. Although more than fifteen years have passed since the Garner decision, and many decisions have interpreted its language, it remains the most important court decision concerning police use of deadly force.

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