Why do police shoot so many times at suspects?
Law enforcement departments have long fielded questions about why officers fired as many shots as they did at a suspect. Police shootings aren’t a science — they’re usually high-stress situations where adrenaline takes over an officer’s response — but some factors explain why officers shoot as many times as they do.
Why do police officers fire so many rounds?
The anxiety and adrenaline of a high-stress deadly force incident may cloud officers’ judgment, said Cedric Alexander, a police training consultant and 39-year law enforcement veteran. This can lead to some officers firing an unwarranted number of rounds.
Why do police officers take a break when they shoot?
If officers are using deadly force, they’re usually trained to not pause their fire and to shoot in quick succession — taking a break to assess the suspect they’re shooting at could give that suspect time to harm them or others, he said.
How does the police presence affect the community?
Those efforts have a destabilizing effect on the community, and destabilized communities have more crime, then you have more police presence and activity, and that further destabilizes the community. No additional racism from individual officers is necessary.
Why do police officers have such high shot counts?
High shot counts may be attributed to a phenomenon called “sympathetic fire” or “reflexive fire,” which occurs when one officer fires on a suspect, so one or more officers with them start firing, too, even if they haven’t immediately perceived the suspect to be a threat, Stoughton said.
How many shots did a police officer fire after shooting?
Many officers don’t recall how many shots they fired when interviewed immediately after a shooting, he said. “Some officers will testify or give a statement immediately after that they fired three to four shots when they actually fired 10 to 11 shots,” Stoughton said.
How accurate are police officers’ shots?
Shooting accuracy varies based on how close an officer is to a suspect — but data shows that they’re often not accurate shots. A 2019 study of the Dallas Police Department found that in more than 130 shootings, officers struck their targets 35\% of the time. Most of their shots were misses.
How does stress affect a police officer’s OIS?
A police officer who’s worked 8 hours and experienced several stressful calls prior to the OIS may struggle more with processing multiple stimuli than an officer who’s not fatigued or stressed before the incident. Second, the officer must translate the perception that a threat has been mitigated into action.