Expert: William Payne - 8/29/2006

Question
Is he allowed to shoot if there is a even a chance of hitting an innocent bystander instead of the criminal,robber,etc.?

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Followup To

Question -
HI,
When a police car is just on a street and I'm walking by with a lot of people[strangers], I usually like to go closer to the car for protection and keep walking closer to the street. Is this a bad idea in case the cop is looking for someone in specific and I may be somewhat blocking his view?
Also, something I've been curious for a long time about:when is a cop able to fire his gun?When is he not able to?

Answer -
Jeff,

Thanks for the question.

You do what you feel is safe for you. You will not know if the police officer is looking for anyone in particular unless they stop and tell you so, or they stop and ask if you have seen a particular person.

The gun firing question depends on several things. First and foremost, by Constitutional standards police officers cannot fire a weapon at a person unless that person poses and immediate threat to that officer's life or another person's life, or the officer or another person is in imminent danger of suffering great bodily harm from a suspected threat.

To continue with the gun firing question, some police departments allow officers to discharge their weapons at violent animals that are threatening the officer or another person; also some departments may allow officers to destroy wounded or sick animals by discharging their firearm.

I hope this answers your questions.

Best of luck!  

Answer
Jeff,

If the officer does not have a clear line of fire, he would be jeapordizing someone else's life. Hitting an innocent bystander is not acceptable in police work. Does it happen? Yes, but not often thank goodness.

This is an area where the officer not only has to think about the criminal, but he has to think about the people that are in the line of fire.That's a decision the criminal does not have to make.

I hope this helps, and Have a great day!