When an Officer Can Use Firearm

Every time police draw their side arms and shotguns in the line of duty, a host of laws and guidelines are supposed to come into play before the officer decides to pull the trigger.

While rules governing the use of deadly force differ among departments, most firearms policies are designed to give officers discretion, but in all cases there must be an immediate danger to themselves, hostages or innocent bystanders.

“There are no hard-and-fast rules,” said Lt. Jim Mulvihill, a training officer for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. “All situations cannot be anticipated, so generalization of policy is unavoidable.”

Basically, law enforcement officials said, state law allows police to shoot someone in self-defense or to protect others when the officer has a well-founded belief that the threat of injury or death is immediate. If so, officers can use all the force necessary to end the danger.

Similarly, police may shoot at fleeing felons as long as the suspect, whether armed or not, presents a danger to the public or has committed a violent crime, such as murder, rape, robbery or mayhem.

Before opening fire, officers also must consider the age of the suspect, where they are shooting, the type of crime committed, what they know about the crime and suspect, and whether an alternative to deadly force is available.

Firing from a moving patrol car is prohibited in most situations, as is shooting at a moving vehicle unless the car, truck or motorcycle is being used as a weapon.

“We don’t want to make the rules so rigid that an officer has to think too much. If he does, he could be a dead man,” said Officer Douglas Miller, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department.

With some modifications, the rules are in wide use throughout police agencies in Southern California and Orange County, including the Santa Ana Police Department.

On Wednesday, a Santa Ana officer shot and killed Ernest Henry Nunez, 31, of Orange, a suspect in a clothing store robbery. Nunez, hit in the back with a shotgun blast while fleeing from police, was unarmed.

Law enforcement officials say whether someone has a weapon is important but not always crucial in the decision to shoot. Unarmed suspects can be violent either on or off drugs. Police might also perceive a threat if they have reports that someone might have used a weapon previously, even if they cannot actually see a gun or knife on the suspect.

“Whether the person has a gun or not leaves a lot up in the air,” Miller said. “If the person has just committed several murders and is fleeing, it’s likely he’s a danger to the community, and you need rules that will allow you to do something.”

On the other hand, Mulvihill said, if the fleeing person is a key suspect in a multiple-murder case but does not pose an immediate danger to the public, an officer might not be justified in shooting the suspect.

“If a person doesn’t pose an immediate threat, I’d say no,” Mulvihill said. “But if the guy has shot someone and fired at another person down the street, you had better take positive action.”

When an officer decides to shoot, the general policy is to end the threat as quickly as possible. Warning shots are not allowed because of the danger to the public.

“If the officer feels he is justified and morally right to make the decision to shoot, the idea is to remove the threat and remove it completely,” said Capt. Bruce Young of the Huntington Beach Police Department.

To prepare themselves for that eventuality, officers undergo hundreds of hours of classroom instruction and live-fire training at police academies and at their departments. Periodic refresher courses and proficiency tests are required.

After being involved in a shooting, the officer is generally put on desk duty while police department investigators, shooting review boards and the district attorney’s office try to determine whether the officer violated department policy.

COUNTY OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTINGS

Orange County police officer-involved shootings since 1984.

City Fatal Non-Fatal Total 1984 6 5 11 1985 7 4 11 1986 5 9 14 1987 6 4 10 1988 9 11 20 1989 (as of Sept. 20) 10 14 24

Source: Orange County District Attorney’s office.