Law Enforcement Must Pursue Clearer Guidelines : Gaps in Policies on Deadly Force Lead to Fatal Mistakes

Police have extremely difficult choices to make under duress when suspects flee, as happened in Westminster on Feb. 14. Hong Il Kim, a 27-year-old Korean national, led officers from Orange, Westminster and the California Highway Patrol on a televised chase.

When the pursuit came to its conclusion in an Orange mini-mall parking lot, Kim was fatally shot by officers. When the pursuit ends badly, as happened in this case, it is tempting to criticize officers for their handling of an incident. However, while it seems clear that mistakes were made, this case is instructive because it demonstrated gaps in policies of various police departments on when officers can and shouldn’t shoot to kill, and in particular, in the use of deadly force against occupants of moving vehicles.

To assist officers in handling such situations wisely in the future, clear policy guidelines are needed and with them, the proper training to implement them.

Authorities asserted that the officers in the Kim chase acted properly, but both they and the Orange County district attorney are investigating. Meanwhile, some police experts who have reviewed the tape have questioned whether the shooting was necessary, and a number of groups representing immigrants have weighed in with their concerns.

At the end of the Kim chase, officers approaching the vehicle on foot allowed themselves effectively to be cornered between parked cars and a wall. Geoffrey Alpert, a criminal justice professor who has written on deadly force policies, said, “I’ve seen a lot of bad shootings. This is one of them.” Several experts have questioned the positioning of the shooting officers.

For handling such situations, there are in fact some differing policies even within the county regarding use of deadly force. Officers have to be able to know what is expected of them in advance, and therefore, for some departments, more clear-cut guidelines are needed.

Santa Ana has thought through the moving vehicle issue because it offers the specific advice that “when the vehicle is the deadly force, a firearm is not likely to safely stop the assault and is discouraged” unless there is no safe alternative. But Orange, whose officers actually were involved in the shooting, has what appears to be an overly general policy. For example, it does not address the very issue its personnel encountered, the moving vehicle.

While the reviews have been and are still being conducted, it is worth noting that the Kim chase and shooting took place despite all the attention that has been given to the perils of police chases in Southern California in recent years. There have been many cautionary tales about whether they should take place at all, and this one involved many vehicles from several law enforcement agencies.

This larger issue of whether it is wise for police to chase fleeing suspects has been much in the news.

In Orange County earlier this year, three high-speed chases--all involving relatively minor infractions of stolen material and traffic violations--resulted in five deaths. Alpert in the past has openly questioned the resort to a chase in any instance that does not involve violent felonies, and even then he says that officers should be extremely careful.

Yet, we still see these chases regularly in Southern California. Only recently there was the outrage of the beating of fleeing illegal immigrants near El Monte at the end of a freeway chase from Riverside County. The issues that attend these pursuits cover everything from police use of force to questions of race and perceived anti-immigrant sentiment.

The stakes are very high for a highly mobile and diverse society. It is worth it for individual police departments to review their policies, to update them where necessary, and to learn how they might benefit from either the experiences or guidelines of nearby law enforcement agencies.