Part 4: PERFidy?
Some of PERF’s recommended policies are downright dangerous to police, and to the law-abiding citizens they are sworn to protect. Consider Policy 8: “Shooting at vehicles must be strictly prohibited. [PERF’s emphasis.] Agencies should adopt a strict prohibition against shooting at or from a moving vehicle unless someone in the vehicle is using or threatening deadly force by means other than the vehicle itself.” Did those who wrote that ever see what an automobile does to an unprotected human body? Perhaps instead of visiting the UK, they should have gone to Graz, Austria and talked to the cops who responded there last year to a rundown spree that killed three victims and injured another 34. Or the officers who investigated the narcissistic killing spree of Eliot Rodger in California, who used his automobile as a deadly weapon itself, as well as his guns and contact weapons, and was only stopped when he met with police gunfire and committed suicide.
Or Policy 16: “Use Distance, cover and Time to replace outdated concepts such as the ’21-foot rule’ and ‘drawing a line in the sand.” What? Dennis Tueller’s classic drill from 21 feet simply shows that the average adult male can close that distance from a standing start and inflict a fatal stab wound in 1.5 seconds, one of the most thoroughly verified human dynamics in the field of force science. The policy goes on to recommend “buy(ing) more time.” In real world encounters, more time is rarely available for purchase…
Or Policy 9: “Prohibit use of deadly force against individuals who pose a danger only to themselves.” Sounds logical until you realize that suicide is inner-directed homicide, which means that the suicidal subject is by definition homicidal…and the impulse can easily outer-direct, with little or no warning. We have to apply the logical, time-proven guidelines of the Supreme Court – objective reasonableness and the totality of the circumstances – which PERF tells us elsewhere in their report are insufficient.
The definition of “perfidy” is betrayal. Adoption of policies that make a dangerous job more dangerous and make it more difficult to protect innocent victims from homicidal criminals, I think, fits the definition of that term.
I’m far from the only one who thinks so. For other opinions, check the links below, provided by Dave, one of our regular commenters here:
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