file photo by Boyd Loving
JUNE 12, 2015, 10:46 PM LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 2015, 12:05 AM
BY STEFANIE DAZIO
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
When a police officer uses deadly force against a suspect, the questions from grieving — and often angry — relatives tend to be as predictable as they are wrenching: Why didn’t the officer aim for the suspect’s arm or leg? Did the officer have to fire so many shots? Couldn’t he have used a baton, pepper spray or a stun gun instead?
The answer in many cases, experts said, is that officers who fire at suspects in deadly force situations are following their training.
These questions and others were raised anew on Friday, a day after a police officer fatally shot a 22-year-old man on a Hackensack street corner. Authorities said he brandished a large knife at the officer, who had responded to an emergency call reporting a domestic violence incident. The fatal shooting was the third in three weeks involving police in Bergen County.
Several experts who agreed to speak generally about deadly force situations said no amount of training can fully prepare officers for the pounding adrenaline and the split-second, life-or-death decisions they must make when confronted with a dangerous suspect.
I thought that they were taught to “shoot to kill”. By now everyone should know that you can’t approach an officer with a deadly weapon.
Three fatal shootings by police officers in Bergen this year plus the Wash Twp cop who killed the passengers of a disabled vehicle in the shoulder on Rt 17, plus the shooting of a family dog in Wycoff. Crisis of confidence in public safety?