Not shooting to kill would make a cop’s job more dangerous
Re “Police shouldn’t shoot to kill” letter by Kathleen Parks.
Obviously this person is clueless about the real world of police. About a police officer in Suffolk County, New York, where she is from, she wrote that “He never had a bullet in his gun” and “He was told to shoot the person in question in the leg.”
This person has no idea. I spent 41 years in law enforcement with a gun on my hip everyday - and not once was it unloaded.
I went to the range thousands of times, and our targets did not have legs. We were taught to shoot “center mass.” In fact, when I worked for Horry County police, we were required to make a “head shot.”
Lethal use of force is a last resort but when used is - lethal.
She also said that police departments can learn from Suffolk County. If they carry unloaded weapons and shoot people in the legs (which they do not), they have a recipe for getting officers killed.
Police are the good guys and only shoot as a last resort.
Jim Olin, Little River
This story was originally published November 9, 2016 at 12:04 PM with the headline "Not shooting to kill would make a cop’s job more dangerous."