The most often carried chemical agent by patrol officers today is Oleoresin Capsicum, typically referred to as “oc” or “pepper spray” oc is carried in a pressurized canister on the officer’s belt where it can be quickly accessed. It is deployed by aiming the canister’s nozzle toward the offender’s face and with consideration of distance, as well as wind and other factor that might cause the spray to strike the officer or other officers near the …show more content…
While law enforcement trainers point out that police are not trained to kill but instead trained to stop deadly behavior, the reality is, the use of the firearms as a force option must always be justify the high probably of causing death. No action by law enforcement is subject to greater scrutiny than the use of a firearm against another person. Despite media portrayals to the contrary, most police officer will never fire their weapon in the line of duty, although drawing the weapon as a deterrent is fairly common place. Because the majority of police officers in the United States do carry firearms, it is critical they are extremely well-trained in their use and the circumstances under which they can be fired. As you would imagine, the circumstances justifying deadly force are limited and generally must be in response to an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury to the officer to another person. While provisions for shooting escapes still exist, court decisions, most notably the United States Supreme Court case Tennessee v. Garner (1985), have led to decisions that essentially now limit the use of deadly force against fleeing subjects to only when the escape creates and imminent threat to life or serious bodily