You don't understand the law. Here is some reading for you.....
- Cordova v. Aragon (10th Cir. 2009): The Tenth Circuit affirmed that deadly force is a permissible response when a fleeing driver deliberately uses their car as a weapon to try to ram or hit officers and bystanders. [1]
- Plumhoff v. Rickard (2014): The Supreme Court upheld the use of deadly force (including firing multiple rounds) into a vehicle, determining that doing so was reasonable to stop a reckless driver whose actions presented a grave, immediate threat to public safety. [1]
Im aware. Plumhoff involved a high speed chase, so not relevant.
But anyway, that there is case law that exists that supports such a cockamamie justification for a shoot is part of the problem as relates to why certain communities dont currently trust the police.
To clarify, I am open to not prosecuting such a shoot based on a cop making a split second decision when their life has been endangered. What I am clearly objecting to is calling it a good shoot. Its a textbook bad shoot.
AI result:
Under the Fourth Amendment, an officer's use of deadly force against a driver is evaluated for objective reasonableness based on the totality of the circumstances, as established in
Graham v. Connor. Courts analyze specific scenarios regarding a vehicle fleeing or driving towards officers: [
1,
2,
3]
- Driver Escaping / Driving Away: Under Tennessee v. Garner, deadly force cannot be used to prevent the escape of a fleeing suspect unless the officer has probable cause to believe the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others. Therefore, shooting a merely fleeing driver who does not otherwise endanger the public violates the Constitution. However, in Plumhoff v. Rickard, the Supreme Court ruled officers were justified in using deadly force to end a dangerous high-speed chase where the suspect's reckless driving seriously endangered the public. [1, 2, 3]
- Driver Charging / Driving at Officers: If a driver uses a vehicle as a weapon to drive directly at an officer or others, it generally creates an immediate threat of death or serious harm, justifying the use of deadly force. In Barnes v. Felix, the Supreme Court rejected a lower court's restricted "moment-of-threat" doctrine, ruling that in excessive force cases, courts must evaluate the totality of the circumstances and events leading up to the shooting to determine if the officer's actions were reasonable. [1, 2]
Many police departments maintain strict internal policies that advise officers to step out of the path of an oncoming vehicle rather than discharge their firearms, as shooting into a moving vehicle is often deemed ineffective and dangerous
Shooting at Moving Vehicles.