I am thinking if I am a cop and i have a stop. The subject does not listen to me and starts acting on his own, talking back, getting agressive. Unable to even answer the simplest questions. I am thinking is he wanted, has he commited other crimes, when most people follow orders and provide the simple information without incident , why is this gentleman fighting, What is his motive? Is he trying to find a way to hurt me? His hands dissappear. They go under a dashboard. he then raises his hand up. I tell a half dozen times to put his hands straight out of him on the dashboard. He doesn't, instead he snakes his hand along side his body and starts to raise it towards me. I draw my gun and tell him one more time to put his hands straight out on the dashboard. Its dark, theres a crowd of people around us, friendly or not I don't know. Do you gamble? its 50/50 chance. Who shoots who? Do I give him the benefit of the doubt? If I shoot 2 or 3 rounds, in 5 more seconds I can shoot 50, If I have decided to shoot do I be "nice" and shoot 2 or 3 and hope it works. Or do I commit and shoot to remove the threat?
Forgive my edits and emphasis, but that does not add up DD. You do not have to be Einstein to understand more shots do not minimize anything, but only increase the chances of bystanders getting hit kut2k2 has a point. "People who are required to carry guns full-time as part of their jobs should also be required to demonstrate well-above-minimum proficiency in their shooting ability" Agreed. I presume that is always the case - that they are properly trained for such circumstances - otherwise are you really going to feel safe with these cops discharging dozens of overkill bullets every time some idiot does not respond sensibly to an officerâs instruction!?
To a civilian it probably wouldn't make sense. However, it's quite sensible. The officers are not firing randomly. The maintain the tactical edge which allows the to properly direct their shots. In all the high or average round discharge cases in NYC, no bystander was ever injured or killed. The target was always neutralized. What's more, here are some excepts from NYC latest study of NYC police department firearm discharges: