Text size:

Why so many shots?

Experts say that police training often leads to high numbers of shots fired

BY LUIS PEREZ | Newsday Staff Writer

November 27, 2006

To the average person, 50 may seem like an excessive number of bullets fired by police officers.

Yet several criminologists said that basic police training and the dynamics of shooting confrontations can often lead to high numbers of bullets fired and little can be done to avoid such outcomes.

"You often hear people say, 'Why couldn't they just shoot him in the leg or why couldn't they just shoot the air out of his tire? Well, the police are not trained to do that," said Tom Nolan, a professor of criminal justice at Boston University, and a former police officer for 27 years in that city.

The general rule in police training is that officers must use deadly force when they perceive "imminent death or bodily harm" to themselves or others. In a situation where a group of officers have drawn their weapons, only one officer needs to identify a threat for all the officers to fire with the same deadly force, Nolan noted.

"It's almost like the wisdom of one officer is the collective wisdom of all," said Nolan.

Virtually all New York City police officers today carry 9-mm semiautomatic handguns, which carry 15 rounds in a clip and one in the chamber. Most of those officers also normally carry at least one extra clip with 15 rounds on their belts.

Those same officers are also trained not to fire warning shots into the air, and not to fire at moving vehicles, said Eugene O'Donnell, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan.

"They receive training that really tells them not to shoot, except in dire circumstances," said O'Donnell. "What is less easy to teach is that once a decision is made to shoot, how and when they should stop."