Quora Question: Why is shoot to kill so frequent in the US police force? Are police officers punished appropriately if they wrongfully kill a person, especially an unarmed victim?

I have not looked at all the responses, but I see Dan Robb gave a great response taking into account the oft ignored attack dynamics in a potentially lethal force incident, as well as court case rulings that have, to some degree, dictated what is considered to be a reasonable response from a police officer. The problem is that it has become more and more difficult for the officer. It seems that some people assume the officer has time to conduct an interview and inspection in the split he has to make a decision that may land him in court or a casket.

A huge factor is whether or not the officer has the ability to chose whether to apply lethal or non-lethal force. As it is today, there are maybe 10,000 - 15,000 officers out of over 800,000 who have that ability. If all had that ability, it would dramatically change the use of force, especially lethal force, in situations thousands of officers face every day.

TigerLight has a proven solution to the police use-of-force issue. The very first day it (the solution) was used by police, it saved two officer's lives on a car stop and it is the only device that could have done this, under the very common circumstances the officers faced.

It was tested by 500 Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies over 6 months and had the highest “stop rate” or effectiveness of any non-lethal technology, far higher than any other non-lethal or less lethal technology. It also has proven to be much safer and does not require the officer to holster his firearm while using it.

Its use totally changes the dynamics of a street encounter. In fact, in the LASD Study, it caused a 30% reduction in the TOTAL use of force, including that of the TigerLight itself. Yes, that’s right. It didn’t just reduce the level of force by replacing other types of force. ALL use of force declined by 30% while arrest activity actually went up 11%. This is ASTRONOMICAL! Nothing has even come close to these results!

Lethal force decreased by 43% and complaints of excessive force declined by 43%, again, while arrest activity INCREASED!

An estimated 4-6 lives were save directly as a result of the officer having a TigerLight in hand. Nothing else would likely have helped in the potentially deadly encounters. Lethal force would have been used on or by the deputies. This is, again, because the officer was (is) able to have lethal force in one hand and non-lethal in the other and transition instantaneously between the two. It dramatically reduces officer stress, which significantly reduces the likelihood of escalation. No more, “Do I draw my Taser OR do I draw my gun?”

You are probably thinking, “If all this is true, why isn’t every officer already using it?”

There is a reason for that and it’s a very bad reason that I will not explain in this response. If you knew, you would be very upset!

Believe me, everything I’m explaining is true and verifiable seven ways to Sunday.

Here is a little more information for those who are interested. Of course, everyone should be interested.

OFFICER EMAIL TO ANOTHER DEPARTMENT’S EVALUATION OFFICER

Sir,

Michael Teig asked me to email you in reference to the TigerLight. I have used it easily over 2 dozen times (documentable) in the line of duty with zero failure rate. My last deployment was just a couple weeks ago on a shoplifter who had stolen 4K in equipment and was fighting with 5 security guards and my partner. Instant fight stopper with no injuries to anyone including the suspect. Cried like a b@#$# but I'm sure that doesn't count. I've used the product nearly since it has come out and got it approved at my department for use. I am more than willing to answer any questions you may have. Sorry for the delay in getting to you the message was in my spam for some reason. Please feel free to email or give me a call (preferred) any time. I am our departments primary use of force instructor and teach all use of force excluding defensive ya tactics. I sit on the use of force board and review all use of force incidents that our patrolmen are involved in as well. Thank you in advance.

Sgt. Gary Powell

Firearms Commander

Provo Police Department

Here is an article from a SERT officer and TigerLight user explaining the significant advantages afforded by the TigerLight.

 Here is an article where multiple officers could not subdue the mentally ill subject and used a Taser several times to no avail. The subject grabbed a knife and was TigerLighted and it was over. Everyone fine.

 HOW DID THE USE OF FORCE, EVEN WHEN THE USE OF TIGERLIGHTS WAS INCLUDED, DECREASE BY 32% AT THE SAME TIME ARREST ACTIVITY INCREASED BY 11%?

Most people do not understand how many potentially deadly situations law enforcement officers are in. Situations that appear to be non-threatening suddenly turn into split second life and death decisions. These decision are dramatically impacted by how much time the officer has to make a decision and what force options he or she has in the time allotted.

If an officer pulls his firearm because the behavior of the subject raises red flags, he has only two options at that moment, shoot or not shoot, when something in-between might be the best solution. In order to have a non-lethal option he would have to have time to holster his gun, eliminating that lethal force option. Then he would have to have time to draw a non-lethal option like pepper spray or a stun gun, but now his lethal force option is in the holster.

Now here is the problem for the officer. Most officers do not want to shoot anyone, ever. So when someone has given them reason to fear, reason to pull their firearm and point it at the subject, the officer passionately, desperately wants the subject to comply. He does not want to have any reason to have to use deadly force, so he is under tremendous stress and pressure to get that subject to comply with his demands or commands. Because of that, he is often yelling those commands with force and authority, hoping to motivate the subject to comply, quickly and completely so he can feel safe. The intensity and stress of the officer in a situation where the subject might not be cooperating, heightens the stress of the subject, who is likely in an abnormal state of mind, for any number of reasons from intoxication, to mental illness. He or she is more likely to run or attack if his or her adrenaline flow is increased. If the officer were able to act more calmly, which is EXTREMELY difficult to do in these situations when your options are limited, the situation would be less likely to escalate. Therefore, escalation becomes a big issue and lethal force is more likely to occur.

However, if the officer has a TigerLight in hand, the entire dynamic changes. He knows he has the ability to immediately incapacitate the subject, without the huge decision to use or not use lethal force rather than having both lethal and non-lethal options in hand. With both options, the officer is more confident, more relaxed, less threatening, less aggressive and less likely to escalate the situation. It is disarming to the subject. He may consider himself dangerous, yet here is this officer, not appearing a bit concerned, talking in a normal voice, calm and collected. The subject is probably wondering why the officer is so confident, not afraid and yelling commands like his life depended on it. He’s might be thinking, “What does he know that I don’t. He must be incredibly capable to be so confident and he’s not being a jerk to me.” So, already, escalation is far less likely to occur. That is why ALL use of force decreased dramatically in the LASD Study and in every situation where TigerLights have been used. Like the study showed, the officer is even less likely to have to use the TigerLight, or any force. All use of force is reduced.

However, what happens if the subject decides to attack? Well, if the officer only has a gun in his hand, the attacker will likely be shot and killed. Officers do not shoot to wound. So, you have a dead person with a family and reporters ready to blame the police. Perhaps the subject deserved to die. Perhaps he did not, but either way, he is dead. In many situations, the officer would not have had time to retrieve a non-lethal device to avoid lethal force. His only option would have been to try to holster his gun and engage in a potentially life threatening hand-to-hand fight with the subject during which the subject will often try to obtain and use the gun on the officer.

With the TigerLight, the officer would have a very easy and far less consequential decision to make. He instantly uses the TigerLight with a 96% probability of ending the fight before it gets started, with no injury and complete recovery in 30-45 minutes. No death. No broken bones, cuts, scrapes, abrasions or any evidence that any force was even used. The situation never becomes a headline, a complaint, lawsuit or political fodder for anyone, just a better way to keep the public safe, officers safe and make sure the subject is the focus of any investigation and not the officer.

It is a much better way for law enforcement agencies to fulfill their fiduciary responsibility to provide the best in equipment and training to insure the safety of officers and civilians.

One officer I know was in over 100 “Heavy Force” encounters, including several lethal force encounters in just a few years. He was in court nearly every day defending himself against excessive force claims. Just his overtime spent in court was a huge expense to the department. With the TigerLight, he had no heavy force encounters during the next 15 years while performing the same duty in the same area, with the TigerLight.

This is the way to solve the problem, quickly and inexpensively. In fact, data shows that the cost savings from deaths, injuries and lawsuits will far more then pay for the equipment and training.

For more information go toPepper Spray | Personal Defense Weapons | Tiger Lights.