Lieutenant Matt Fox said the use of force boils down to one question: “Is it objectively reasonable?”
“So what we train our officers in any use of force, whether it’s putting your hands on somebody, or full-on battling or shooting, is it needs to be objectively reasonable and it should be the least amount of force necessary,” said Fox.
He said when this happens the officer has to write a professional report, take photographs of the injuries, and they have to be specific about the citizen’s aggressive act -- and the officer’s response to it.
But Lieutenant Fox said when the officer makes the decision to use force, they rely on what’s going on at the time, what kind of environment they’re in, and what their abilities are.
“It’s easy for the untrained or maybe just the naive citizen to say, 'Well, just shoot him in the foot or tase him.' There’s a difference between what you can control and what you can’t control. A professional understands that he has no control at all over the final outcome of the situation. There are too many variables. A professional does know that he has complete control over his own performance,” said Fox.
Another issue officers deal with is the use of force against someone driving a car or truck. Fox said it’s strongly discouraged to shoot at a moving vehicle. But there are some instances, he said, when it would be justifiable, like if an officer had a clear shot to stop a person who’s driving their car deliberately into a crowd, as was the case in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017.
- A link to WPD’s policies, which include ones on the use of force
