Police Warning Shots May Be In For A Comeback
Police are trained to avoid warning shots for tactical and legal reasons. This long-standing prohibition is being reconsidered under public pressure to reduce deadly shootings by police.
Why don't the police fire warning shots? That's a question that comes up a lot, especially after controversial shooting deaths.
Last fall, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and 10 other law enforcement groups got together to work out a consensus policy on the use of force — a sort of model document for local departments that want to update their rules. When the document came out in January, it contained a surprise: it allowed for warning shots.
For police trainers and use-of-force experts around the country, that news is still sinking in.
"The idea of
