NCJ Number
100431
Journal
Criminal Law Bulletin Volume: 22 Issue: 1 Dated: (January-February 1986) Pages: 62-68
Date Published
1986
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the effects of the Supreme Court decision in Tennessee v. Garner and Memphis Police Department v. Garner on police use of deadly force.
Abstract
The six-judge majority ruled that police use of deadly force to apprehend unarmed, nonviolent, fleeing felony suspects violated the fourth amendment guarantee against unreasonable seizure. Only evidence of dangerousness was viewed as justifying police use of deadly force against a fleeing suspect. The most important effect of this ruling will be to reduce shootings in those jurisdictions where police have legal and administrative discretion to shoot suspects fleeing in such offenses as auto theft and stolen credit card possession. Curtailment of this discretion is unlikely to have much effect on public safety or crime rates. It will, however provide a lot of work for State legislatures and police policymakers in the 19 jurisdictions that heretofore have authorized shootings of nonviolent fleeing felons. Concomitantly, it will relieve officers from the burden of making split-second decisions in the virtual absence of guidelines and will probably reduce the workloads of their attorneys. 27 references.