NCJ Number
92879
Journal
Criminal Justice Ethics Volume: 2 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer/Fall l983) Pages: 9-18
Date Published
1983
Length
11 pages
Annotation
The controversy over the use of the hollow-point bullet provides a prime example of the complex and controversial ethical and technical issues raised by the choice of weapon systems by police departments.
Abstract
Discussion recounts the decision made to adopt the hollow-point bullet in one midwestern city police department, attempting to show which factual issues are relevant to the question of the justifiability of use and what information is needed to resolve them. Four distinct questions of fact were raised in the police department and task force deliberations: the effect of the decision on police-community relations; the effect of the decision on police morale and other departmental policies; frequency of instances in which the use of deadly force is necessary without adequate backup support; and comparative accuracy, stopping power, ricochet behavior, and wounding effects of the hollow-point and conventional round-nose bullet. The last two factual issues are relevant to the question of justifiability; they bear directly on the probability and severity of injury risked by police officers, suspects, and bystanders given different weapon systems. The most complex questions regarding justifiability of use of the hollow-point are raised where the deadly force policy restricts the use of deadly force to self-defense or defense of another against the immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury. Decisions on the use of hollow-points, or of any weapon or ammunition, should not be made solely within a police department, nor as a matter of administrative discretion, by a mayor. A total of 22 notes are supplied.