NCJ Number
84536
Date Published
1981
Length
20 pages
Annotation
Police officers should shoot to kill only to defend their own lives or the lives of persons in immediate danger because of the limits on state authority, the sanctity of human life, and human fallibility.
Abstract
John Rawls contends that a rational, self-interested person choosing social policies behind a veil of ignorance would opt for the following principles of justice: (1) that each person have the maximal personal liberty compatible with a like liberty for all; and (2) that offices be open to all and that differential rewards attached to those offices maximize the advantages of the least advantaged. The second aspect of these principles counters the pure utilitarian concerned only with the greatest good of the greatest number regardless of the distribution of benefits and burdens. Rawls' principle requires that the advantages of those at the top must make those at the bottom better off than any alternative distribution. This principle of justice can be applied directly to the use of deadly force. Statistics indicate that police use deadly force disproportionately against the most disadvantaged segment of the community. Further, no empirical evidence shows that the use of deadly force enhances police effectiveness in protecting the public. Thomas Hobbes' thesis that all obligations to the state arise out of a contract in which the state agrees to protect human life further restricts the state's use of deadly force. Further, Charles Black argues that because of the irreversible injury of the use of deadly force and the fallibility of humans in determining guilt that might be worthy of imposing death on a citizen, the state is never justified in imposing death. The sanctity of human life requires, however, that the police, who are commissioned to deal with violent elements in society, should have the right to protect themselves from harm as well as other citizens. Deadly force should only be used when it is clear that the lives of officers or innocent citizens are threatened by the persons against whom the deadly force is used. A total of 30 footnotes are listed.