"...it has never seemed strange to me that the police sometimes fire dozens of shots at a criminal"
The always worth-reading Thomas Sowell on why police shoot at criminals so many times in a shootout:
As someone who once taught pistol shooting in the Marine Corps, it has never seemed strange to me that the police sometimes fire dozens of shots at a criminal. ... Getting back to shootings by the police, now -- at last -- there is a study introducing some facts into controversies that have thus far been largely a matter of emotions, rhetoric, ideology, and politics.This study shows how often the police in New York City miss when shooting at various distances during the stress of actual confrontations with criminals.
Even within a range of 6 feet or less, the police miss more often than they hit -- 57 percent of the shots at that distance miss and 43 percent hit.
As you might expect, there are even fewer hits at longer distances. At 75 feet -- which is less than the distance from first base to second base -- only 7 percent of the shots hit.
Read the whole thing and learn why reports about the police shooting at a criminal 40 times are overblown and generate more heat than light.
Comments
Yup, the reason they fire so many rounds is that they miss a lot and they have lots of bullets. The reason they miss a lot are that marksmanship standards and practices for police suck. Most cops qualify once a year. Like most yearly testing, they cram pistol training right before their qualification shoot or they water down their qualification standards so anyone can pass. Cramming is a major problem because maintaining pistol proficiency requires regular practice. Regular meaning weekly to monthly. And watering down standards just means nobody is ever good in the first place.
And that isn't even touching on the effect adrenaline has on firearms proficiency. If I was God-emperor, cops would have to pass a simple 7 or 10 yard pistol proficiency test. Immediately after they had run a 50 yard dash. Run the dash then shoot a mag. If your accuracy is too low or you take too long, you fail. They would have to train monthly, test quarterly, and be subject to random weapons inspections to make sure they're cleaning their guns and rotating their service ammo properly.
Posted by: Jeff the Baptist | December 11, 2007 11:32 AM
I did think of you when reading this. From the times you've taken me shooting, I know how hard it is to fire with any sort of accuracy when taking my time. Granted, cops have put in a lot more time on the range than I have but as you note adrenline makes a huge difference. If I had to shoot with my life potentially on the line, I'd be lucky to actually shoot in the correct direction.
Posted by: Paul Smith Jr | December 11, 2007 11:46 AM