The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has been crisscrossing the country to hold media training sessions to highlight events that can lead to police officers using force. This week, ATF held the training at the Fort Worth Police Department's headquarters.
During the event, ATF explained the Department of Justice's use of force policy.
"The courts recognize the split-second nature of the decisions the law enforcement officers must make," Paul Massock, deputy chief of the Special Operations Division said. "So we come here in class, we talk about those things. We show some videos to demonstrate the speed at which these interactions occur."
Department of Justice policy says officers may use deadly force "when the officer has a reasonable belief that the subject of such forces poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or to another person."
"That's the topic that's going on in regards to the relationships between the community and law enforcement," Massock said.
In the U.S. Supreme Court case, Graham v Connor, the court stated, "The objective test requires the court to envision a reasonable officer and ask this question: based on the totality of the facts and circumstances, could such an officer believe that the force was necessary?"
The ruling said, "police officers are often forced to make split-second judgments -in circumstances that are tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving -about the amount of force that is necessary in a particular situation."
At the training, ATF says someone can pull a gun from the waist to full arm extension and fire within .26 seconds.
"It is a surprise to some people as to how quick that action occurs," Massock said, going on to say that an officer reacting will take .36 seconds to aim and fire; removing a gun when it is snapped in a holster and firing will take 1.92 seconds.
"The best thing they can do is more training, more scenarios," TJ Boddie, acting assistant special agent in charge of the Dallas Field Division said.
Boddie says officers undergo training to recognize signs of danger, such as a person balling or raising their fists, spreading their feet and turning the body slightly to the side, crouching, putting their head and chin up or down, and staring at target areas.
They will also watch if a person puts their hands in their pockets or reaches into their car if they are standing outside.
"The best predictor of whether an officer will utilize force and if they do, how much force they'll use, is the behavior of the suspect," Massock said.
Massock says if someone reaches into their pocket or into a car, an officer cannot confirm if that person is reaching for an item like a cell phone or a gun. He says courts have ruled cases involving the use of force must be viewed from the perspective of officers at the scene.
He says officers cannot assume "immediate incapacitation" after one shot, saying officers who do use force will fire several times. Massock also says an officer could be justified shooting a person who is running away while holding a gun because that person could turn and shoot or point the gun behind him or herself and shoot at officers or civilians.
He says law enforcement has an "obligation to stay abreast of all the legal decisions" handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts.
"They can adjust policy and training to fit legal requirements that are there," Massock said. "There are also changing social expectations of law enforcement that we have to address as well, and training is adjusted accordingly."
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