“...Please explain? I would like to know under what circumstances can someone be shot as they run away from a police officer that would fit the scenario being discussed here?...”
It used to be you have to be able to articulate that the fleeing suspect posed an immediate deadly-force threat to the officer and/or others. There are countless “what-if” scenarios you can come up with, but the bottom line is that the suspect poses an immediate, deadly threat to yourself and/or someone else and you have to shoot to stop him.
So take two cops and put them in the same situation. Officer Barney is prone to panicking and knee-jerking when his badge-heavy bluster fails him and someone calls his bluff. He’s physically incapable or has p1$$-poor hand-to-hand skills so he escalates to his taser/gun early and hopes it scares the bad guys into behaving. The problem with Barney is that he’s all bluff and hasn’t really thought through what he’s going to do when he eventually encounters a guy that calls all of his bluffs.
Then you have Andy who realizes that the guy who just fled from him for a minor infraction (equipment violation) is a pudgy mess and may have a heart attack running. So he has to choose if it’s worth chasing him when: he already has his car and his ID. Radio says there are no warrants on him -OR- perhaps radio says there is a warrant for child-support (a non-violent issue). Andy may instead choose to tow the dude’s car and go get him later from his house at his leisure. That tow bill is going to cost him a whole lot more than an equipment violation, but the dude shouldn’t have run. Now, if the guy fits the description of a recent bank-robbery or murderer or whatever, the scenario changes and you will pursue. But even then, you still can’t shoot a bank-robber or murderer in the back unless you can articulate that he posed an immediate deadly-force threat to the officer and/or others.
And there are perhaps a gazillion other scenarios you could dream up, but the bottom line (and I’ll keep saying it even if I wear it out) we need fewer badge-heavy, inept, rule-mongering, panicky Barney Fife’s and more calm-under-pressure, level-headed, patient Andy Griffith’s who know how/when to exercise a reasonable level of discretion and know when to escalate use of force *and* have the physical skills to escalate. I am convinced that would help ease a bunch of this “us vs them” crap.
Thank you for your remarks. They are basically what I thought, that a cop should not whack someone posing no threat who is running away from a traffic violation when they can just go get them later when things calm down.
I really think your explanation is a good one.
Cops are people, they can be just as evil as any other person, or they can be just a good as any other person, it depends on the individual. I have personally known both kinds.
If the cop that shot this guy in the back is proven to be the evil variety, then he should be thrown in prison with the general population with other murderers.