Police Rethink Shooting at Suspects in Moving Cars

02/05/2015

By Zusha Elinson & Campaign Zero

Insight: More U.S. police departments are telling officers not to shoot at vehicles and instead move out of the way whenever they can. “The emerging conventional thinking is that shooting into a car is a bad idea for all kinds of reasons,” said Jim Bueermann, a former Redlands, Calif., police chief who heads a Washington, D.C.-based research organization called the Police Foundation.
Among concerns is that since cars are moving targets, others can be put at risk of stray bullets. Last year, the Miami Beach Police Department prohibited officers from shooting at moving cars unless someone in the vehicle opens fire or displays a weapon. The change followed a 2011 shooting death of a motorist in which police fired 116 rounds, injuring four bystanders.