• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Subscribe to the Magazine
American Police Beat

American Police Beat Magazine

Law Enforcement Publication

  • Home
  • Editor’s Picks
    • The power of teamwork
      Stay awake and alert on the job
      The worst rank in law enforcement
      Firearms maintenance
      Why fries need salt
  • Topics
    • On the Job
      • “Take care of your veterans”: Massachusetts police save suicidal...
        The problems with loyalty
        My experience being a Black woman in policing
        Tucson tries new tact to fight crime
        2022 Top Cops
    • Labor
      • Philadelphia may rehire officers and civilian employees to fill...
        Chicago police recruit Marines to help address officer shortage
        Illinois State Police announce lateral training program with added...
        The “great resignation” brings staffing troubles to Missouri law...
        NYPD overtime expected to surpass budget by over $142 million to...
    • Tech
      • NYPD deploys K-9s with innovative electronic harness to prevent...
        Understanding end-to-end encryption apps
        Local law enforcement agencies learn to recover stolen cryptocurrency
        New York mayor proposes gun detection scanners after rise in subway...
        Hacker group steals data from multiple law enforcement data systems...
    • Training
      • An equation for performing lawful Terry stops
        A Connecticut police chief says his department needs more drug...
        “The hidden danger is the water”
        Weapon retention
        Developing trauma-informed training and drills for K–12 schools
    • Policy
      • Philadelphia spends almost a billion dollars on policing in new...
        Supreme Court decision protects police officers against civil...
        Chicago police limit foot pursuits under new policy intended to...
        Putting the brakes on wandering cops
        Detroit police team up with federal law enforcement agencies to fight...
    • Health/Wellness
      • True detectives: Psychological realities of investigative work
        Effective use of chaplain services
        Things I learned as a retiree
        Normalization of deviance
        The nobility of policing
    • Community
      • Miami Heat and nonprofit build bridges between law enforcement and...
        Right place, right time: Off-duty Florida police officer braves house...
        Community steps up to support Rhode Island police officer brothers...
        Safety exchange zones
        Crime problems are community problems
    • Offbeat
      • Iowa police and fire agencies, community team up to rescue bulldog...
        Buzz fuzz: NYPD “bee unit” officers remove swarms from various...
        Only in Florida: Police snipers provide backup during...
        Longtime Maryland con man arrested for impersonating U.S. marshal
        Seattle cancels and refunds seven months of parking tickets due to...
    • We Remember
      • Memorializing our fallen sisters
        Paying Tribute to Fallen Heroes
        National Law Enforcement Memorial expands to accommodate more names
        National Police Week
        “It’s not enough to never forget anymore”
  • On the Job
    • “Take care of your veterans”: Massachusetts police save suicidal...
      The problems with loyalty
      My experience being a Black woman in policing
      Tucson tries new tact to fight crime
      2022 Top Cops
  • Labor
    • Philadelphia may rehire officers and civilian employees to fill...
      Chicago police recruit Marines to help address officer shortage
      Illinois State Police announce lateral training program with added...
      The “great resignation” brings staffing troubles to Missouri law...
      NYPD overtime expected to surpass budget by over $142 million to...
  • Tech
    • NYPD deploys K-9s with innovative electronic harness to prevent...
      Understanding end-to-end encryption apps
      Local law enforcement agencies learn to recover stolen cryptocurrency
      New York mayor proposes gun detection scanners after rise in subway...
      Hacker group steals data from multiple law enforcement data systems...
  • Training
    • An equation for performing lawful Terry stops
      A Connecticut police chief says his department needs more drug...
      “The hidden danger is the water”
      Weapon retention
      Developing trauma-informed training and drills for K–12 schools
  • Policy
    • Philadelphia spends almost a billion dollars on policing in new...
      Supreme Court decision protects police officers against civil...
      Chicago police limit foot pursuits under new policy intended to...
      Putting the brakes on wandering cops
      Detroit police team up with federal law enforcement agencies to fight...
  • Health/Wellness
    • True detectives: Psychological realities of investigative work
      Effective use of chaplain services
      Things I learned as a retiree
      Normalization of deviance
      The nobility of policing
  • Community
    • Miami Heat and nonprofit build bridges between law enforcement and...
      Right place, right time: Off-duty Florida police officer braves house...
      Community steps up to support Rhode Island police officer brothers...
      Safety exchange zones
      Crime problems are community problems
  • Offbeat
    • Iowa police and fire agencies, community team up to rescue bulldog...
      Buzz fuzz: NYPD “bee unit” officers remove swarms from various...
      Only in Florida: Police snipers provide backup during...
      Longtime Maryland con man arrested for impersonating U.S. marshal
      Seattle cancels and refunds seven months of parking tickets due to...
  • We Remember
    • Memorializing our fallen sisters
      Paying Tribute to Fallen Heroes
      National Law Enforcement Memorial expands to accommodate more names
      National Police Week
      “It’s not enough to never forget anymore”
  • Between the Lines
    • Persecution of the LEO is Classic Schadenfreude
      The Rule of Law is Worthless Without Order
      School policing: a paradox of the defund movement
      Defending the honor of the LE profession – finally!
      The dichotomy of the defund movement: reality setting in
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Search

Policy

Utah case reignites debate on “shooting not to kill”

APB Team Published December 23, 2021 @ 6:00 am PST

Enoch City Police Officer Jeremy Dunn points his gun at Ivonne Casimiro after shooting her in the knee on June 29, 2018. Dunn told investigators he purposely shot Casimiro in the leg to save her life. She survived and is now in prison. (Enoch City Police Department)

A Utah police shooting reignited a debate around “shooting not to kill” — an issue that frustrates many in the law enforcement community.

The case in question regarded a 2018 encounter between two Enoch City police officers and a man and woman accused of breaking into cars. The woman was armed with a screwdriver. After repeatedly refusing to put down the weapon, Officer Jeremy Dunn used his Taser on her, but she was unaffected and simply removed the wires. So, he decided to shoot to incapacitate.

“Do you want me to take her out like last time?” Dunn asked then-Sergeant Mike Berg. He was referring to the time he shot a suicidal man in the leg in 2012. When the woman, Ivonne Casimiro, took a step toward the officers, Dunn opened fire, hitting Casimiro in the knee.

She survived and eventually pleaded guilty to assault against a police officer and driving a stolen car. She is currently in prison.

However, following an internal investigation, Dunn was terminated from his job and was barred from working as a police officer for the next four years. The Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) board reviewed the case and determined that the shooting was not legally justified because Casimiro was not an imminent threat.

However, the review also found that the Enoch City Police Department did not have a rule against officers shooting with the intent to incapacitate.

A question has been floated often by civilians who wonder why officers do not “shoot not to kill” more often by instead aiming for the extremities in order to incapacitate a person. It’s a question that irks many in the law enforcement community.

Most officers agree that situations like Dunn’s are rare in that officers usually do not have as much time to make a decision or to aim so precisely.

Salt Lake City Police Deputy Chief Scott Mourtgos told PBS Frontline that civilians’ expectations for an officer to consistently hit “precision shots” at someone’s leg or arm is “unrealistic.” In addition, it puts officers and the public in greater danger when an officer misses those shots.

Federal Way Police Chief Deputy Kyle Sumpter told Police1: “When an armed attack is underway, any response less than deadly force is wishful thinking, a hope-for-the-best reliance on the assailant’s good faith or luck.”

Police academies train cadets to aim for a person’s center-mass in order to quickly eliminate the threat. However, some argue that shooting to incapacitate may have its place in today’s police climate after nearly 17% of the 1,115 people killed by police over the last five years were armed with edged weapons.

Indeed, the LaGrange, Georgia, Police Department is one of the first to recognize a place for shooting to incapacitate in policing. The department is one of the first in the country to institute a specific training program dealing with this issue based on European guidelines where police deal with fewer guns and more edged and blunt weapons during a call.

However, Mourtgos argued that shooting to incapacitate won’t necessarily prevent someone from dying.

“I’ve seen people survive being shot in the head with a bullet … I’ve seen people die from being shot in the leg and arm,” Mourtgos said. “There is no good place to shoot a human being.”

Finally, Utah POST director Major Scott Stephenson said that while such a policy would result in fewer deaths, it would simply be because “officers will frequently miss their intended target” — referring to their legs.

The trade-off, he added, is an increased risk to the public, arguing such a practice “could jeopardize innocent bystanders at a higher rate.” 

As seen in the December 2021 issue of American Police Beat magazine.
Don’t miss out on another issue today! Click below:

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Categories: Policy

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles

  • Philadelphia spends almost a billion dollars on policing in new budget aimed at addressing gun violence
  • Miami Heat and nonprofit build bridges between law enforcement and community
  • Right place, right time: Off-duty Florida police officer braves house fire to rescue trapped children
  • “Take care of your veterans”: Massachusetts police save suicidal veteran
  • Iowa police and fire agencies, community team up to rescue bulldog stuck in sinkhole
  • Community steps up to support Rhode Island police officer brothers who lost everything in a house fire
  • Supreme Court decision protects police officers against civil lawsuits over Miranda rights violations
  • NYPD deploys K-9s with innovative electronic harness to prevent terrorist attacks
  • The problems with loyalty
  • Chicago police limit foot pursuits under new policy intended to enhance officer safety and public trust

Footer

Our Mission
To serve as a trusted voice of the nation’s law enforcement community, providing informative, entertaining and inspiring content on interesting and engaging topics affecting peace officers today.

Contact us: info@apbweb.com

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Categories

  • Editor’s Picks
  • On the Job
  • Labor
  • Tech
  • Training
  • Policy
  • Health/Wellness
  • Community
  • Offbeat
  • We Remember
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Events

Editor’s Picks

The power of teamwork

The power of teamwork

July 23, 2021

Stay awake and alert on the job

Stay awake and alert on the job

July 20, 2021

The worst rank in law enforcement

The worst rank in law enforcement

July 19, 2021

Firearms maintenance

Firearms maintenance

July 04, 2021

Privacy Policy | Copyright © 2022 APB Media, LLC | Website design, development and maintenance by 911MEDIA

Open

Subscribe

Close
Receive the latest news and updates from American Police Beat directly to your inbox!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.