WaPo: “A fundamental tenet of police training in the United States is that officers who fire their weapons in response to a deadly threat should always aim for “center mass,” generally the chest. That’s the biggest target and so the easiest to hit. But a bullet that finds its mark there is likely to kill.
The police chief in this picturesque Deep South town says there’s a better approach. Louis Dekmar, who has run the LaGrange Police Department for 26 years, is training his officers to shoot for the legs, pelvis or abdomen in situations where they think it could stop a deadly threat without killing the source of that threat. Doing so, he believes, could make a difference in the more than 200 fatal police shootings nationwide every year that involve individuals armed with something other than a gun.
“Every time we avoid taking a life,” Dekmar says, “we maintain trust.”
The chief’s “Shoot to Incapacitate” program has drawn interest from academics who say it merits further study. In the national law enforcement community, however, it has elicited harsh, widespread criticism.”