Deadly Force to Stop Chases OK

We're not betting on a policy change here in Chicago, but the US Supreme Court says it's legal:

• A new Supreme Court decision has been added to the ongoing controversy in law enforcement circles about whether officers should be permitted by policy to shoot at moving vehicles. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that officers were justified in firing fatal rounds at a driver to end a dangerous high-speed chase. Further, the court declared, the officers were not guilty of excessive force for sending a fusillade at the offender’s vehicle — 15 shots in all.
  
  “The Supreme Court is making it clear that the Fourth amendment allows the use of deadly force to stop drivers in those exceptional cases when their actions pose a very serious threat to public safety,” says police attorney Bill Everett, a legal consultant to the Force Science Institute. “By limiting legal liability in these circumstances, the Court is allowing agencies to put more emphasis on keeping the public safe when developing their policies.”

That sobbing noise is the lawyers over at Loevy and Loevy gnashing their teeth at a possible revenue stream being cauterized.

You can read the PoliceOne.com article at this link here. Again, don't count on any changes here, but in a worst case scenario, the decision might keep a cop out of jail for a justifiable use of force.