Less Lethal

Author: Donna Allen

When Memphis Police Officer Elton Hymon was dispatched to answer a "prowler inside call," Hymon viewed the suspect run across the backyard. As suspect Edward Garner stopped at a 6-feet-high chain link fence the officer called out "Police! Halt!" Garner then began to climb over the fence. Officer Hymon was "reasonably sure" that Garner was unarmed, yet was convinced that if the suspect made it over the fence he would elude capture. Hymon shot and killed Garner who was later found to have stolen ten dollars and a purse from the home in question. This landmark case, Tennessee v. Garner, originally found that Officer Hymon's actions were within the boundaries of the statues set forth before the state of Tennessee. It took eleven years for the case to be overturned by the Supreme Court, finding that "while burglary is a serious crime, the officer in this case could not reasonably have believed that the suspect posed any threat."

In 1985, The Supreme Court ruled that "the use of deadly force to apprehend apparently unarmed, nonviolent fleeing felons was an unreasonable seizure under the Fourth Amendment." (Less-than-Lethal Weapons, ¶ 2, 2003). The way law enforcement addresses the issue of deadly force was dramatically changed from this point forward. The Attorney General at the time challenged law enforcement entities to seek alternatives to using deadly force and establish a less-than-lethal technologies program called the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). Law enforcement has since sought to identify the most effective methods of disabling, capturing, or immobilizing offenders while minimizing the risk involved to both the police officer, as well as to the suspect.

Traditionally, the most common tools available to police officers were either a baton or a gun. A given situation may find a gun too strong a response, whereas a baton too weak a response, putting officers in harms way. Therefore, less-lethal weapons were designed to immobilize rather than kill a suspect and reduce the amount of risk involved for both the officer and the suspect.

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Less Lethal