Task force [1 of 2]

              I. The Policy
Purpose
The primary responsibility of this
department and of each of its
members is to protect the lives of the
citizens we serve. It is critical,
therefore, that every action of this
department and of each of its
members be consistent with that
responsibility.
It is the responsibility of each
member of this department to honor
and to protect the rights guaranteed all
citizens by the Constitution of the
United States and by the Constitution
of this State. These rights include the
right to be presumed innocent until
proven guilty beyond a reasonable
doubt under due process of law, and
the right to be free from suffering
penalties that are far in excess of the
seriousness of the offenses for which
they have been imposed.
It is also the responsibility of
each member of this department to
honor the established principles of
democracy. These include a reverence
for human life, the principle that the
value of any human life exceeds that
of any property, and the principle that
it is the function of the judiciary and
of correctional authorities to punish
wrongdoers.
Each police officer in this department has been granted extensive
powers to meet these responsibilities.
These powers have been granted by
citizens, and each police officer in this
department is accountable to the
citizens for the manner in which he
exercises those powers. None of the
powers granted to police officers by
citizens is more unique and more
awesome than the power to use deadly
force. It is critical, therefore, that the
power to use deadly force be exercised in a manner that is consistent
with our responsibility to protect life,
and that is in accord with Constitutional provisions and democratic principles. It is critical also that this
department and each of its members
be held accountable to the citizens for
the manner in which deadly force is
exercised.
The laws of this state define
deadly force as force capable of causing death or other grievous physical injury.  In practice, police officers most
often exercise their power of deadly
force by using their firearms. Further,
regardless of whether an officer intends to shoot another person, every
display or discharge of a firearm is
potentially deadly. It is the policy of
this department that display and
discharge of firearms shall be held to
the absolute minimum required to.
fulfill the responsibilities of this
department and to protect the safety
of officers. It is the policy of this
department that officers shall not
display or draw firearms unless such
action will aid in controlling a situation, as opposed to provoking it. Officers must not participate in needless
escalation of tension and violence.
Therefore, this department has upon
this date enacted the following
specific policy guidelines regarding
the use of firearms and other means of
deadly force.
A.   Display of Firearms.
It is the policy of this department that firearms may be
unholstered, handled, or
otherwise displayed only
when there exists no less
lethal means to bring an
unlawful situation under control.