Police Use of Lethal Force

The recent incident described here has re-started the debate about when the Police should use lethal force. The RCMP were called to an incident where a man decided he should hit some cops in the face with a chain, knocking one of them unconscious. The man was shot dead by officers after he hit them. Obviously there is an investigation into the shooting since a man was killed and we need to be sure the Police are not running around shooting people at will. Apparently this man was not a violent person according to the front page of yesterday's Vancouver Province. I believe the definition of "violent person" does include a person who smashes people in the face with truck chains. As a general rule I think it is safe to assume that if person X has a gun and person Y has a chain, person Y should be putting the chain down as to avoid being shot by person X. It makes no difference whether person X is a Doctor, Painter or Police Officer. He could have killed someone and any normal person should be willing to use whatever possible to prevent the aggressor from hurting innocent people. The Officers had to make a tough choice in a split second and I believe they chose well. This man was not a victim, he was a dangerous criminal and now he won't hurt anybody.