Under the normal rules of engagement, when can police open fire on suspects?
Where an officer uses lethal force against a suspect he will be guilty of murder unless he can rely on the statutory defence in section 3 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 which permits the use of “such force as is reasonable in the circumstances in the prevention of crime or in effecting or assisting in the lawful arrest of offenders or a suspected offender”. Reasonable force can be used in self defence or defence of another. That defence must be disproved by the prosecution before an officer could be guilty of murder. Considerable leeway is given to the fact that an officer may have to make a split second judgment. An honest but mistaken belief that it is necessary to fire does not deprive the officer of the defence.
