Calgary police told to shoot less at fleeing vehicles

The Calgary Police Service is bringing in new guidelines restricting when officers can shoot at suspects in moving vehicles.

The new policy comes amid an uptick over the past three years in the number of such incidents, theCalgary Police Commission heard at a meeting Tuesday night.

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"Discharging a firearm at a moving or potentially moving vehicle is extremely unlikely to stop or disable it," said the notes for the presentation, which were made available to the media.

Instead, the new directive requires officers to find cover, reposition, wait for back up and make attempts at de-escalation or disengagement from situations in order to regain the tactical advantage and "minimize the necessity for the use of deadly force."

"The use of such tactics is required in order to attend to the spirit of this policy," the notes said.

Half of the 10 police shootings in Calgary last year involved alleged offenders trying to drive away from the scene.

• On July 15, 2016, Sanjai Prasad, 41, was fatally shot by a Calgary police officer while he was driving a stolen SUV in a parkade in Inglewood.
• On Sept. 17, 2016, police shot at the driver of a pickup truck near the Blackfoot truck stop after police said he fled a traffic stop and officers had spotted a rifle on the passenger seat.
• On Oct. 4, 2016, an officer shot at a stolen truck as a suspect fled a traffic stop at 12 Mile Coulee Road on the northwest edge of the city. The man, who was not injured, was later arrested in Cochrane.
• On Nov. 2, 2016, an officer shot the driver of a moving stolen car as it dragged a second officer through an alley in Dover. The20-year-old driverwas taken to hospital with seriousbut non-life threatening injuries.The officer who was dragged had minor injuries.
• On Nov. 22, 2016, police fatally shotTerrence Winnmeyer who was wanted fora drug-related vehicle theft as he tried to evade arrest, ramming a police vehiclewhile driving a stolen pickup truck.

Police chief Roger Chaffin says in such situations, officers, offenders and the public are all at risk.

"The recovery of vehicles and apprehension of offenders really has to be secondary to safety," he said.

"And that's really what that's about. It's not to critique people in that moment when they had to defend themselves or somebody else. It's, 'how do we help them in those moments before they get to that call?'"

The new policy will be supported with a service-wide training program and the exploration of new technologies, tire deflation devices and GPS darts. Itwill also bring CPS in line with established best practices among North Americanpolice forces, the commission was told.

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