Steve Chapman: Dangerous People and Deadly Force

When a man jumped over the White House fence, ran
across the lawn and entered the residence, the Secret Service
failed and failed again. One of the most conspicuous and surprising
failures was that though it had armed agents on the ground and
snipers on the roof, no one fired a shot to stop him.

In fact, the agency bragged about not using their guns, saying
that “the officers showed tremendous restraint and discipline in
dealing with this subject.” The agents didn’t shoot Omar Gonzalez
because they “apparently concluded that he was not armed and did
not appear to be carrying anything that might contain explosives,”
reported The New York Times.

Lucky guess. As it turned out, he was carrying a folding knife
with a 3 1/2-inch blade, which could have been put to deadly use.
But agents were able to subdue him without bloodshed. A man
reported to be mentally ill didn’t hurt anyone and wasn’t killed
unnecessarily.

The problem lies in the limited nature of the agency’s options:
shoot the trespasser or hold off in the hope that he is unarmed and
can be captured alive. What the Secret Service needs is something
every law enforcement agency needs: weapons that can incapacitate
threatening suspects without inflicting deadly wounds.

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