LAPD Car Shootings & ICE Enforcement Concerns
- Two recent shootings by federal immigration agents have renewed scrutiny of a tactic - firing on moving vehicles - that many law enforcement agencies have abandoned due to...
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and wounded a man and woman in a Portland, Ore., medical clinic parking lot, sparking protests and calls for ICE to halt...
- A controversial killing Wednesday in Minneapolis also involved an ICE agent shooting at a car.
Two recent shootings by federal immigration agents have renewed scrutiny of a tactic – firing on moving vehicles – that many law enforcement agencies have abandoned due to its inherent dangers and potential for deadly outcomes.
On Thursday, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and wounded a man and woman in a Portland, Ore., medical clinic parking lot, sparking protests and calls for ICE to halt operations in the city pending a full inquiry.
A controversial killing Wednesday in Minneapolis also involved an ICE agent shooting at a car. Video footage showed the agent firing at 37-year-old Renee Nicole Macklin Good after she attempted to prevent her from driving away in her SUV. Good had reportedly been filming ICE’s activities in the city.
Trump governance officials claim the officers in both shootings acted in self-defense, fearing the vehicles were being used as weapons. The FBI is investigating both incidents, and prosecutors have stated they will defer decisions until the investigations are complete.
Despite a common portrayal in media, police shootings at vehicles are not commonplace. Many agencies now discourage the use of deadly force against motorists unless life or safety is promptly threatened.
The LAPD adopted similar guidelines roughly 20 years ago, following a controversial shooting of a teenage boy in a stolen vehicle. Department policy now directs officers to avoid being in the path of an oncoming vehicle “unless a person in the vehicle is immediately threatening the officer or another person with deadly force by means other than the vehicle.”
Experts in policing say shooting at a moving car is one of the most hazardous and unpredictable situations an officer can face, with the meaningful risk that a wounded driver will lose control of the vehicle. The New York city Police Department was an early adopter of restrictions, following a 1972 shooting that killed a 10-year-old passenger and ignited protests. Dozens of other departments have since followed suit.