Fatal Shooting of Pregnant Woman by Ohio Police Sparks Debate on Use-of-Force Policies with Moving Vehicles

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The release of body camera footage showing the lethal police shooting of 21-year-old Ta’Kiya Young, a pregnant woman in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, has ignited scrutiny over the series of events that escalated a shoplifting accusation into a fatal incident.

The prevailing uncertainty remains as to whether the Blendon Township Police Department has in place a use-of-force continuum policy, which would prescribe the specific steps that need to be followed before resorting to deadly force.

The footage from the shooting on August 24, which was made public on Friday, captures Young in her parked car as an officer instructs her to exit the vehicle. Despite a departmental guideline advising officers to evade approaching cars instead of discharging their weapons, a second officer is seen drawing his firearm and positioning himself in front of the vehicle.

“Will you shoot me?” Young inquires, moments before she steers her car in the direction of the second officer, who then discharges his weapon through her windshield. Subsequently, Young’s vehicle collides with the exterior wall of a nearby grocery store.

Legal representatives for the family of Young have described the footage as heart-wrenching and are demanding the termination and criminal prosecution of the officer who fired the fatal shot. The identities of the officers involved have not been disclosed by Blendon police officials.

Law Enforcement Guidelines on Moving Vehicles: An Overview

Among the pioneering agencies to prohibit officers from firing at or from moving vehicles was the New York City Police Department. This change in policy came in the wake of a 1972 incident that led to the death of a 10-year-old passenger in a stolen car, sparking widespread protests. Studies conducted in the late 1970s and early 1980s indicated that such use-of-force restrictions significantly reduced casualties among both bystanders and suspects involved in police shootings.

Leading industry groups like the Police Executive Research Forum and the International Association of Chiefs of Police have also advocated for these restrictions, emphasizing that firing under such conditions poses unacceptable risks to public safety.

The Blendon Township Police Department’s policy dictates that an officer should only discharge their firearm at a moving vehicle when there are no other reasonable alternatives to mitigate an immediate threat, or when faced with deadly force separate from the vehicle. Yet, as of June, only 32 of the 100 largest police departments in the U.S. have implemented any form of limitation on firing at moving vehicles, according to Campaign Zero, a group dedicated to ending police brutality.

Interpretation and Enforcement of Policies

John P. Gross, a legal scholar at the University of Wisconsin Law School who has examined the complexities of limiting police gunfire at moving vehicles, notes that specific department policies often incorporate exceptions, such as when a suspect is actively firing a weapon or using the car as a weapon. Gross suggests a more nuanced approach, urging that contextual factors—like the severity of the crime in question—should be considered.

The strength of police unions often results in lax enforcement of these policies, according to Gross. In the case of Blendon Township, union officials have asserted that Young’s vehicle became a weapon the moment it was mobilized.

Questions Around Tactical Decision-Making

Several departments explicitly instruct their officers to avoid placing themselves in the path of a moving vehicle. However, in Young’s case, footage shows an officer drawing his weapon and deliberately standing in front of her parked car, a maneuver that experts like Gross and use-of-force specialist Edward Obayashi deem as faulty tactics.

Gross also questions the necessity of drawing a firearm in a situation sparked by a shoplifting accusation, calling for revisions in police training protocols. “Training currently equates even verbal resistance with a potential physical threat, instilling a perception of ubiquitous danger,” he noted.

This tragic incident not only underscores the immediate need for a reevaluation of existing police guidelines but also calls into question the larger systemic issues that contribute to such fatal outcomes.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Fatal Police Shooting of Pregnant Ohio Woman

More about Fatal Police Shooting of Pregnant Ohio Woman

• Blendon Township Police Department Use-of-Force Policy
• Campaign Zero: Police Use-of-Force Statistics
• Police Executive Research Forum: Guidelines on Use-of-Force
• International Association of Chiefs of Police: Use-of-Force Recommendations
• John P. Gross Publications on Police Use-of-Force
• New York City Police Department Use-of-Force Policies
• University of Wisconsin Law School: Research on Police Use-of-Force
• Edward Obayashi: National Use-of-Force Expert Publications