Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Reno Issues Deadly Force Restrictions New Rules, Prompted By The Shooting At Ruby Ridge, Directs Agents To Use Non-Lethal Means Whenever Possible

David Johnston New York Times

Prompted by the shootings three years ago at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, Attorney General Janet Reno on Tuesday signed an order tightening the rules on the use of deadly force by agents at nine federal law-enforcement agencies, government officials said.

Under current guidelines, agents may use deadly force to protect their lives or the life of another person who they believe to be in imminent danger. The new rule explicitly directs agents to use non-lethal means whenever possible.

The new policy also clarifies some of the instances in which lethal force may be used. For example, agents could use deadly force if they believed a fleeing suspect had committed a felony involving serious physical injury or death. Agents could also use lethal force against an escaping prisoner who was being held in or sentenced to a high-security prison.

Citing the dangers posed by stray bullets, the new policy also forbids warning shots and shooting to try to disable a moving vehicle, and it discourages shooting only to wound a person. It expressly permits the shooting of vicious dogs and other animals.

The change will be announced today by Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick, in testimony to a Senate panel investigating the 1992 standoff between white separatist Randy Weaver, and an elite FBI unit. During the siege, an FBI sniper shot and killed Weaver’s wife, Vicki, which prompted a lengthy review of issues related to the use of lethal force and led to the new policy.

The sniper’s shot, through a partially open cabin door, struck Weaver as she was holding her infant daughter. Her death came a day after U.S. Marshal William Degan and Weaver’s son, Samuel, were killed in a shootout that had led federal authorities to dispatch the FBI unit.

Although some FBI and Justice Department officials disagreed on the propriety of the sniper’s action, FBI Director Louis Freeh decided that the shooting did not warrant disciplinary action and the sniper has not been charged by federal prosecutors.

At the Treasury Department, the new policy will apply to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Secret Service and the Customs Service. At the Justice Department, it will apply to the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Marshals Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Bureau of Prisons and the Inspector General.

The policy represents the first time that two Cabinet agencies have adopted a joint policy on when their agents may fire a weapon at another person. And although the changes may seem relatively modest, and are in fact in keeping with Supreme Court decisions on the use of lethal force, the language has been the subject of months of debate.

Until now, each of the enforcement agencies had their own policies, though most of the policies were similar guidelines.

But some did use language that appeared to allow to use force any time that agents believed it was necessary protect their lives or the life of another person, whether or not the danger might have been imminent.