Miami police tighten rules on when to shoot

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Miami police tighten rules on when to shootBy Diana Marrero Miami Bureau Posted March 6 2002 An unarmed teen's death at the hands of Miami police has spurred significant changes within the department as police officials grapple with mounting community pressure to curtail police shootings.Since Nicholas Singleton's death last April, the department has toughened guidelines on when officers are allowed to use deadly force. His case also highlighted serious problems with the Glock pistol preferred by the department. Before the policy change in October, Miami police officers were allowed to shoot at fleeing felons if they thought they would pose a danger to the community. Now officers are only allowed to shoot at suspects who are armed and pose a "serious imminent danger" to the officer or another person, said Deputy Chief Bobby Cheatham.Though the Miami-Dade County Police Department has long had a similar policy, state law allows officers to shoot fleeing felons if they have committed a violent crime."We felt this is one of the best ways to prevent these types of shootings," Cheatham said, referring to the Singleton case. "It also helps keep officers from getting into a position where they have to go through all of these investigations and criticism from the community."The problems with the Glock came to light when investigators could not determine which officer's bullet actually struck Singleton in the back of the head.Singleton was fleeing police in a stolen Jeep the night he died during a chaotic scene in Overtown. There was no way to know who killed him because the bullets fired by Glocks tend to not leave much of a signature, or markings created when a bullet squeezes through a gun barrel.The Singleton shooting was not the first time the Police Department learned of problems with the Glocks. A series of similar shootings in the '90s had led Miami police officials to ask Glock to modify the pistol barrel by adding grooves that would make each gun unique and traceable, said Assistant Chief Noel Rojas.Though the changes were made, the grooves eventually wore away. Ten new barrels are currently being tested for durability at a police firing range.Originally designed for the Austrian army, the Glock became popular with U.S. police departments in the '80s because of its ability to shoot 18 rounds without reloading, unlike traditional six-shot revolvers. But the weapons soon came under fire when a rash of accidental police shootings showed the hypersensitivity of the weapon's trigger.During a judicial inquest examining the Singleton shooting last week, his sister said she was shocked to learn the bullet that struck her brother could not be traced."A gun that fires a bullet that can rarely, if ever, be matched to the gun is more suited for a terrorist or an assassin than for police officers," Tiffany Singleton said.Diana Marrero can be reached at dmarrero@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4523. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/miami/sfl-dchanges06mar06.story?coll=sfla-news-miami