So...it's okay to shoot me if I'm a criminal...if I run...if I look threatening?

First off, I'm not defending the people who looted their cities and towns as part of protests against police killings. I'm not defending the people who killed those two cops in New York (or anywhere else). I'm not defending criminal activity or suggesting that they get a free pass because they live in poverty...or are the "victims" of racism. I'm not minimizing the tough job that most cops have and the split second decisions that they have to make in the line of duty. And I'm not talking about incidents where the police shoot someone who is trying to kill them or an innocent bystander.

I'm talking about when police shoot unarmed people who may or may not have committed a crime.

In the aftermath of some recent police shootings apologists for the police have excused the shootings with variations of "he wouldn't have gotten shot if he had just done what the police said", or "don't break the law and you've got no problem" or "why was he running?". This suggests that it is open season on anyone who has a criminal background, that any infraction puts your life at risk and that disobeying a police officer is a capital crime.

In a few places that I checked, lethal force is justified if the officer is defending himself or a third party against lethal force. In other words, police are authorized to shoot to kill in order to defend against being killed or to protect another from being killed. In some jurisdictions, it is also acceptable to shoot someone to prevent their escape from custody when the officer reasonably believes that the person they are shooting at has committed or attempted to commit a felony involving the infliction or threatened infliction of serious physical injury. 

You can't shoot someone just because they are running away, you can't shoot someone just because they may have committed a crime, you can't shoot someone just because you might get beat up. In 1985 the Supreme Court ruled that a fleeing felon, unless there is a significant threat of death or serious injury, cannot be stopped with deadly force.

But the law puts a lot of weight behind a police officer's perception of the threat, rather than the actual threat. While this takes into account the split-second decisions that police have to make and gives them the benefit of the doubt, it's not very helpful to kids with toy guns, Walmart shoppers checking out firearms or anyone who makes a given cop nervous. This is why so few cops are indicted and even fewer are convicted: what is going on in their minds is more important legally than what is going on in the real world.

So, not only do we have to not be a criminal, not ever run away, not ever disobey a police officer, not look suspicious...but we have to completely avoid every cop's possible misperceptions as well. Because it doesn't matter if you're unarmed and innocent, if I cop says that he thought that you were armed and dangerous...you're dead.