LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Louisville division announced major changes in the agency's policy regarding officers use of force.
Officials said the policy hasn't been updated since 2004.
It only applies to Department of Justice (DOJ) agencies, so the FBI, Marshal Service, DEA and ATF agencies -- not the Louisville Metro Police Department.
Chief Division Counsel Tim Beam said the policy change comes after U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced last year the Justice Department would be updating its own "Use of Force" policy.
A few major changes in the updated policy, which went into effect last June, include:
- Deadly force is not allowed to be used to prevent a suspect from escaping.
- Deadly force cannot be used on suspects who are solely a danger to themselves.
- All officers will be required to take de-escalation, duty to intervene, and duty to render aide training.
"A study was done on what best practices were around the county on 'use of force' and this is really updating ours with those same ideas," Beam said.
While training for rendering aid and intervention was already being taught to agents, Beam said the change signifies that the DOJ is "aware of the perception of use of force situations."
"We feel this makes it very explicit within our policy," he said. "So, everyone, including the public, can understand what is required."
At the FBI's roundtable event on Tuesday, Beam also discussed a report that found 80% of bullets from law enforcement officers missed intended targets.
"No matter how much training we have, [use of force] scenarios are difficult," he said. "And that is something that, we're trying to train that number down."
He said because of the nature of use of force situations, they develop quickly and can be difficult to control.
"A great number of rounds might not be appropriate, but it may, depending on what the scenario is and how the subject reacted and number of shots on target and how the threat continued," Beam said, adding the public should consider the entire situation in each case. "Get the facts, get the totality."
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