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July 2020 Lexipol expanded the duty to intercede to situations where a law enforcement officer <br />observes unreasonable force by any other law enforcement officer, within or outside the agency, <br />as well as by members of the agency. This language goes beyond current case law requirements <br />while taking into account the realities of policing. Lexipol policy also requires any member who <br />witnesses an unreasonable use of force, regardless of whether an intercession occurred, "to <br />promptly report these observations to a supervisor." Lexipol also added a section to advise <br />officers that other officers may have additional information and different perspectives of the <br />ongoing situation, and to consider these possibilities when deciding whether to intervene. <br />Shooting at Moving Vehicles <br />Shooting at moving vehicles, whether in an attempt to disable the vehicle or neutralize the driver, <br />is often ineffective and dangerous. It typically does not stop the vehicle, fails to mitigate the <br />threat to the officer, jeopardizes uninvolved people, and injures or kills occupants. Lexipol policy <br />acknowledges the ineffectiveness and danger of this tactic, guiding officers to "move out of the <br />path of an approaching vehicle instead of discharging their firearm at the vehicle or any of its <br />occupants" and prohibiting discharging their weapon unless "the officer reasonably believes there <br />are no other reasonable means available to avert the threat of the vehicle." This guidance has <br />been in Lexipol policy for over a decade. <br />Recently, police reformers have initiated a movement to ban police from shooting at moving <br />vehicles altogether. This position does not align with Supreme Court case law as well as <br />numerous cases in federal circuits that found shooting at vehicles is reasonable under certain <br />circumstances where an individual or the vehicle itself was posing a deadly threat to the officer. <br />Further, the position is not practical. There may be occasions where officers must shoot at <br />a moving vehicle to stop the infliction of death or serious injury (e.g., vehicle attacks against <br />crowds). Given that shooting at moving vehicles involves several real-time considerations (e.g., <br />what precipitates the need for deadly force, the potential for striking someone or something <br />beyond the target), it is prudent for agencies to address this issue through robust training in <br />accordance with policy. <br />Use of Force Continuum <br />The concept of a use of force continuum is not new to the law enforcement profession. Recently, <br />several groups have advocated law enforcement agencies adopt a use of force continuum as a <br />means of addressing concerns of excessive force and to reduce the types of force used by law <br />enforcement professionals. Proponents of a use of force continuum assert it "restricts the most <br />severe types of force to the most extreme situations and creates clear policy restrictions on the <br />use of each police weapon and tactic." <br />As numerous legal and police professionals have noted, however, use of force continuums <br />are difficult to apply because they cannot encompass all the variables present in use of force <br />