Memphis Police Report and Procedures

    LT. JOHN A. COLEHA 
Range Officer

W/0 W. B. HART 
ASSISTANT RANGE OFFICER

PTLM. L. B. GOOCH 
, Departmental Amorer

W/0 R. P. FURR 
Research & Statistics



TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter

I.

II

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

Inspection of Service Revolver, Shotguns, and 
Leather Goods, Rules, Regulations, Policies, 
Procedures on all Weapons Purchase, Repairs, and 
Reporting Regarding Weapons Competitive Shooting

Firearms Safety 
Range Procedures 
Field Procedures 
Home Procedures

Knowledge of Guns and Ammunition
History
Nomenclature

Fundamentals of Single Action Marksmanship 
The Five Basics
Range Exercises (single action)

Liability and Tactics on Ethical use of Weapons 
Bullet Effectiveness and Potential on the Human Body 
Specific Tactics

Fundamentals of Double Action (combat) Marksmanship 
Courses of Fire and Standards of Qualification 
Basic Recruit 
In-Service 
Practical Courses

Care and Maintenance of Weapons 
Field Inspection Procedures for Handgun

Riot Shotgun
History and Explaination 
Method for visual check and operations check 
Proper method of Loading and unloading 
Shotgun Courses

13

n

34
40
41

47

52
53
56

57 
60

61

67
70

IX. Raids Against Barricaded Persons 
Planning
General and Specific Tactics

72

i.



TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter

X.

XI.

XII.

Sniper Incidents
Weapons and Tactics
Tactics and Protective Measures

Police Chemical Agents 
History, Types, Use 
First Aid

Additions and Deletions

88

102



c.

D.

All service revolvers obtained by officers of this department 

must be approved by the Firearms Section prior to being recorded as an 

approved service weapon, and only those revolvers so approved and 

properly recorded may be carried by officers while o^ or off duty. 

MEMPHIS POLICE DEPARTMENT SERVICE REVOLVERS - All officers who were 

issued MPD guns must carry them. No other gun will be approved for on 

duty use. Should this officer be promoted and desire to carry a

smaller gun. he must turn in his MPD revolver and comply with above 

regulations.

Authorization of any type magnum or automatic weapons as special 

service weapons by members of this department must be made by the 

Range Officer with the approval of the Chief of Police.

REPAIRS OF SERVICE REVOLVERS - When a question arises as to the condi- 

tion of a service revolver, or the necessity of having it repaired, 

the Firearms Section will be contacted where authorized personnel will

inspect the revolver and advise of its condition and any necessity 

for repair.

In cases where repairs are deemed necessary to service revolvers, 

it will be turned in to the Firearms Section for inspection and any 

necessary repairs will be made. A replacement gun will be issued for 

the period of the time required to make such repairs.

AMMUNITION - All officers will carry .38 special factory loaded 

ammunition as issued and approved by the Memphis Police Department. 

Reloaded or target ammunition will not be allowed except in target 

practice. No officer will carry any armunition which has been plated 

or altered, nor ammunition having metal cased bullets, nor any govern­

ment ball ammunition. Ammunition will be replaced during in-service 

firearms training.

3.



E. LEATHER GOODS

1. Belt

A wide substantial belt which is contained within the 
belt loops to insure the holster being held stationary, 
or a two belt arrangement in which the outer belt is 
secured firmly to the inner belt by keepers or other 
positive means which insures the holster being kept 
stationary in it's proper position.

2 . Holster

Open holsters equipped with a safety strap to contain the 
weapon. (No flap, crossdraw, shoulder, clamshell or trick 
operated holsters are permitted, both on or off duty).

3. Bullet loop

The type which fits the belt and is worn on the holster 
side to contain six (6 ) or twelve (1 2 ) rounds (no pouches, 
mechanical devices, strippers or plastic loaders are 
permitted),

4. Handcuff cases

One which is worn on the belt, contains the handcuffs 
which must be secured and are easily accessible.

Any officers employed prior to 1961 may carry their service

gtm as per prior policy.

F. USE OF FIREARMS (Order G-72-6^

1. P U RPOSE - The purpose of this departmental order is to define 
the circumstances under which deadly force and non-deadly

prevent an offense from being committed 
nd to effect an arrest. As used in this order, DEADLY FORCE 

means force calculated to cause serious physical injury or

tA. f o r c f
ing the use of the night stick and chemical mace or similar 
w c c ip o n s  •

2 . PRC p E D U p  - The discharge of any firearm by police personnel
accidental or intentiona] will be reported by letter to the 
commanding officer as soon as possible after such discharge 
whether it be on duty or off duty. A copy of this letter^ 
=taff Chief of Police, Chief of Field and
R a n g e . I n t e r n a l  Affairs Bureau, and the Firing

an injury or death, the officer inyolyed will 
fy his commanding officer immediately. It shall be the 

responsibility of the commanding officer to notify immediately 
the Homicide Bureau and the Internal Affairs Bureau. The ^ 
commanding officer shall secure the scene.

4.



The officer involved will report to the Police Range within 
three days, unless health prevents it, for the purpose of 
being interviewed as to the circumstances ol the discharge.
This policy ap[>l ics only to the discharge of i irearms covered 
by this order.

3 . NQK-DEADLY FORCE - An officei' may use non-deadly force which 
is reasonably necessary to effect an arrest or prevent or 
attempting to prevent the (..scape from custody of a person whom 
he reasonably believes to have committed an offense; reasonable 
force mpiy be used to the extent that the officer reasonably 
believes such to be necessary to defend himself or a third 
person from what he reasonably believes to be the use or 
imminent use by the suspect of non-deadly physical force.

4 . DEADLY FORCE - Deadly force may be used when after an officer 
has exhausted all other reasonable means to apprehend or 
otherwise prevent the commission of an offense and:

A. 1) It is in defense of himself from death or serious bodily
injury when attacked or,

2 ) It is in the defense of another person from death or 
serious bodily injury when attacked, or,

3 ) There is a substantial risk that the person whose arrest 
is sought will cause death or serious bodily harm if his 
apprehension is delayed.

B. The offense committed or being committed by the suspect is:

1) A felony or an attempt to commit a felony involving the 
use or attempted use or threatened imminent use of physi­
cal force against any person or,

, 2 ) Kidnapping, murder in the first or second degree,
* voluntary manslaughter, arson, arson involving the use

of firebombs, rape, assault and battery with intent to 
carnally know a child under twelve years of age, assault 
and battery with intent to commit rape, burglary in the 
first, second or third c^egree, grand larceny, assault to 
commit murder in the first or second degree, assault to 
commit voluntary manslaughter, armed robbery, robbery, or 
any attempt to commit such crimes.

C. The offense committed or attempted by the suspect is a felony 
and in the course of resisting arrest or attempting to escape 
from custody the person is armed with a firearm or other deadly 
weapon or the officer reasonably believes the suspect to be 
armed with a firearm or other deadly weapon.

5 . FIREARMS SHALL NOT BE DISCHARGED

A. As warning shots; or

B. From a moving vehicle or to stop a fleeing vehicle except as 
provided for in Paragraph 4 . ; or

C. The officer does not have a clear field of fire and cannot be 
reasonably certain that the suspect will be hit and the poten­
tial for harm to innocent bystanders or their property is great.

5.



offei^Ier ^"y person for any misdemeanor

B. To effect an arrest of any person for escape from the 
commassion of any misdemeanor offense.

G. THE POLICE SHOTGUN

1. The regulation police shotgun for the Memphis Police 
Department is the Remington, model 8 7 0, 12 gauge, pumn 
bv weapon is owned and issued
u L d  L  ^  shoulder weapon may be
and . ̂ ;>°se owned by the department
and designated for special details or anti-sniper work.

employed by this department 
r •5° Pi’oficient with the police shotgun in 
to Its use, care, cleaning, loading and un-

t L g h t ^ b v ' ' t h r F / " ® ’̂®''^c°" mechanical operation as
taught by the Firearms Section, Police Training Academy.

shotguns and shells will be made 
sJ b i l l t f o f  supervisors. It is the r e s p L -  ®
fhnf ^  the officers using these weapons to insure
in ioiri^w cleaned as the condition warrants it and
c h e S  d a n v  through a visual and operations
check daily. Should any question arise as to the orooer 
condition or mechanical function of any shotgun or Shells 
t (they) will be taken to the Firing Ranir̂ a fr>»v • *

replacement or repairs. inspection,

Periodically each gun will be rall<»H -iw  ̂ *.u

b u c \ 1 h o t 's h :J n " i e ? l ! L l ?  P - s o n u t / ^ ^ f o r

“ c o n ” o r b u o k s h o t ®

- - o r L ^ f i o r T p i c i ^ ?

I. POLICE RIFLES

Policies and Procedures governing the use of police rifle®
.ro v e  G ! r  “  p o l ie 'f  s h o t S ; "

following circurn-

H.

6.



CHAPTER V

LIABILITY AND TACTICS ON ETHICAL USE OF WEAPONS 

THE COMMON LAW

1. Defense of life both in the protection of the citizen and in the 

protection of the individual officer, keeping in mind that only 

the amount of force tliat is reasonably required may be used.

(Cited case —  McAndrew vs Mularchek 1959, 56NJ) v;herein the 

Supreme Court of New Jersey used strong language in attaching 

blame to the city when a Reserve Patrolman, appointed by the 

Borough of Keansburg, New Jersey had knowledge of this officer 

working at a local club where he was involved in an incident 

where he fired at the plaintiff after the plaintiff became in­

volved in an argument with him. The Supreme Court commented 

that "if Mularchek reasonably believed that he was in danger 

of bodily harm and reasonably believed that it was necessary 

in order to avert that harm to fire a warning shot (as dis­

tinguished from a shot to injure) in the direction of McAndrew 

and did not intend that the bullet should strike him, but it 

did strike him because of Mularchuk's lack of skill or training 

in handling the gun, a jury v/ould be justified in finding lia­

bility on the part of the borough.

2. In the prevention of flight of fleeing felon a strong ethical 

reaction will follov; if deadly force is indiscriminately em­

ployed. This law is greatly modified in the various states but

in the state of Tennessee it has been held that deadly force may

34.



be used only as a last resort after all other means of apprehen­

sion have failed, keeping in mind that the safety of innocent 

persons must alv/ays be a prime factor in the judgement of whetlier 

to use or not to use this deadly force. Generally this is con­

strued to mean that the action taken by a police officer using 

split second judgement must later hold to a "reasr'r.able person" 

justifible action on the part of a policeman. The safety factors 

and hazards i’S involved in usingdtjsdly force must be seriously 

considered, taking into account the chance of success as well as 

background and surrounding features before it may be employed.

Governmental agencies have been held immune to the criminal 

action and to criminal law suits in some states; hov;ever statutes 

have been enacted waiving sud; immunity. In other instances where 

a statute mentions only the state itself, there still remains the 

question of whether it includes and applies to municipalities.

All indications are that governmental tort immunity is on the 

way out as part of the American legal system and many municipali­

ties have recognized this fact and some have even gone to tiie 

extent of aquiring liability insurance. (Steinhardt vs the Town 

of Northbay Village, Florida 1961, 132 So 2d 764)

The actions of individuals whether acting as an agent or not 

of a police agency have been held subject to individual criminal 

prosecution as well as, subject to individual civil law suits.

A California case (Murphy vs Murray 1925, 74 Cal. APP-726,241 

P 938) attempts to define what constitutes legal conduct of an 

officer making an arrest. The officers were informed that a

35.



citizens home had just been robbed. While on the scene investi­

gating, the policeman v/as told by a neighbor that tv/o men were 

running from the rear of the house. The officer started in 

pursuit, told them he was an officer and ordered them to stop.

They continued to run and he fired three shots in the air. One 

of the men stopped, the other continued to run into a v/ooded 

area. The officer called into the grove of trees for the nan to 

come out, when he did not, the officer fired into the grove to 

"intimidate the fellow and make him come out". On proceeding into 

the v/ooded area, they found the man was mortally wounded. It 

turned out that the night was holloween and the two men v;ere boys 

16 years of age who had just engaged in a prank. A suit for 

wrongful death against the police officer and the chief of police 

resulted in a verdict for damages against the officer but not the 

chief.

B. The general direction of current law in various jurisdictions closely

follows ethical (cultural) expectations.

1. Governmental agencies are held liable for negligent actions of 

their agents and also held negligent in failing to properly equip 

and train their agents. However, individuals are still held 

liable for his actions both criminally and civially. The basis 

of this statement is made by the case wherein a police officer 

was off duty, dressed in civilian clothes in his apartment, re­

moved his revolver from the holster preparatory to using the 

bathroom. At the time, he wore an off duty holster attached to 

left side of a belt which supported his trousers. He took the 

loaded gun from his holster with his right hand with the intention

36.



of placing it on a water tank. When it was a foot or so away 

from his body, it discharged, the bullet going through a 6 1/2"

wall and struck a small child who was in a bathtub in an adjoining

apartment. The injury proved to be very serious and permanent 

with the result that when the case was tried before a jury, a 

verdict of $130,000. was returned on behalf of thp child and a 

further one of $45,000. in favor of the parents. The verdicts 

were against both the City of Newark, New Jersey and Patrolman

Thomas. (Peer vs the City of Newark, November 1961, 71 NJ

Super 12,176 A 2d 249). In this case, two firearms experts were 

called upon by the Plaintiff and it was found that the officer 

v/as subjected to an inadequate training program which although 

were conducted along FBI guidelines did not comprenhensively 

deal with off-duty training or an adequate amount of retraining.

2. Firearms instructors and the courses which are taught by them as 

well as training methods used are increasingly called to account 

by the courts.

3. A liability formula - WR+HR=LLP

WR = v;eapon reliability which considers the original condition, 

the care and maintenance it it receives and the general techni­

cal qualities of the gun (for instance, caliber of gun vs use 

of its subjection. Therefore the current 38 special caliber 

and shotgun ammunition issued by the department for general duty 

use is adequate for the metropolitan area)

HR = human reliability which involves the maturity and emotional 

stability of the individual officer coupled with the amount and

37,



and quality of training he receives. Note: While training

cannot develop guaranteed maturity, it will lessen tne probabi- 

lity of poor judgement being excerised.

LLP = Legal liability potential. Considering recent court 

decisions, they have increased both in the amounts awarded and

in the scope of liability to both the individual and the government 

agency.

C. POLICE TACTICS IN THE USE OF FIREARMS

1. Tactics may be defined as an art of maneuver, performed for the 

purpose of bringing a combat situation to a successful conclusion,

a. Police combat tactics must be employed within the framework

of law and the lawful use of force.

2. Factors influencing the type of tactics.

a. Public opinion.

b. Departmental policy.

c. Moral responsibility.

d. Legal duty.

3. Police offiers must be thoroughly trained in their jurisdiction 

laws and in the use of their equipment.

a. Type of action taken will vary with each situation, however, 

certain basic principles are common to many cases.

4. Weapon should always be readily accessible, 

a. Worn at the same body oosition.

(1) Behind belt loop on strong side.

(2) Firearms training teaches and instills instinctively 
where the officer should reach for his weapon.

38.



K. RANGE EXERCISES - 25 YARD DOUBLE ACTION COURSE

7 yds ■- crouch 12 rds 35 sec. (R

15 yds •- P.S. 6 rds 12 sec.

25 yds •- kneeling 6 rds

weak hand 6 rds 90 sec.

strong hand 6 rds

stand no
support 6 rds 12 sec.

prone 6 rds

v;eak hand 6 rds 90 sec.

strong hand 6 rds

Possible of 300

This is the course that will be used for in-service qualification, minimum 
qualification 210.

Any officer who fails to meet this minimum is required to report back to 
the range within thirty (30) days for a second attempt. If he fails his 
second attempt, he shall not be allowed to carry a firearm until he meets 
this standard. The initial re-qualification shall be conducted and compen- 
sation given to the officer. Any subsequent attempts shall be on the 
Officer s time and will not be compensated. Every officer must undergo 
this requalification once each fiscal year.

A certificate of proficiency will be issued to each officer who successfully 
fires the scores as reflected.

210 - 255 MARKSMAN

256 - 279 SHARPSHOOTER

280 - 291 EXPERT

* 292 - 300 DISTINGUISHED EXPERT

53.



PRACTICAL COURSES

A. MULTIPLE BANK & RUNNING MAN COURSE

1. Multiple Bank (5 Electrical Targets) (Reload from Loops)

7 yds 10 shots 5 shots in 7 sec. Hip D.A.

15 yds 10 shots 5 shots in 7 sec. Point S. D.A.

25 yds 5 shots 5 shots in 10 sec. Stand no 
support D.A.

25 rds. 4 pts. ea. hit 

Possible of 100

B. RUNNING MAN TARGET

15 yds 1 run Point S. D.A.

6 shots - 3 across and 3 back

C. NIGHT FIRING COURSE

7 yds 6 rds,

4

5

15 yds 6

4

1 shot on ea. blink hip (Reholster ea.
time)

4 on 1 blink 

Dark

2 shot on ea. blink Point S. (Reholster) 

Dark

56.