Potential suicide bombers take note; rouse the suspicion of a Capitol Hill police officer and you may end up with a large and fatal hole on your head.
According to a policy adopted in February 2004, members of the Capitol Hill police force are instructed to act immediately if they spot an individual displaying the profile of a suicide bomber, which means they are to shoot to kill if they see no other alternative.
Hill Police Chief Terrence Gainer explained to the Hill newspaper Roll Call that his officers are trained to recognize the usual traits and characteristics of suicide bombers.
Once a potential suicide bomber is identified, he said, they must sound the alarm, protect the public and gain control of the individual, all while assessing the threat level. If need be, they are to use deadly force.
That doesn't mean that Hill cops are expected to be trigger happy, Gainer emphasized, saying that "people should not be misled that when an officer comes across a person who is a suicide bomber that the officer is just going to immediately shoot them in the head. When it comes to the use of deadly force, officers make those decisions based on the totality of the circumstances and based on their training.�
There is a deadly rationale for head shots in dealing with suicide bombers. While in most hostile encounters law enforcement officers are instructed to aim for the center body mass of a suspect, using that tactic would be inappropriate against suicide bombers because a shot to the chest may inadvertently set off the explosive or could only wound a bomber and allow the suspect time to set off a device. Thus officers are taught to aim for the head.
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