# Can police officers invoke Stand Your Ground laws? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 16, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372 "2013-10-16T03:27:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372/1 "2013-10-16T03:27:49Z")
Last month I started an [MPSIMS thread about an officer shooting an unarmed man in North Carolina](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=702398). Officer Randall Kerrick was quickly charged with manslaughter in Jonathon Ferrell’s death. Details of the case (as much as we know right now, anyway) can be found in that thread; I’ll offer a quick recap here: Ferrell was driving alone late at night when he ran his car off the road and into an embankment. He freed himself from the wreckage and approached a nearby house. He pounded on the door, waking the homeowner who happened to be a mother with a baby. She thought it was her husband, so she opened the door, only to see a stranger on her doorstep. She slammed the door and made a panicked 911 call. Three officers responded. Mr. Farrell was located nearby and while approaching the officers, Officer Kerrick fired 12 shots at Mr. Farrell, striking him 10 times and killing him. [You can listen to the 911 call here](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/18/jonathan-ferrell-911-call_n_3950502.html). Ok, so now some people are saying that Officer Kerrick should not even be charged, since he should be covered under North Carolina’s SYG laws.[ > [@](#): > > “Kerrick is entitled to the same protection under the law that a civilian would get. That means he can defend himself by using North Carolina’s 2011 stand-your-ground law,” wrote Doug Clark, an editorial writer for Greensboro’s News & Record newspaper. > > The state’s law says, “a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat in any place he or she has the lawful right to be.” ]([http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/guns/randall-kerrick-cop-who-killed-unarmed-jonathan-ferrell-may-be-covered-stand-your](http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/guns/randall-kerrick-cop-who-killed-unarmed-jonathan-ferrell-may-be-covered-stand-your)) [Here is North Carolina’s SYG laws](http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2011/Bills/House/PDF/H650v5.pdf). Can police officers invoke SYG laws in their defense? Should they be able to? Or are SYG laws clearly intended for civilians only? Does the language in SYG laws reflect your conclusions, and if not, how should they be re-written to accurately reflect what you see as their intent? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372/2 "2013-10-16T03:32:13Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Can police officers invoke SYG laws in their defense? Should they be able to? Or are SYG laws clearly intended for civilians only? Does the language in SYG laws reflect your conclusions, and if not, how should they be re-written to accurately reflect what you see as their intent? I don’t know how the courts will rule, but it seems to me that SYG laws are definitely NOT written for the police, but rather for civilians. I think that most of them (well, all of the ones I have personally looked up) are poorly written and don’t make that point explicitly clear. I’d like to see them re-written to clarify the circumstances under which force, especially deadly force, can be used so that a person’s fear has to be justified with some qualifier, i.e. the fear should be supported by reasonable facts and a reasonable interpretation of them, lest we allow any fearful person, or person claiming fear, to simply kill whoever they want to kill. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372/3 "2013-10-16T03:51:36Z")
I don’t see how it wouldn’t apply to police officers. All it says is “a person.” A police officer is pretty obviously a person. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372/4 "2013-10-16T03:56:12Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > I don’t see how it wouldn’t apply to police officers. All it says is “a person.” A police officer is pretty obviously a person. Well, no. Not so obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372/5 "2013-10-16T14:15:26Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I don’t know how the courts will rule, but it seems to me that SYG laws are definitely NOT written for the police, but rather for civilians. I think that most of them (well, all of the ones I have personally looked up) are poorly written and don’t make that point explicitly clear. I’d like to see them re-written to clarify the circumstances under which force, especially deadly force, can be used so that a person’s fear has to be justified with some qualifier, i.e. the fear should be supported by reasonable facts and a reasonable interpretation of them, lest we allow any fearful person, or person claiming fear, to simply kill whoever they want to kill. That is how they are written, the fear or belief must be reasonable. Michigan: > [@](#): > > (1) An individual who has not or is not engaged in the commission of a crime at the time he or she uses deadly force may use deadly force against another individual anywhere he or she has the legal right to be with no duty to retreat if either of the following applies: > > (a) The individual honestly and **reasonably** believes that the use of deadly force is necessary to prevent the imminent death of or imminent great bodily harm to himself or herself or to another individual. Kentucky: > [@](#): > > A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force, if he or she **reasonably** believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a felony involving the use of force. Arizona: > [@](#): > > A person is justified in threatening or using both physical force and deadly physical force against another if and to the extent the person **reasonably** believes that physical force or deadly physical force is immediately necessary to prevent the other’s commission of…[various crimes] And, North Carolina: > [@](#): > > (a) A person is justified in using force, except deadly force, against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that the conduct is necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the other’s imminent use of unlawful force. However, a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat in any place he or she has the lawful right to be if either of the following applies: > > (1) He or she **reasonably** believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another. > > (2) Under the circumstances permitted pursuant to G.S. 14-51.2. Bolding mine. > [@Snowboarder Bo](#): > > Can police officers invoke SYG laws in their defense? As far as I can tell. > [@Snowboarder Bo](#): > > Should they be able to? I don’t see why not, a police officer has just as much right to defend himself as a civilian does. > [@Snowboarder Bo](#): > > Or are SYG laws clearly intended for civilians only? If if were clear, the law would indicate. Plenty of states, if not all, have laws barring the use of force against police officers, like this from from North Carolina: > [@](#): > > (b) A person who uses force as permitted by this section is justified in using such force and is immune from civil or criminal liability for the use of such force, unless the person against whom force was used is a law enforcement officer or bail bondsman who was lawfully acting in the performance of his or her official duties and the officer or bail bondsman identified himself or herself in accordance with any applicable law or the person using force knew or reasonably should have known that the person was a law enforcement officer or bail bondsman in the lawful performance of his or her official duties. So, the intersection of self-defense and law enforcement was obviously contemplated. If the intent was to have different rules for police officers, the law would create different rules for police officers. > [@Snowboarder Bo](#): > > Does the language in SYG laws reflect your conclusions, and if not, how should they be re-written to accurately reflect what you see as their intent? Yes, it does. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372/6 "2013-10-16T14:49:30Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Can police officers invoke SYG laws in their defense? Should they be able to? Or are SYG laws clearly intended for civilians only? Does the language in SYG laws reflect your conclusions, and if not, how should they be re-written to accurately reflect what you see as their intent? Police do not assert SYG as a defense, they always have the right to retreat to minimize harm to them, but that is a personal decision. They have authority and absolute power from the state to use that force which is necessary to effect an arrest. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372/7 "2013-10-16T14:54:52Z")
Well a corpse rarely resists being cuffed. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372/8 "2013-10-16T14:58:44Z")
Right, cops have no duty to retreat when faced with a threat. (Nor are they obliged to place themselves in greater danger.) That would be pretty dumb. It may be the smart thing to do, depending on the circumstances, but its certainly not required. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372/9 "2013-10-16T15:07:34Z")
> [@lawbuff](#): > > Police do not assert SYG as a defense, they always have the right to retreat to minimize harm to them, but that is a personal decision. > > They have authority and absolute power from the state to use that force which is necessary to effect an arrest. In this case, it is being discussed as a possible defense in the killing of Mr. Farrel by Officer Kerrick, tho. I’m not aware of any effort to arrest Mr. Farrell, nor am I aware of any claim, other than by the cartoonishly-panicked 911 caller, of any possible crime that Mr. Farrell is suspected of committing. And even the evidence doesn’t support the caller’s claim that Mr. Farrell was trying to enter her house illegally. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372/10 "2013-10-16T15:10:48Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > In this case, it is being discussed as a possible defense in the killing of Mr. Farrel by Officer Kerrick, tho. I’m not aware of any effort to arrest Mr. Farrell, nor am I aware of any claim, other than by the cartoonishly-panicked 911 caller, of any possible crime that Mr. Farrell is suspected of committing. And even the evidence doesn’t support the caller’s claim that Mr. Farrell was trying to enter her house illegally. An officer killing a person is subject to Constitutional scrutiny, the specific facts are cruial in ascertaining any liability. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372/11 "2013-10-16T17:09:37Z")
> [@lawbuff](#): > > An officer killing a person is subject to Constitutional scrutiny, the specific facts are cruial in ascertaining any liability. I’m not sure what you mean by “Constitutional scrutiny” but in practice it’s extremely rare that officers are convicted of a crime or found to have any civil liability for on-the-job shootings. And to the OP, LEOs have no more duty to retreat than any other citizen when facing a threat. In other words, SYG applies to them too. Whether their fear was _reasonable_ or not is the sort of grist that our judicial process deals with, but in past cases, LEOs have been given pretty broad deference when it comes to their perceptions of threats (too broad, imho). Also, many SYG laws have special exceptions designed to protect LEOs from citizens who might be inclined to SYG against _them_. It usually says something along the lines of ‘Joe Citizen has no duty to retreat and can stand his ground unless the person who he uses force against is an on-duty / uniformed LEO.’ ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372/12 "2013-10-16T18:02:59Z")
Thanks for the replies. I guess what I’m having trouble with is the notion that these laws would apply to the police since I never knew that the police would ever have NOT been justified in using reasonable force (including deadly force when necessary) to prevent crimes. I thought the whole purpose of SYG laws was to clarify that ordinary citizens have a right to defend themselves and others (and/or their property in the form of so-called Castle Doctrine laws). Is my perception there incorrect? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372/13 "2013-10-16T18:52:22Z")
Just doing a quick read of the law, it seems to say that someone may stand their ground if they are located in their home, a motor vehicle, or their workplace. A workplace is defined as a place with a roof on it where someone works. I’m not understanding how the police officer can claim he is covered by this law when the news clip seems to indicate that the officer was standing on a road when the shooting occurred. (I’m not even getting into the question of whether someone running up to (or at?) the police is presumed to be an aggressor. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372/14 "2013-10-16T19:10:17Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Just doing a quick read of the law, it seems to say that someone may stand their ground if they are located in their home, a motor vehicle, or their workplace. A workplace is defined as a place with a roof on it where someone works. > > I’m not understanding how the police officer can claim he is covered by this law when the news clip seems to indicate that the officer was standing on a road when the shooting occurred. (I’m not even getting into the question of whether someone running up to (or at?) the police is presumed to be an aggressor. The link in the OP is a bit hard to read, since it’s the actual bill and contains all sorts of strikethroughs and such. [Here is a direct](http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_14/GS_14-51.3.html) link to the relevant law in North Carolina: > [@](#): > > § 14-51.3. Use of force in defense of person; relief from criminal or civil liability. > > (a) A person is justified in using force, except deadly force, against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that the conduct is necessary to defend himself or herself or another against the other’s imminent use of unlawful force. However, a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat in any place he or she has the lawful right to be if either of the following applies: > > (1) He or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another. > > (2) Under the circumstances permitted pursuant to G.S. 14-51.2. > > (b) A person who uses force as permitted by this section is justified in using such force and is immune from civil or criminal liability for the use of such force, unless the person against whom force was used is a law enforcement officer or bail bondsman who was lawfully acting in the performance of his or her official duties and the officer or bail bondsman identified himself or herself in accordance with any applicable law or the person using force knew or reasonably should have known that the person was a law enforcement officer or bail bondsman in the lawful performance of his or her official duties. (2011-268, s. 1.) Calling it “Stand Your Ground” is a reference to the “does not have a duty to retreat” portion; SYG laws remove a duty to retreat if possible before using force, though, based on other replies, it seems that police officers didn’t have that duty anyway. You seem to be referring to [GS 14-51.2](http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_14/GS_14-51.2.html): > [@](#): > > The lawful occupant of a home, motor vehicle, or workplace is presumed to have held a reasonable fear of imminent death or serious bodily harm to himself or herself or another when using defensive force that is intended or likely to cause death or serious bodily harm to another if both of the following apply: This is the “Castle Doctrine”, unrelated to Stand Your Ground, which states that an intruder being in one’s home, vehicle, or workplace automatically constitutes reasonable fear for the purposes of self-defense, regardless of the exact conduct of the intruder. That is, if someone breaks into your house, you can legally use deadly force even if they surrender, have their hands full with your TV, or try to flee. Outside the home, you could not, you’d have to have a reasonable belief that deadly force was necessary to prevent immenient death or serious injury or you’d be guilty of a crime. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372/15 "2013-10-16T19:35:19Z")
Ah – it sure seemed that I was missing something. Thanks for clarifying. ---
**Author:** ![lawbuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@lawbuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawbuff)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372/16 "2013-10-17T15:03:37Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I’m not sure what you mean by “Constitutional scrutiny” but in practice it’s extremely rare that officers are convicted of a crime or found to have any civil liability for on-the-job shootings. Killing a person by a police officer is a SEIZURE and must be reasonable, cf. Tennessee v. Garner. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372/17 "2013-10-18T08:00:01Z")
> [@lawbuff](#): > > Killing a person by a police officer is a SEIZURE and must be reasonable, cf. Tennessee v. Garner. What you seem to be saying is that SYG laws cannot be invoked by LEO since they are already held to a higher standard than ordinary citizens. Do I understand you correctly? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372/18 "2013-10-18T08:59:56Z")
What exactly do you mean by “invoke Stand Your Ground laws”? I think there’s confusion because “Stand Your Ground” seems to get applied to different laws. In one sense it means having no duty to retreat if you’re in a place where you’re allowed to be, but it also seems to be used to refer to laws that allow people to have separate hearings on whether a prosecution or lawsuit should even be allowed to continue. Removing the duty to retreat probably doesn’t even make sense when talking about the police, unless police officers had a duty to retreat before SYG was around. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372/19 "2013-10-18T09:35:24Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > What exactly do you mean by “invoke Stand Your Ground laws”? I think there’s confusion because “Stand Your Ground” seems to get applied to different laws. In one sense it means having no duty to retreat if you’re in a place where you’re allowed to be, but it also seems to be used to refer to laws that allow people to have separate hearings on whether a prosecution or lawsuit should even be allowed to continue. > > Removing the duty to retreat probably doesn’t even make sense when talking about the police, unless police officers had a duty to retreat before SYG was around. I don’t understand your question; did you read the OP? Here, I’ll quote again the relevant quote, and bold the important part:[ > [@](#): > > “Kerrick is entitled to the same protection under the law that a civilian would get. **That means he can defend himself by using North Carolina’s 2011 stand-your-ground law** ,” wrote Doug Clark, an editorial writer for Greensboro’s News & Record newspaper. > > The state’s law says, “a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat in any place he or she has the lawful right to be.” ]([http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/guns/randall-kerrick-cop-who-killed-unarmed-jonathan-ferrell-may-be-covered-stand-your](http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/guns/randall-kerrick-cop-who-killed-unarmed-jonathan-ferrell-may-be-covered-stand-your)) Perhaps you thought it was unclear somehow (😕) when I then asked: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Can police officers invoke SYG laws in their defense? Should they be able to? Or are SYG laws clearly intended for civilians only? Does the language in SYG laws reflect your conclusions, and if not, how should they be re-written to accurately reflect what you see as their intent? ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372/20 "2013-10-18T12:13:10Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I don’t understand your question; did you read the OP? Here, I’ll quote again the relevant quote, and bold the important part:[ > > Perhaps you thought it was unclear somehow (😕) when I then asked: I understand his confusion. All “Stand Your Ground” does is remove the duty to retreat before using force in self-defense. According to **lawbuff** , **MikeF** , and [url=[Duty to retreat - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duty_to_retreat)]Wikipedia]([http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/guns/randall-kerrick-cop-who-killed-unarmed-jonathan-ferrell-may-be-covered-stand-your](http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/guns/randall-kerrick-cop-who-killed-unarmed-jonathan-ferrell-may-be-covered-stand-your)), on-duty police officers already had no duty to retreat. Therefore, “Stand Your Ground” shouldn’t affect this case, unless it’s referring to the pre-trial immunity hearing that some states offer to those who’ve used force in self-defense. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-police-officers-invoke-stand-your-ground-laws/671372.md?page=2)