# Vehicle attack in Toronto

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-attack-in-toronto/812997>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [April 23, 2018, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-attack-in-toronto/812997 "2018-04-23T20:31:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 40

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**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2018, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vehicle-attack-in-toronto/812997/40 "2018-04-25T08:58:04Z")

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> [@Loach](#):
>
> > [@Northern Piper](#):
> >
> > From previous threads about the use of deadly force, it appears that Canadian doctrine for police response when presented with a possible weapon situation is stricter than is the case in the US. Not meaning to start a debate or score any political points, just an observation on comparative training.
> 
> A large cop only page I’m on also has a large number of Canadian officers. The word going around is not that he was operating under stricter rules, it’s that in broad daylight with a clear line of sight he was able to immediately determine it wasn’t a gun. That happens every day in the US. It’s happened to me a few times in my career. You usually only hear about it when it goes wrong.

**Loach** , this is the previous discussion comparing use of deadly force that I was thinking of, from three years ago in this thread: [should the cop really legally shot the fugitive? [David Sweat]](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=760849&highlight=deadly+force&page=2)

> [@should the cop really legally shot the fugitive? \[David Sweat\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-cop-really-legally-shot-the-fugitive-david-sweat/723780/57):
>
> > [@should the cop really legally shot the fugitive? \[David Sweat\]](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-cop-really-legally-shot-the-fugitive-david-sweat/723780/11):
> >
> > Use of force rule are similar but not exactly the same from state to state. I don’t know the exact wording in NY (and more importantly, how they have been interpreted) but here is what the NJ Attorney General’s guidelines are on the subject:
> > 
> > > [@](#):
> > >
> > > escape of a fleeing suspect
> > > 
> > > a. whom the officer has probable cause to believe has  
> > > committed an offense in which the suspect caused or attempted to cause death or serious bodily harm; and
> > > 
> > > b. who will pose an imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm should the escape succeed; and
> > > 
> > > c. when the use of deadly force presents no substantial risk of injury to innocent persons.
> > 
> > A desperate convicted murderer would fall within the rules. An escaped burglar would not.
> > 
> > That is speaking in general terms. I don’t know exactly how it went down in this case.
> 
> Out of curiousity, I asked a friend of mine who is a Crown prosecutor if the Canadian use of force rules were similar. His off-the-cuff answer was that he didn’t think the use of deadly force in these circumstances would be justified, because the guy was fleeing from the cop, rather than posing a direct threat to him, and there was no evidence that he was armed. I think the fact that the shooting officer id’d him solely from the description would have also counted against the use of deadly force, because of the possibility of a mis-identification in such short circumstances.

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