No Stupid Questions

You never, ever, shoot like that. Cop or not, if use of a firearm is justified, you aim to end the threat immediately. That means a kill shot. Center of mass is what cops are trained to do, and for many good reasons.

But, even if you did want to try and use a firearm as a less lethal weapon, you switch ammo, not shoot extremities. For one, arms and legs are plenty lethal, though not necessarily 100% (hell, center of mass isn't a guaranteed lethality). But, more important, they're not as sure a target at all. You don't want bullets going anywhere other than the intended target. Center of mass is much easier to accurately aim for when you're scared and high on adrenaline. A leg? Good fucking luck unless you're point blank, and even that's not a sure thing.

For real, even at a shooting range while relaxed and with all the time in the world, a leg would be harder. A lot of people can barely keep a 6 inch group past 15 feet. Cops tend to shoot more often than the general populace, what with having their own ranges and at least some of the ammo provided for them, but it's range shooting, target shooting. So even if they're nailing shit perfectly during their qualification tests, that doesn't automatically translate to the kind of accuracy needed to pick what part of the leg to hit.

Even on a very muscular dude, you've got really small targets that would potentially stop them from continuing whatever you wanted to stop doing. A few inches at most.

Now, staying ready with a taser and using it at the first sign of trouble? Could work, I guess. But that's got its own risks and liabilities.

But, nah man, if you think pulling a gun and shooting someone in the leg is a good thing, it is best you not carry. Any situation in which you would try that is not a situation in which the use of a firearm is a good idea.

Just in case, there's no "safe" place to get shot.

A gunshot injury to the leg is always a medical emergency and can be fatal in as little as five minutes if the bullet hits a major artery, causing traumatic blood loss.

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An injury to the aorta, femoral or carotid artery can be especially dangerous because these are the main blood vessels responsible for pulling oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the rest of the body. The brachial artery (which runs through the arms) is another major concern. If one of these arteries is punctured, the trauma can result in an immediate blood pressure drop and extremely rapid blood loss.

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Bleeding can quickly become life-threatening. The average time to bleed out is only 2 to 5 minutes.

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Yes, a taser may also cause lethal cases, unfortunately...

Although all in-custody deaths after ECD shocks are not likely a direct result of the shock, a number probably are. Taser International addressed that probability by revising their warnings from “aim at target: center of mass or legs” and “aiming at open front of unzipped jacket” before September 2009 to “when possible, avoiding chest shots…” after that date. More recently, they noted that “heart rate, rhythm, capture” can occur and that “capture” and “cardiac arrest” can contribute to arrest-related death in physiologically or metabolically compromised persons.

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I've been in USA for 2 month only accumulated, mostly residing in Europe and Asia, and from my experience, in common civilian life, it's rare to see an actual lethal weapon being aimed at someone in public unless it's at zones/movements of Bank or foreign politics, including presidential, ambassadorial, ministerial, mayoral, or consular general residences. In other words, a taser-like solution is much more frequent in civilian life from my experience.

In most countries, if you’re in a situation that needs you to shoot a gun, you generally need to have grounds to use lethal force. If you are, where you shoot doesn’t make a lot of difference. There are arteries in your leg, that if hit, does not bode well for you.

Also, if you are in a lethal force situation (e.g. someone coming at you with a weapon) you want to aim centre mass to increase your likelihood of hitting. Shooting down at that angle (towards to the leg) also means the round could ricochet and hit someone other than the target. The “just shoot them in the leg” is very much movie/gaming logic.

All situations that don’t risk imminent loss of life should be dealt with via taser where applicable though, so agreed on that.

Legs have these big blood hoses in them that don't respond well to getting holes poked in them, a shot to the leg is deadly force. Also easier to miss a leg since it's a smaller target and may be moving.

A person without a gun may still present a threat of death or grievous bodily harm. If holding a gun and taser, an officer may attempt to use one in a stressful situation and squeeze both triggers because we're all stupid meat machines.

Im not a cop, but from all the live leak videos ive seen, anything could happen and mostly when things seem normal. No way id wanna be a cop

You are erroneously assuming that most US cops went into the police force to uphold the law and keep citizens safe, rather than to be allowed to boss black guys around and shoot them without repercussions.

Fun fact: in England, cops don't even carry guns. Surprisingly, there are other ways to deal with crime

They carry guns in Canada, but I've never seen them pull them out and I've had a lot of interactions with cops

There's no safe place to shoot someone. There's no reason to shoot someone unless you're willing to kill them. If it's not worth them dying, it's not worth shooting someone.

Did you interpret "no stupid questions" as a challenge?

This differs wildly depending on the country

Other people have said it: guns are to kill, use something else if you're trying to incapacitate.

I just wanted to add that their training probably sucks other than practice at the range. When I got my (non-law enforcement) firearm permit, it's basically a braindead written test where you can easily guess all the answers without studying and then it asks you if you've ever done any illegal drugs lmao

Edit very sad that this is being downvoted as a stupid question, what com am I in?!?!

Assuming USA: For newly recruited officers, basic training, commonly referred to as police academy training, serves as the initial and foundational phase. This phase typically spans 12 to 24 weeks (approximately 3-6 months).

So just to clarify: in some states it's only 3 months. IIRC even less, at least if you've been in the military. Yes, you read that right: having learned how to ~~indiscriminately~~ kill "enemies" is considered a boon for this job.

I find that un-fucking believable - both the duration and the closeness to the military.

Not much gun handling and, more importantly, de-escalation and social work is included in those few weeks. Not much of anything really.