Jim Yanik wrote:
"Ragnar" wrote in
:

Excellent question! I've always thought they should put at least an
M-60 on the police choppers. Would put a stop to the car chases real
quick.

Or they could use a Barrett light 50 M82A1 .50BMG rifle.
If they can't get a car with 10 rounds....

The US Coast Guard--which occupies a grey zone between law enforcement and
military--has begun arming some helicopters to stop fleeing high-speed
boats. Their approach has been to use a machinegun for warning shots,
followed by a hand-held .50-cal rifle to shoot to disable the engines.

However, this does not translate well to regular police use. The USCG is
dealing with isolated targets on the high seas, with no chance of stray
shots hitting civilians. The rules for stopping smugglers at sea are also
less restrictive than the use of force rules for domestic police forces.
This is one area where the Coasties benefit from their semi-military status.

For comparison, civilian law enforcement offficers are usually *forbidden*
to fire warning shots because of the risk to bystanders. They are also
forbidden to use lethal force unless necessary to protect themselves or a
bystander. "He was getting away" is generally not sufficient justification
for shooting at someone, unless you have reason to believe he's going to
threaten another person once he's out of sight.

--
Tom Schoene Replace "invalid" with "net" to e-mail
"Our country, right or wrong. When right, to be kept right, when
wrong to be put right." - Senator Carl Schurz, 1872