When is a police officer justified to open fire?

(New York - WABC, November 25, 2006) (WABC) -- When is a police officer justified to open fire? That question will certainly be at the center of the police investigation into this morning's shooting.

The investigators' Jim Hoffer joins Eyewitness News with more on the split-second decision officers are trained to make.

Hesitate and it can kill you. All police officers know this. It is drilled into them at police academy. They also know exactly when they can and when they can't aim to kill.

As in every case where police fire their weapons, one critical question will dominate the investigation. Was it justified?

The NYPD guideline for use of deadly physical force is simple as stated in the patrol guide. The guide says "&they must have probable cause to believe they must protect themselves or another person present from imminent death or serious physical injury."

In 1999, four police officers were indicted for the shooting death of African immigrant Amadou Diallo. The officers were acquitted after convincing a judge that they truly believed the unarmed victim was reaching for a gun, not his wallet.

In this morning's shooting, we know little about what was in the minds of the police officers, did they believe they were about to be shot at or did they believe the car with the three victims posed an imminent threat.

What is clear is that an open and honest investigation will be critical to keeping community tensions from boiling over. No less than the Supreme Court has set guidelines on how to judge whether police in this case went too far.

Use-of-force expert Michael Levine lost his son Keith, an NYPD officer back in 1991 when he was shot and killed by an armed robber. Levine says the slightest hesitation on the part of any cop can cost him his life.

In this case, 35 shots were fired reportedly, yet no weapon found in the car. In Amadou Diallo case, 41 shots were fired and the victim had no gun. One expert referred this to phenomenon known as contagious shooting, one officer opens fire and others had fear begin shooting, too. We don't know weather that was the case for this shooting.

Eyewitness News learned NYPD has one of the best reputations in the nation for use of strain and use of deadly force.

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