LEGAL REGULATION OF THE USE OF FIREARMS BY POLICE OFFICERS

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the legal regulation of the use of firearms by police officers. It is noted that the lack of legal regulation may be the imperfection of the legal regulation of the conceptual apparatus of Art. 46 of the Law of Ukraine “On the National Police”. Individual concepts in practice may be perceived differently by both the police and representatives of control bodies. It is stated that, as a general rule, a police officer has the right to use a weapon only after fulfilling a legal demand to stop committing an offense and a verbal warning about the possibility of using a firearm. It was established that in the case of using a weapon to repel an attack, such an attack must be obvious and directly pose a threat to life and health. It is emphasized that when using weapons to free hostages or persons who have been illegally deprived of their liberty, it should be taken into account that a police officer can use firearms only against persons who are reasonably suspected of taking hostages (that is, directly carrying out actions aimed at restricting a person's freedom and ensuring conditions regarding its illegal retention). It was determined that when using a firearm to stop a vehicle, the police officer has the right to use the weapon solely for the purpose of causing damage to the vehicle. At the same time, the driver and passengers should not be injured. It has been investigated that an innovation in the grounds for the use of firearms by police officers is the use of weapons to forcibly stop the flight of an unmanned aircraft. At the same time, the police officer must have a reasonable suspicion that this vessel is being used to commit offenses or poses a threat. It is emphasized that when using weapons on an unmanned aerial vehicle, one should be especially careful and constantly monitor the space behind the target in order to avoid hitting foreign objects (for example, high-rise buildings). It is also worth emphasizing that when shooting upwards (a warning shot), it is worth considering that a real bullet is released into the air, and accordingly falls to the ground after some time, which can cause injury to bystanders. The use of an upward shot in official activities must always be prudent, correspond to the situation and ethical norms in society.