In January 2010, nine Orange County (Florida) sheriff's deputies fired 137 bullets at 27-year-old Torey Breedlove. Twenty of the bullets hit him. Breedlove died at the scene. The deputies were members of the department's auto theft unit and had followed Breedlove into an apartment complex parking lot. They believed that he was driving a stolen Dodge pickup. Breedlove was well known to the officers. They knew that he and his cohorts stole cars and burglarized vehicles and residences in Orange and surrounding counties.

The deputies ordered Breedlove to get out of the vehicle. Investigators stated that Breedlove refused the order and tried to escape by ramming several sheriffs' patrol vehicles. That is when the deputies opened fire, killing Breedlove. The officers claimed that Breedlove tried to run them over with the vehicle. When a reporter asked the county sheriff whether 137 rounds were necessary, he replied, "Well, I believe the deputies used their training and they fired until they believed there was no longer a threat to them or others." Witnesses said that they saw bullets hit parked cars and the apartment complex.

Over the next year, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement conducted an investigation and turned its findings over the the State Attorney's Office. The State Attorney presented the findings to a grand jury. In addition, The Orange County Sheriff's Office completed an internal probe into the shooting. All of the investigations came back with the same results; the nine officers involved did not use excessive force given the circumstances, and eight of them were cleared of violating any department policy. The only deputy to violate department policy used the wrong kind of shotgun shell. He used birdshot instead of buck shot. Birdshot is used for training, and the deputy forgot to change out his shells after practicing at the range earlier in the day.

Do you believe the sheriff's deputies used excessive force? Why or why not? Should the deputies have handled the situation (a possible car theft) differently? If so, how?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Answer Determining whether the sheriffs deputies used excessive force requires careful consideration of the circumstances surrounding the incident On ... View the full answer