A recent article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (‘In Georgia agency, police train to shoot, not kill’, 5/7/2021) has raised questions about the involvement and/or support of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) with the program. 

To be clear, this training is not affiliated with the IACP in any way and the IACP is not conducting any evaluations of this program.  

In addition, police agencies in the United States do not train officers to “shoot to kill”; they train officers to stop a deadly threat when lethal force is authorized.  Agencies take this approach to firearms training for good reason, as police officers confronted with a deadly force situation are operating in a dynamic, stressful environment that often requires officers to make split second decisions to protect themselves and others.   

Finally, the article mentions that IACP 3rd Vice President Wade Carpenter was present “to take measure” of the program.  Chief Carpenter was visiting LaGrange on personal business and was invited to view the training program.  His presence at the LaGrange Police Department training session should not be considered an assessment, evaluation, or endorsement of the training session by either Chief Carpenter or the IACP.