It's not that it's "SOP". It's more that it's NOT violative of "SOP", if that makes any sense. Every situation calls for its own unique response, and so-called Use of Force policies are left somewhat open-ended for a reason. The SOP involved in this instance was whether or not it is justified to shoot from a moving vehicle and NOT necessarily whether it is justified to shoot through the windshield in so-doing.Okay, that was known and understood. Now let me re-state my question. A question to all the LEO types out there. Since when has it become SOP to shoot at a bad guy through the windshield? This video is the fourth or fifth one where I've seen a cop do that.
There are departments that fairly strictly do NOT permit an officer to fire a weapon from inside their vehicle; however, there are many, many more that do permit it in some exceedingly extreme circumstances. Let me give you a clue--TxDPS DEFINITELY permits such use of deadly force. A university PD that I worked for absolutely forbade it. Both municipal PDs I've worked for permitted it. And the county I've worked for permitted it as well.