The Dec. 5 article "Twin Cities forums explore racial bias, law-enforcement tactics" quoted St. Paul Police Chief Tom Smith in regard to the use of deadly force by peace officers. According to the article: " 'We never say shoot to kill in our line of work,' " Smith said Thursday. 'We say shoot to stop, shoot to wound.' "

I have no idea who Chief Smith means by "we." In my 36 years as a licensed peace officer, neither I nor anyone else I know in this profession has been taught to "shoot to wound." That is not part of any range training or training in the use of deadly force. I know of no law enforcement agency that trains to that standard. If Smith said that, it is a mistake, and he should correct that statement, as it gives the public a false sense of what we do.

Now, we can play around with words for liability in court such as "shoot to kill" or "shoot to stop." But I and everyone else I know have been trained to shoot to kill and never to shoot to wound. The reason for this is simple and obvious.

You just don't take your firearm out unless you or the people around you are in a situation where your lives are endangered or you face imminent threat of great bodily harm. Once you take that firearm out, you are on the edge of a deadly-force scenario.

Decades ago, we realized that it was a fallacy to think you could stop someone from injuring or killing you by "winging" them. It just does not work, and a Taser is absolutely not a substitute for a firearm in a deadly-force situation. Therefore, peace officers have been trained for many years to draw their weapon as a last resort and only when they must defend their own lives or someone else's.

We are trained in a "use of force continuum." In layman's terms, this means all the way from talking to a suspect and soft hand techniques to chemical sprays to Tasers and, if necessary, to deadly force. Naturally, we realize, and we hope the public does also, that this continuum can advance very quickly to the last step if the situation warrants it.

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In other words, if you are undergoing a beatdown while armed or someone is shooting at you, you are not going to start with step one: conversation.

The last thing a cop ever wants to do is to use deadly force; they know they will face total hell if they do, whether they are right or wrong. And that decision will stick with them for the rest of their lives.

I just wish people realized how many officers have hesitated too long or not drawn their weapon in time and died because of it.

Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, is a member of the Minnesota House and a retired peace officer.