A police officer can only use deadly force in five circumstances. The five circumstances are: self-defense, defense of others, preventing theft from using nuclear weapons or explosives, special nuclear devices, and preventing a suspect from escaping, but only if the officer has reason likely to believe that the suspect has committed one of the offenses listed above. Sixty-nine percent of victims of police brutality in the United States who are African American/Black were suspected of a nonviolent crime and were unarmed. Unarmed people pose NO threat. “Police departments across the country too often use excessive force, injuring and sometimes killing people who pose little threat.”