military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

and

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

contexts, a warning shot is an intentionally harmless

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

shot or

gunshot A gunshot is a single discharge of a gun, typically a man-portable firearm, producing a visible flash, a powerful and loud shockwave and often chemical gunshot residue. The term can also refer to a ballistic wound caused by such a discharge ...

with intent to enact direct compliance and order to a hostile perpetrator or enemy forces. It is recognized as signalling intended confrontations on land, sea, and air. As an analogy, a "warning shot" can be used to describe any action of declaration, especially a demonstration of power, intended or perceived as a last warning before hostile measures.

Uses

Navy

During the 18th century, a warning shot (in nautical terms, often called a shot across the bow) could be fired towards any ship whose "

colours Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorpt ...

" (nationality) had to be ascertained. According to the

law of the sea Law of the sea (or ocean law) is a body of international law governing the rights and duties of State (polity), states in Ocean, maritime environments. It concerns matters such as navigational rights, sea mineral claims, and coastal waters juris ...

, a ship thus hailed had to fly her flag and confirm it with a gunshot. Warning shots may still be used in modern times to signal a vessel to stop or keep off and may be fired from other ships, boats, or aircraft. On October 27, 1962, during the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

, American forces dropped practice

depth charges A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarines by detonating in the water near the target and subjecting it to a destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use high explosives with a fuze set to deto ...

on the Soviet submarine ''B-59'' as a form of signaling. The captain and political officer of the ''B-59'' opted to respond with a

nuclear torpedo A nuclear torpedo is a torpedo armed with a nuclear warhead. The idea behind the nuclear warheads in a torpedo was to create a much bigger explosive blast. Later analysis suggested that smaller, more accurate, and faster torpedoes were more efficie ...

, but the third man required to authorize a

nuclear attack Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can prod ...

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer ...

and

flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' ( fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same cla ...

Commodore

Vasily Arkhipov Vasily Aleksandrovich Arkhipov ( rus, Василий Александрович Архипов, p=vɐˈsʲilʲɪj ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ arˈxʲipəf; 30 January 1926 – 19 August 1998; sometimes romanized as Vasili Arkhipov) was a senior ...

, refused.

Air force

Warning shots are also used in

military aviation Military aviation is the design, development and use of military aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling aerial warfare, including national airlift (air cargo) capacity to provide military logistics, logist ...

, to demand some action of an unresponsive and presumed hostile aircraft; the most common demand would be for the aircraft to change course. The ostensible justification for firing shots is that

tracer rounds Tracer ammunition, or tracers, are bullets or cannon-caliber projectiles that are built with a small pyrotechnic charge in their base. When fired, the pyrotechnic composition is ignited by the burning powder and burns very brightly, making the tr ...

are very bright and would immediately gain the attention of a crew whose radio is non-functioning, or who might not have noticed radio transmissions. The objective of warning shots is to demonstrate the ability to shoot, and threaten the crew of the unresponsive aircraft that they will be shot down if they do not comply.

Army

Warning shots may also be used by ground forces, to disperse crowds or to warn perceived threats to withdraw. Certain militaries mandate warning shots in attempt to de-escalate situations. For example, according to the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

' rules of engagement, soldiers under threat of death are required to fire two warning shots into the air prior to resorting to firing their weapons to non-lethal areas.

Law enforcement

Police officers A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of ...

may use warning shots from their sidearm in specific circumstances to

de-escalate De-escalation refers to the methods and actions taken to decrease the severity of a conflict, whether of physical, verbal or another nature. It is the opposite of escalation. De-escalation may also refer to approaches in conflict resolution, ...

dangerous situations. Such a shot is typically only used late in the

use of force continuum A use of force continuum is a standard that provides law enforcement officers and civilians with guidelines as to how much use of force, force may be used against a resisting or compliant subject in a given situation. In some ways, it is similar ...

and analogous to the appliance of outright

lethal force Deadly force, also known as lethal force, is the use of force that is likely to cause serious bodily injury or death to another person. In most jurisdictions, the use of deadly force is justified only under conditions of extreme necessity a ...

, as firing warning shots bring certain inherent risks. A key consideration for the officer to make before firing a warning shot is that a shot fired horizontal or at the ground may

ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...

off hard surfaces in unpredictable ways, whilst a shot in the air may travel far away and strike in an unpredictable place; both may cause danger to property and bystanders. In addition to these risks, a warning shot may have an escalating effect rather than a de-escalating one: if the target perceives the shot not as a warning but a deliberate but failed attempt on their life, they may return with force. Other officers in the area may too perceive the warning shot as a deliberate shot and act in response. Verbally communicating the officer's intent to the target and other officers mitigates the risk of escalation. Whether warning shots should be used by law enforcement agencies is a point of debate. Proponents argue that the warning shots can prevent deaths and injuries in police shootings by allowing a final intermediate step and last chance at de-escalation before the application of deadly force in the use of force continuum. Research has shown that situations where warning shots were used had a largely de-escalating effect. Terry Cunningham of the

International Association of Chiefs of Police International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) is a nonprofit organization based in Alexandria, Virginia. It is the world's largest professional association for police leaders. Overview The International Association of Chiefs of Police ...

commented that warning shots give officers more options in the case of a threat, commenting, "We're kind of entering into this new environment in use of force where everybody is trying to learn how to better de-escalate". Opponents of warning shots point towards the inherent risks to uninvolved persons, as well as argue that the possibility of firing warning shots complicates the decision making process for police officers of whether to use deadly force. According to this view, situations that call for warning shots already warrant the immediate use of lethal force. Various agencies, such as the

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (also known as the LVMPD or Metro) is a combined city and county law enforcement agency for the Las Vegas, City of Las Vegas and Clark County, Nevada, United States. It is headed by the Sheriff of Clar ...

and

National Police of Paraguay The National Police of Paraguay (, PNP) is the main law-enforcement agency in Paraguay, operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring the internal security of the nation. History The first Paragu ...

, specifically forbid the use of lethal firearms to fire warning shots. Other agencies such as the Lower Saxony State Police and

Dutch National Police The National Police Corps (), colloquially in English as Dutch National Police or National Police Force, is the centralised, national law enforcement agency of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and its sole police force. Constituted under the prov ...

allow the use of warning shots in a cautious manner that does not endanger persons.

References