ST. LOUIS — The FBI in St. Louis says law enforcement agents are trained to take action and not reaction.
Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg on Tuesday helped assist with a widespread campaign to give the public and media a look at what officers face in the field.
"There has to be an imminent danger posed to somebody else of death or serious bodily injury for us to be able to use deadly force," Greenberg said.
Greenberg said the U.S. Department of Justice added new language to its use of force policy for the first time in 18 years after the death of George Floyd. They say federal agents have a duty to intervene if other law enforcement is using excessive force.
Tuesday was a chance for community members like Peter Smith to put themselves in difficult shoes. The scenarios were some of the same ones that law enforcement agents go through.
"Well, it's shocking how quickly things went from, neutral to bad in what seemed like fractions of seconds when you thought you were prepared and found out you were too slow," Smith said.
FBI St. Louis said the training is a coordinated effort to recognize National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day.
"We're always training agents and officers to shoot at center mass, because there's a much greater chance that we will, in fact, hit center mass. Every bullet we shoot, we have to account for and we want that bullet to go where it's intended," Greenberg said.
Smith said the opportunity was eye-opening.
"It's easy to judge. Sitting at home when you're safe, peaceful and quiet is a very different thing than to be in the middle of one of these situations is what I've learned," Smith said.