These current laws deny victims fifth and fourteenth amendment rights to due process, allow the punishment of death to be imposed in a cruel and unusual fashion, and appear to deny equal protection to black individuals. The only apparent constitutional alternative is to remove police homicide from the realm of punishment and confine justification for it to the doctrine of self defense. This approach would reflect the first section of the firearms policy of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and would be both constitutional and highly practical. Reference notes, table, and 5 study questions