Pubdate: 23 Oct 1998 Source: Oakland Tribune (CA) Contact: Associated Press Section: Page 3 PRISONS RESTRICT USE OF FIREARMS SACRAMENTO - California prison guards can no longer shoot to break up a prison fistfight, according to a revised use-of-force policy issued in response to the outcry over the rising number of inmates fatally shot and wounded. Deadly force will be allowed only if an armed inmate is inflicting serious injury on another prisoner or prison employee, said Cal Terhune, director of the Department of Corrections. "We have to be more judicious with the firepower," he said. Twelve inmates in maximum-security prisons were fatally shot and 32 have been wounded since 1994 by guards firing high-powered rifles to stop fights. Only one inmate was armed or seriously injuring another prisoner. In all others states combined, six prisoners were shot and killed while attempting to escape during the same period. "We've got to do all we can to get it down to zero," Terhune said. "There's been some misinterpretation of the current policy." The state's policy had called for guards to fire at in inmates who posed "imminent great bodily harm" and 'ignored rubber bullets and orders to stop fighting. The head of the powerful prison guards' union said that use of force should be examined, but questioned the department's new policy. "What happens when somebody is beating another human being's head into the ground? Can they shoot? I don't know," Don Novey, president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, said Friday. Prison officials will distribute a lesson plan and video for guards at the state's 33 prisons, Terhune said. With nearly 160,000 inmates, California has the largest state prison system in the country. - --- Checked-by: Mike Gogulski