Dog the Bounty Hunter calls on police officers to use non-lethal bullets
Duane Chapman, better known as Dog the Bounty Hunter, announced his new campaign to encourage police officers to model after his example by pursuing criminals using non-lethal bullets.
The popular reality show star has been captured on screen for years, taking down those who run from the law as a bail bondsman. In a recent interview with Fox News, the 68-year-old explained that he has taken down suspects thousands of times and never once had to use lethal force.
His campaign is called "Take the Lead Out."
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"I've arrested over 8,000 fugitives in a 43-year career and have never shot anyone and killed them," Chapman explained.
"We've used all non-lethal weapons. We're going to get the lead out of the bullet and replace it with rubber and or wood. I've shown a thousand arrests on different networks in America in the last 15 years, and I've been attacked [by] ... machetes, shopping carts, guns, knives," he continued.
"I've shot a lot, but I've never killed [anyone]. Because on my team, you will not use a lethal weapon. It's not the gun that kills or the officer. It's the lead in the bullet," Chapman added.
The Fox News host told the bounty hunter that officers get very skeptical of using non-lethal methods.
“Officers think that they need their guns,” he noted.
However, Chapman maintained that "[Police officers who] shoot someone right now, you got a problem.”
He said that Americans have seen him take fugitives down thousands of times, and he shot many of them with non-lethal weapons.
“It works. All you need to do is get them down so you can cuff him," the reality star insisted.
"You need to stop killing them. And I don't think they're killing them on purpose,” he said of those in law enforcement. Nevertheless, he noted that police officers “are trained to kill.”
Because of that level of training, he repeated, “Let's take the lead out of their bullet,"
Chapman said the idea could be a "bipartisan bill" and again stressed the need to "get the lead out of that bullet."
"Who's going to want to keep the lead in so you can kill someone? Who's going to do that, and that will separate the men from the boys,” he said. “I think every cop in America, every citizen, we got to stop them. They're coming at you. They just robbed a store, kidnapping someone; you got to stop them.”
"A wood bullet, a rubber bullet will stop them just like the lead bullet. But they will not die," he concluded, adding that only someone shot in the head from wooden or rubber bullets can result in death.
Chapman's new campaign, which can be reached at taketheleadout@gmail.com, comes on the heels of the recent criticism on police officers and their use of firearms following the death of Daunte Wright in Minnesota.
Wright was shot during a traffic stop by veteran police officer, Kim Potter, who said the killing was accidental. Body-camera footage of the killing shows Potter shouted "Taser" before firing.
