Police officers in New Hampshire used deadly force nine times last year, with all but one resulting in loss of life. Police shot two more men this year, leaving one dead.

The Monitor filed a right-to-know request in early 2024 for documents and communications regarding guidance the Attorney General’s office might offer to the Police Standards and Training Council in light of potential updates to its curriculum or advice following an officer-involved shooting.

The request by the Monitor was made after the Attorney General announced the use of deadly force on a 17-year-old boy armed with a knife inside his Gilford home was justified.

“After today, this particular event can be looked at by different agencies and can have an opportunity to review and say okay, ‘what can we learn from this?’,” Senior Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati said at a press conference on Jan. 25, 2024.

While they hadn’t discussed that particular case, Agati said his office was “always in the process of trying to help them with curriculum with regards to the correct teaching of different applications of the law.”

They said it could take up to a year to fulfill the records request. Ultimately, the Attorney General’s office declined to share any documents that shed light on how the state’s top law enforcement agency communicates with the police academy in the aftermath of a shooting, saying they fall under attorney-client privilege. Instead, the Monitor received documents that primarily focused on the academy’s class schedules.

“The guidance received from the Office, as well as its own questions, comments, disclosures, and/or secrets, will not be divulged to third parties,” the office wrote in an email. “This expectation is inherent in the vast majority of our attorney-client communications.”

Among the fatal shootings in 2024 was the case of Andrew Smith, a 56-year-old who was walking down a Manchester sidewalk last June when he extended his arm, mimicking the motion of firing a gun at a uniformed officer driving by in a marked police cruiser.

The Attorney General’s report on the incident said Smith looked directly at Manchester Police Sergeant Daniel Whelan and extended his right arm, forming a “makeshift gun” with his fingers.

Whelan believed Smith’s gesture was meant to “inflict fear and alarm,” prompting him to circle back in his cruiser, park his vehicle and detain Smith on suspicion of “criminal threatening,” according to the report.

Smith did not initially respond to Whelan’s questions and tried to walk away. Smith stopped when he was informed he was being detained.

Smith was armed with a gun he was legally allowed to own. When asked, he told Whelan.

“Mr. Smith did own the gun lawfully; in that he was not a felon, and he purchased it from a lawful firearms dealer several years prior to the incident,” the Attorney General’s office said in an email statement.

Whelan asked Smith to turn around so he could conduct a pat-down and remove the weapon. But before he could do so, Whelan said Smith reached into his pocket. Whelan told investigators that it was at that moment he was “in fear of his safety.”

He grabbed Smith in a body lock, trying to restrict his movements.

During the struggle, Whelan heard a gunshot and saw the barrel of Smith’s weapon sticking out from his vest.

In response, Whelan fired his gun, hitting on his left side Smith. Still in fear, Whelan stood up and fired three more rounds into Whelan’s chest.

The Attorney General’s office in February ruled that Whelan’s use of deadly force was legally justified — a conclusion reached in nearly all cases of police-involved shootings in New Hampshire.

Buzz Scherr, a state representative and police commissioner in Portsmouth, believes the AG’s office should focus more on transparency during investigations to build public trust. He suggested releasing body camera footage sooner rather than waiting until the investigation is finished.

Typically, it takes between six months to a year for the investigation to be finished and the report to be released. Smith was shot to death by Whelan on June 28, 2024. The report justifying the use of deadly force was released on Feb. 25, 2025.

“I know their inclination is not towards transparency, it is to gather all the evidence and not talk about it until they reach a conclusion,” said Scherr. ” I think they need to think about how to be more transparent about what happened, so people don’t unfairly and maybe fairly question why they all seem to exonerate the officer.”

An officer-involved shooting on Jan 12, 2024, in Manchester, the investigation is still ongoing after more than a year. So far, only the names of the officers who used deadly force, that the incident was connected to a robbery and the autopsy results have been made available.

In many cases, officers who use deadly force return to work before the investigation report is made public.

‘Reasonable’ useof deadly force

In the case of Smith, the Attorney General concluded that it was reasonable for Officer Whelan to believe Smith “posed an imminent threat of deadly force” as Smith had just fired upon him.

Whelan, who was interviewed with his attorney present, said he felt “the circumstances were dire.”

According to state law, a law enforcement officer is “justified in using deadly force only when he reasonably believes such force is necessary” to defend himself or a third person from what he reasonably believes to be an imminent threat of deadly force.

Lawrence Vogelman, an attorney at Shaheen & Gordon who has represented clients involved in officer-involved shootings in New Hampshire, pointed out that the Attorney General’s ruling of “legally justifiable” in officer-involved shootings doesn’t address every aspect of the case.

“Their purview isn’t to decide yes or no whether it’s justified civilly. They’re only looking at whether or not criminal charges should be placed against the officer,” said Vogelman.

The focus is strictly on whether the use of deadly force in these situations warrants a criminal investigation.

In each report, the Attorney General’s Office makes it clear that it “does not investigate or opine on particular procedures or tactics used by law enforcement officers.”

While some cases involve police using deadly force on an active shooter and seem fairly open and shut, the reports on others present questions that often go unanswered.

Could a different tactic have been used to avoid the deadly confrontation? Was there an alternative, less lethal approach that could have been used in the face of escalating tension?

Rarely do individuals shot by police survive.

“If you pull the gun and are going to shoot someone, you shoot to kill,” said Scherr. “That’s the idea.”

Review board

At the Police Standards and Training Council, officers learn everything from de-escalation techniques like Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training to handling elder abuse cases and understanding search and seizure protocols.

Even with CIT training, which is often hailed as the “gold standard” for crisis intervention, officers have still used deadly force in mental health crises.

While efforts are ongoing to get more officers trained in CIT, questions remain about how effective it really is.

In Maine and Vermont, a unique board brings together voices from law enforcement, mental health advocates and individuals with lived experience to examine incidents involving mental health crises.

This board does not duplicate reviews by the Attorney General or other agencies.

Its goal is to prevent future occurrences by offering recommendations and developing best practices for both law enforcement and mental health services.

In New Hampshire, efforts to create a similar board have been defeated and are often opposed by law enforcement.

Vogelman said if someone calls 911 while experiencing a mental health crisis, it’s best to send social workers instead of police or have officers accompany them.

“The idea of you’re sending the same people to your bank robbery as we’re sending to somebody who’s having a mental breakdown is really being discredited all over the country,” said Vogelman. “A lot of the  police departments are trying to do something about it.”