Police Use of Force: How, When, and Why

It is a difficult truth that police officers sometimes have to use force in the performance of their duties. Most often police use of force ends with no injuries and a safe arrest. At other times, it can end with serious injuries or even death.

All police departments have strict policies governing the use of force. These policies vary from department to department, but often share common threads.

Police officers use force to effect an arrest, prevent a suspect's escape, protect themselves or others, or protect property. Officers carry a variety of tools to accomplish these ends. Police are charge with using the minimum amount of force necessary in any given situation.

Police officers use something called the Force Continuum as a guide to determine what level of force is appropriate based on the totality of the circumstances they are faced with. The force continuum delineates the officers' level of control and the suspect's level of resistance.

By default, police use of force is always reactive. An officer must encounter resistance prior to using force. However, officers are trained to perceive and react to resistance in its earliest stages. In addition, resistance doesn't have to be active. Resistance can be as simple as refusing to comply with an officer's orders.

Typically, police officers are allowed to use a level of force that is one level above the suspect's level of resistance. So for instance, if a suspect attempts to punch an officer, the use of an intermediate weapon such as a baton or chemical irritant would typically be warranted. However, other factors come into play. For instance, if the suspect in our scenario was an 11 year old child, intermediate weapons would likely not be reasonable. On the other hand, if the suspect was a professional wrestler and the officer was somehow incapacitated and believed himself to be in danger of serious bodily injury or death, deadly force might be an appropriate response.

All of these factors must be weighed in a split second by the officer on the street. Failure to get it absolutely right can lead to serious criminal and civil penalties. Officers act knowing the decisions they have a microsecond to make in a dark alley with adrenaline flowing will be criticized and reviewed from the comfort of living rooms and court rooms for days, weeks, months or even years.

Deadly force is an interesting concept in itself. Deadly force can be defined as force that is likely to cause serious bodily injury (broken bones, permanent disfigurement) or death. By that definition, a police officer who strikes a suspect on the head with a flashlight or a baton is using deadly force. A kick to the genitals is also deadly force, as is shooting someone with a firearm, or running them over with a car!

The use of deadly force is the ultimate tool in an officer's arsenal. It is reserved only for the most dire of situations. Officers may only use deadly force in self defense when the suspect shows the intention of causing serious bodily injury or death, is capable of doing so, and has the opportunity to do so. At this point, officers use deadly force, not to kill, but with the intention of stopping the threat.