Use of Force 1

The International Association of Chiefs of Police define force as…

The amount of effort by police to compel compliance by an unwilling subject.

The rules governing use of force are:

Federal/Case Law, State Law, Agency Policy

The three levels of interactions that police can have with an individual according to the 4th Amendment are…

Consensual encounter, Investigative/Terry Stop, Arrest

The FLETC Legal Division defines a SEIZURE as the…

Governmental termination of movement through means intentionally applied.

An officer can complete a seizure in the eyes of the law via…

Commands, Physical Means

An example of Less Lethal Force Option is…

Officer Presence

An example of a Lethal Force Option is…

Duty Pistol

The most important case law governing Police Use of Force in the 1989 SCOTUS decision

Graham v Connor

The SCOTUS determined that an Excessive Force claim lay within… (not the 14th Amendment)

the 4th Amendment

SCOTUS determined that Excessive Force claims should be analyzed through the 4th Amendment’s…

Objective Reasonableness Standard

A use of force must be weighed…

By a reasonable person, under the same totality of the circumstances in that moment, without the benefit of 20/20 hindsight

According to Graham v Connor, the two purposes of force are…

Defense and Control

The Objective Reasonableness Standard’s three prong test is:

Severity of the crime, Immediacy of threat to the safety of the officer or others, whether the suspect is actively resisting arrest or attempting to flee

The SCOTUS indicated in their findings of Graham v Connor that police officers need to make split-second decisions in circumstances that are…

tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving.

CAUTION: in every exchange of force or energy, there will come a point in time when…

the continual force will be deemed excessive.

Excessive force is the force deemed…

unreasonable through the Objective Reasonableness Standard.

The Fourth Amendment states…

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.