When Is It Acceptable For Police To Use Force?

WHEN CAN THE POLICE USE FORCE- and what happens when they do? Police use of force is in the national spotlight WHAT IS POLICE USE OF FORCE? The means of compelling compliance or overcoming resistance to an officer's command(s) in order to protect life or property or to take a person into custody. Types of force include: Verbal Physical Chemical Impact Electronic Firearm WHY DO POLICE USE FORCE? Establish control Protect others Make an in a situation or self arrest WHEN CAN POLICE USE DEADLY FORCE? In defense of others In self-defense Subject poses threat of serious physical harm or death Officer fears serious physical harm or death DEATHS FROM POLICE USE OF FORCE ARE RARE In 2008, there were an estimated POLICE 67 MILLION POL face-to-face encounters between citizens and police nationwide Translates to more than 1 MILLION face-to-face contacts with police each week Deaths resulting from police use of force occurred in 1 out of every 67,000 contacts according to sources cited by the Washington Post ABOUT 0.0015% OF ALL FACE-TO-FACE CONTACTS WHEN IS THE AMOUNT OF FORCE USED BY POLICE CONSIDERED LAWFUL OR JUSTIFIED? When a local prosecutor, judge, or jury determines that the amount of force used in a situation was "objectively reasonable" under the Fourth Amendment to compel compliance Reasonableness is judged by what a reasonable officer would do on the scene in context of: CIRCUMSTANCES ENCOUNTERED TRAINING EXPERIENCE "Reasonable" force "Unreasonable" force Constitutionally permissible Violation of the Fourth Amendment Just because an officer can use force in a situation does not mean he or she should When is police use of force excessive or "unreasonable"? Officer uses "greater force than was reasonably necessary" to compel compliance WHAT FACTORS ARE CONSIDERED IN DETERMINING THE "REASONABLENESS" OF ALL FORCE USED BY THE POLICE? Is the subject resisting arrest or attempting to flee? Does subject pose an immediate Severity of crime at issue threat to the officer or others? Availability of less-lethal options Objective facts of the Mental health of subject incident WHAT'S NỘT CONSIDERED IN DETERMINING REASONABLENESS? Facts unknown to police at the time of incident An officer's intent or motivation HOW IS A POLICE USE-OF-FORCE INCIDENT INVESTIGATED? If use of force did not result in serious injury or death: No further Reviewed by or action required internal affairs Documented Supervisory in report review Ruled justified/ "reasonable" Ruled not justified / "unreasonable" Retraining Possible criminal charges Potential for civil lawsuit brought by Policy changes Disciplinary actions non-government plaintiff If use of force resulted in serious injury or death: Internal Did officer(s) Disciplinary / Address comply with corrective action, policy/training, if Investigation policies? if needed needed Determined justified No further action or "reasonable" Criminal Referral to Investigation prosecutor's office (Internal and/or external) Determined not justified Criminal filing and or "unreasonable" then Trial No filing if "beyond reasonable doubt" standard cannot be met U.S. Department State Investigative Authority* Potential for civil of Justice Possible Civil lawsuit brought by Rights Federal prosecution State prosecution non-government investigation or or plaintiff No further action No further action *Usually a state/local prosecutor Disclaimer: The full nature and complexity of police use of force cannot be fully conveyed in any single illustration. Use-of-force investigations vary by state and jurisdiction, so this infographic should be viewed as a general reflection of police POLICE use of force and use-of-force investigations. FOUNDATION Sources: Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (1989) Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985) Plakas v. Drinski, 19 F.3d 1143 (7th Cir. 1994) bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=2229 Reese v. Anderson, 926 F.2d 494 (5th Cir. 1991) Glenn v. Washington County, 661 F.3d 460 (9th Cir. 2011) Aldaba v. Pickens, 777 F.3d 1148 (10th Cir. 2015) Tom v. Voida, 963 F.2d 952 (7th Cir. 1992) Lester v. City of Chicago, 830 F.2d 706 (7th Cir. 1987) nij.gov/topics/law-enforcement/officer-safety/use-of-force/pages/welcome.aspx washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/09/08/how-many-police-shootings-a-year-no-one-knows/ © 2016 Police Foundation