Overview of Police Use of Force (2024)

FAQs

What does police use of force include? ›

Law enforcement officers should use only the amount of force necessary to mitigate an incident, make an arrest, or protect themselves or others from harm. The levels, or continuum, of force police use include basic verbal and physical restraint, less-lethal force, and lethal force.

The framework itself must respect the four key principles (legality, necessity, proportionality and accountability) explained above [International human rights principles governing the use of force and fire- arms].

The levels of force in order of severity are officer presence, verbal commands, soft/hard controls, intermediate weapons, and lethal force.

The reasonableness of the use of force should also be evaluated by considering (1) the severity of the crime at issue, (2) whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others and (3) whether the suspect is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight.

The Graham Factors are Reasons for Using Force

They are not a complete list and all of the factors may not apply in every case. The Graham factors are the severity of the crime at issue; whether the suspect posed an immediate threat; and whether the suspect was actively resisting or trying to evade arrest by flight.

Any use of force by a law enforcement officer must be objectively reasonable and necessary under the circ*mstances. An officer's use of deadly force generally requires such force to be necessary in the face of an immediate threat of death or serious injury to the officer or others.

The U.S. Navy teaches a six-step model: Officer presence, Verbal commands, Soft controls, Hard controls, Intermediate Weapons, and Lethal force.

The principle of necessity has three interrelated elements: the duty to use non-violent means wherever possible; the duty to use force only for a legitimate law enforcement purpose; and the duty to use only the minimum necessary force that is reasonable in the prevailing circ*mstances.

Officers may use force only when no reasonably effective, safe, and feasible alternative appears to exist and may use only the level of force that a reasonable officer on the scene would use under the same or similar circ*mstances.

What is the use of force framework? ›

The National Use of Force Framework includes a graphical representation of the various elements involved in the process by which a police officer assesses a situation and acts in a reasonable manner to ensure officer and public safety.

To seize someone, an officer may yell “Stop!” The officer may use handcuffs, a baton, or firearm to make him stop. A seizure must be objectively reasonable – meaning reasonable in its inception, the degree of force used, and its duration.

The situations that police officers most likely to use force is arrests, disturbance, domestic, traffic stop, drunk/disorderly, and investigation. It has become too much when it catches the attention of the public, media, and legislators.

The debate over the causes of unlawful or unreasonable police use of force has focused on the role of (1) law enforcement agencies, in terms of training, supervision, and discipline of officers; in short, on the critical issue of agency and individual accountability, (2) the courts, in terms of remedies that are (or ...

The seminal case on the Use of Force is Graham v. Connor. In Graham, the Court held that the force must be objectively reasonable. Miller: Can we give our officers any type, any specific guidance about when deadly force is objectively reasonable?

In general, force may be used to protect oneself or others, to defend property, and to prevent the commission of a criminal act. The extent to which force may be used is restricted; no more force may be used than is reasonable under the circ*mstances.

Federal law enforcement agencies, legally part of the executive branch of the U.S. government, are independent of other law enforcement agencies and of legislative and judicial agencies (see Chapter 1). The following are among the major federal law enforcement agencies: • U.S. Marshal's Service.

Definition. In the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, violent crime is composed of four offenses: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Violent crimes are defined in the UCR Program as those offenses which involve force or threat of force.

A show of force is a military operation intended to warn (such as a warning shot) or to intimidate an opponent by showcasing a capability or will to act if one is provoked. Shows of force may also be executed by police forces and other armed, non-military groups.