Five Levels of Force

1. Officer Presence | The mere presence of a law enforcement officer works to deter crime or diffuse a situation.

2. Verbalization | Officers issue calm, nonthreatening commands, such as "Let me see your identification and registration."

3. Empty Hand Control | Officers use bodily force to gain control of a situation.

4. Less-Lethal Methods | Officers use less-lethal technologies to gain control of a situation.

5. Lethal Force | Officers use lethal weapons to gain control of a situation. Should only be used if a suspect poses a serious threat to the officer or another individual.

Three Levels of Vehicular Force

1. Low-Level Force | Stationary vehicle immobilization techniques (pinching).

2. Intermediate Force | PIT at speeds of 40 MPH or below.

3. Deadly Force | Ramming, regardless of speed, or PIT at speeds more than 40 MPH, or when employed against high center of gravity vehicles such as SUVs or vans.

Determining Appropriateness of Force - Totality of the Circumstances

Officers will only use a level of force that is objectively reasonable to bring an incident or persons under control and to safely accomplish a lawful purpose. An officer’s use of force must balance against the level of resistance exhibited by the subject. The level of force administered by an officer must be carefully controlled and should not be more than objectively reasonable to overcome the physical harm threatened. In a confrontation, an officer will continuously reassess their response and adjust any use of force accordingly based upon the level of resistance encountered. Failure to reassess each application of force can lead to a violation of law and/or policy. In choosing a force option, the nature and severity of the crime underlying the police and citizen interaction must be considered.

The United States Supreme Court’s decisions and interpretations of the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution state an officer shall only use such force as is “objectively reasonable” under all of the circumstances. The standard that courts use to examine whether a use of force is constitutional was first set forth in Graham v. Connor and expanded by subsequent court cases. The reasonableness of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a judicious officer on the scene, rather than with 20/20 vision of hindsight. The consideration must account for the fact that officers are often forced to make split-second judgments in circumstances that are tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving.

Objective factors that affect the reasonableness of the force include:

• The severity of the crime.

• Whether the subject poses an immediate threat to the safety of officers or others.

• Whether the subject is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight.

• The influence of drugs/alcohol or the mental capacity of the subject.

• The time available to an officer to make a decision.

• The availability of officers or resources (including the number of officers present at the time) to de-escalate the situation.

• The proximity or access of weapons to the subject.

• The environmental factors and/or other exigent circumstances.

De-escalation

Policing requires that at times an officer must exercise control of a violent or resisting subject to make an arrest or to protect the officer, other officers, or members of the community from risk of harm. Clearly, not every potential violent confrontation can be de-escalated, but officers do have the ability to impact the direction and the outcome of many situations based on their decision-making and the tactics they choose to employ. As a strategy to diminish the likelihood and the severity of force, officers will attempt to de-escalate confrontations.

When reasonable, officers should gather information about the incident, assess the risks, assemble resources and equipment, attempt to slow momentum and communicate and coordinate a response. Officers should start to develop a tactical plan prior to arriving at the scene and, when applicable, utilize intervention techniques by coordinating approaches to persons who are in crisis, are believed to be mentally ill, or have developmental disabilities. Where potential confrontations are anticipated, the deployment and use of low-lethality options should be evaluated. In responding as a team, officers should manage the containment or isolation of the subject. In their interaction with a subject, officers will, when feasible, use advisements, warnings, verbal persuasion, and other tactics as alternatives to higher levels of force. The use of cover, building more distance, or withdrawal to a more tactically secure position should be considered as options to help create time to diffuse a situation. Officers will perform their work in a manner that avoids unduly jeopardizing their safety or the safety of others through poor tactical decisions.

Supervisors will possess a thorough knowledge of tactics and ensure that officers under their supervision perform to a standard. The prospect of a favorable outcome is often enhanced when supervisors become involved in the management of the overall response to a potentially violent encounter by coordinating officers’ tactical actions. Supervisors will acknowledge and respond to incidents in a timely manner when officer use of reportable force is probable. Supervisors will also manage the deployment of resources and equipment. In dynamic and highly-charged incidents, supervisors will provide clear direction and communication to officers regarding their positioning and roles. Upon observing substandard officer approaches or flaws in tactical decisions, the supervisor will promptly act to correct any deficiencies.

At times, de-escalation may mean the timely and appropriate use of a lower force option to mitigate a later need to use greater force. Officers will make efforts to control a confrontation and not allow it to escalate.

Duty to Intervene

Any officer present and observing another officer using force that is clearly beyond what is objectively reasonable under the circumstances will, when in a safe position to do so, intercede to prevent the use of unreasonable force. The officer will promptly report these observations and the efforts made to intervene to a supervisor. If the observing officer is a supervisor, they will issue a direct order to stop the violation.

Medical Attention

Whenever an officer applies a use-of-force option upon a subject that results in observable signs of difficulty in breathing, a visible injury, or a complaint of injury, the officer will continuously monitor the subject and immediately summon medical attention. Officers will be mindful that persons who are in a prolonged physical encounter with officers may be at an increased risk of medical distress. Incidents involving these persons should be considered medical emergencies.