Use of Force Flashcards
What is the overall policy of the Department in regards to use of force?
It is the poicy of this department that officers hold the highest regard for the dignity and liberty of all persons, and place minimal reliance upon the use of force.
Define Approved Weapons
Approved weapons are those weapons meeting department specifications for which officers receive proficiency and safety training.
Define Blocking
Blocking is the positioning of a police vehicle in the path of an occupied subject vehicle where contact between the vehicles is not anticipated or is anticipated to be minimal. The intent of blocking is to prevent an avenue of escape by the safe placement of a police vehicle.
Define Cuffing Under Power
Cuffing under power is a tactic where a secondary officer handcuffs a subject while ECD (being deployed by the primary officer)is cycling and the subject is in Neuro-Muscular Incapacitation.
What is the Critical Incident Review Team?
The Critical Incident Review Team (CIRT) is a team put in place to conduct an administrative examination of uses of deadly force and other high-risk police operations, for the purpose of improving both individual and the agency’s performance.
Define Deadly Force
Deadly force is that degree of force, which is likely to produce death or serious bodily injury. Deadly Force can also result from a force option being improperly applied. Deadly force is not limited to the use of firearms.
Describe the ECD and its deployments.
The ECD is a Neuro-Muscular Incapacitation device that stimulates the motor nuerons to contract disrupting the communication from the brain to the muscles thereby causing temporary motor skill dysfunction. It can be deployed as a Spark Display, Touch Stun, or Probe Mode.
What is the Fatal Detail?
A section of the Traffic Bureau who conducts or assists in investigations related to uses of force with a vehicle which may cause serious bodily injury, or result in death.
What are Force Transitions?
The movement, escalation/de-escalation, from the application of one force type to another in conjunction with the “objectively reasonable” standard from Graham v. Connor, 490 US 386 (1989). The officer must consider all the factors prior to using force and choose a reasonable option based on the “totality of the circumstances” present.
What is the Force Investigation Team
The Force Investigation Team (FIT) conducts criminal investigation to determine whether the use of deadly force was legally justified under criminal law. FIT also directs the investigation against a subject who either committed crimes which led to the use of deadly force or who has committed crimes against an officer.
Define Imminent Threat
“Imminent Threat” refers to an impending violent act or resistance that an officer reasonably believes will occur, based on the totality of the circumstances.
Define Intermediate Force
A level of force which is not likely nor intended to cause injury or substantial pain, but is greater than Low-Level Force.
Who are Involved Officers?
A commissioned officer or supervisor, who participated in , directed or influenced the application of the use of force.
What is Lateral Vascular Neck Restraint?
LVNR is a specific method of applying pressure to the side of a subject’s neck to overcome resistance and allow safe control. This technique is used only in accordance with official departmental training and policy.
What are Levels of Control?
Levels of control are broad categories of influence and/or force in identifiable escalating stages of intensity. They are identified as low level force, intermediate force, and deadly force.
What is Low Level Force?
Low level force is a level of force or control that is neither likely nor intended to cause injury.
What is Non-Deadly Force?
Non-deadly force is the level of force require to compel compiance, which is not intended to, and is not known to create a substantial risk of causing death or serious bodily harm.
Define Officer-Involved Shooting?
An officer-involved shooting is an officer’s discharge of a firearm at a person, with or without physical injury or the death of the person.
What is an Officer Witness Monitor?
An officer witness monitor is a designated officer who is not involved in the use of deadly force. The responsibilities of the Officer Witness Montior are to observe and prevent discussions regarding the incident among involved officers and witnesses.
What is an Other Firearm Discharge?
An “other firearm discharge” is an unintentional discharge of a firearm that does not cause injury or death to a person or the intentional shooting at, injuring, or killing animals.
What is the Precision Intervention Technique?
The PIT is a specific manner of intentional contact using a police vehicle against a fleeing vehicle to cause the fleeing vehicle to come to a stop; this technique is used only in accordance with official department training and policy.
What is a Public Safety Statement (PSS)
The PSS is a series of questions to obtain information to determine if there is an immediate threat to public safety and must be taken in a timely manner. (An example would be shots fired by an officer or subject in the direction where the public may be in immediate danger.) The supervisor must take appropriate action to ensure public safety, based on the information received from the PSS
What is Ramming?
The use of a vehicle to intentionally hit another vehicle, outside the approved PIT, blocking and stationary vehicle immobilization policies. Ramming is prohibited unless it is a deadly force situation which can be clearly articulated.
Define Reasonable Force
Reasonable force is an objective standard of force viewed from the perspective of a reasonable officer, without the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, and based on the totality of the circumstances presented at the moment the force is used.
