Use of Force and De-Escalation Flashcards
History and Development of the SCCJA Defensive Tactics
FBI/FLETC/GST/karate/ju-jitsu/wrestling/MMA
Components of Acceptability
Three Components:
- Tactical acceptability
- Medical acceptability
- Legal acceptability
Talk about Tactical acceptability
3-minute Rule, commonality of technique, stimulus-response-training (static, fluid, and dynamic)
Define gross motor skills
large muscle movement, explosive strength, 5 or fewer repetitions
Define fine motor skills
small muscle movement, dexterity and accuracy skills
Define complex motor skills
series of movements, hand/eye coordination
Define closed motor skill
fixed environment, it doesn’t change (dart throwing)
Define open motor skill
constantly changing environment (tennis/driving)
What hypothesis is used to determine the relationship between motor skills and stress?
the Inverted U Hypothesis
Talk about medical acceptability
HFRG System explored medical implications of each defensive technique… techniques are broken down into normal use (used at normal speed with no resistance) and accelerated use (full speed and full resistance)
Risk factors for SIDS (sudden in-custody death syndrome) are considered… place suspect in recovery position if necessary
Discuss legal acceptability
HFRG developed a force continuum based on existing non-lethal force and lethal force law… this continuum can be used in report writing and court testimony procedures to ensure that officers can defend their actions
Most common types of resistive behavior
- resistance from the escort position
- resistance while applying handcuffs
- passive resistance
- active aggression
Case Law applying to defensive tactics/force continuum
Graham v. Connor… “objective reasonableness”
Use of force guidelines under Graham v. Connor
- all force must be reasonable
- all force must be necessary
- officer’s actions will depend on the subject’s actions, variables/totality of the situation, and the officer’s knowledge of their own physical abilities
Levels of Resistance
- psychological intimidation (staring down/posturing)
- verbal noncompliance (verbal resistance/threats)
- passive resistance (dead weight)
- defensive resistance (actively resisting)
- active aggression (physical assault)
- deadly force assault
Levels of Control
- officer presence (identification of authority)
- verbal direction (commands meant to gain compliance/arrest)
- empty hand control (soft or hard)
- intermediate weapons
- deadly force
- de-escalation of force by officers
What case affects officers’ decision-making process with regards to intermediate weapons?
Estate of Ronald H. Armstrong v. Village of Pinehurst… basically said tasers cannot be used as a pain compliance tool and can only be used if the officer believes he or she is in immediate danger.
what is the last level of control?
“lethal force”
Elements of Deadly Force
Deadly Force (amount of force likely to cause great bodily harm)
Serious bodily injury (injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that causes death, serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of bodily member or organ)
What are the three requirements for the use of deadly force in self-defense?
- Ability (capability or means to cause great bodily harm/death)
- Opportunity (in a position to cause great bodily harm or death)
- Jeopardy (Intent… an overt threatening move or gesture that could cause great bodily harm or death)
What case law impacts the use of deadly force in law enforcement?
Tennessee v. Garner… lays out two specific justifications for the use of deadly force:
- to prevent death or serious injury to an officer or another
- to prevent escape if the officer reasonably believes the subject poses a deadly threat
Additional justifications:
- don’t unnecessarily endanger yourself or the public
- use verbal commands whenever feasible
Force continuum factors and reporting force
4 key factors:
- severity of crime
- whether the suspect poses an immediate threat
- whether the suspect is actively resisting arrest
- whether the suspect is attempting to evade arrest by flight
Additional factors used by courts when applying the standard of Graham v. Connor
- the number of suspects and officers involved
- size/age/gender and condition of officer and subject
- duration of action
- whether force applied resulted in injury
- previous violent history of the subject
- use of alcohol or drugs by the suspect
- suspect’s mental or psychiatric history
- the presence of innocent bystanders who might be harmed by force
- availability of officer weapons (IE intermediate weapons)
When should an officer write supplemental reports after being involved in a critical and/or violent incident?
after sleep and rest… 24 and 48-hour increments due to the effects of critical incident amnesia.
Principles of controlling resistive behavior
- pain compliance
- distraction technique
- balance displacement
- motor dysfunction
- stunning
Discuss pain compliance
use of stimulus pain to control resistive behavior
- stabilize body part
- pressure/counter pressure
- repetitive/loud verbal commands
- alleviate pressure when commands are obeyed
Discuss distraction technique
control techniques that weaken motor action by changing the thought process
- precede all escort position resistance
- primary distraction is the KNEE STRIKE
- distraction will take less than three seconds
- follow up control technique
Discuss strikes
- deliver to muscle mass
- fluid shock wave principle
- total hip rotation
- last 30 seconds to several minutes
discuss stunning
Stimulation of overwhelming sensory input
- last 3-7 seconds
- require immediate follow-up control
- monitor/care for suspect if unconsciousness occurs
Discuss balance displacement
control techniques that displace balance through principles of leverage
- distraction techniques also serve as balance displacement
- leverage used with pressure applied to the joints
- destroy the subject’s center
- officer must be aware of his/her own balance by controlling their own center
Stages of reaction time
- perception
- analyze/evaluate using all 5 senses
- formulate strategies to counter aggression
- initiate motor action (implement a response)
all these stages occur and are completed with seconds… in a non-stressful situation, reaction time takes from 0.5-2.0 SECONDS!
Discuss the autonomic nervous system
controls involuntary actions and is divided into two branches
- PNS (maintains homeostasis while we are at rest)
- SNS (maintains homeostasis during exercise/stress/emergency… FIGHT OR FLIGHT DIVISION… three E’s are “exercise, excitement, or emergency”)
SNS activation triggers
- objective threat perception
- objective fear perception
- physical exhaustion
- startle response
physiological changes that result from SNS activation
- adrenal activity
- vascular activity
- perceptual narrowing
SNS activation and combat performance
- vision (pupil dilation/tunnel vision/loss of monocular vision, loss of depth perception, etc)
- motor skills classification (ability to perform complex motor skills will be negatively affected by stress… gross can still be performed)
- Cognitive abilities (perceptual senses, memory framework, hypervigilance)
Discuss Hick’s Law
the time it takes for a person to make a decision as a result of the possible choices he/she has: increasing the number of choices will increase decision time
Triggers of PNS “backlash”
- threat perception diminishes
- perception of injury
- trauma to a vital system
- exhaustion of aerobic and anaerobic systems
symptoms of PNS “backlash”
- dizziness from the sudden drops in blood pressure and heart rate
- excessive bleeding
- symptoms of shock
- overwhelming sense of exhaustion
- excessive muscles tremors
effects of critical incident amnesia
temporary amnesia resulting from the activation of SNS
- memory before sleep includes general characteristics of the incident, weapon, and assailant
- memory after 1st sleep will increase by 50-90%
- memory after 2nd sleep is most complete and final
1st report should be verbal and labeled “preliminary”… supplemental report comes after 1st sleep, and final report comes after 2nd sleep
combat performance variables
- mindset (belief in mission, commitment to mission, willing to sacrifice, refusal to give up)
- motor skill selection (simplicity=confidence=fear management)
- nutrition and hydration (fatigue leads to fear, fear leads to SNS activation, eat slow-burning carbs, protein, hydrate)
- fitness (ATP/PC fuel source is limited to 10-15 seconds… once ATP/PC is depleted, performance drops 45% within 30 seconds)
- belief system (personal relationships, killing vs. murder, faith)
survival stress symptoms
rapid shallow breathing, cottonmouth, trembling, increased heart rate, sweaty palms, visual difficulty, loss of concentration, muscle tension, dizziness, nausea, guts in knots, goose bumps, tingling sensation, insensitive to pain, jumpy, urge to pee, urge to poop, loss of fine and complex motor skills, increase in gross motor skills
methods to reduce survival stress effects
- confidence factor (training to increase confidence, stimulus-response training)
- motor skill selection (gross whenever possible, minimize the number of response options)
- tactical breathing to control heart rate
- visualization drills (prepare you for combat, reduce anxiety, tunes the nervous system to enhance reaction time)
- faith factor (creates a state of mind that controls escalating heart rates when confronted with imminent danger)
Various positions of fighting platform
- interview stance (feet shoulder width apart, gun-side foot back 1/2 step, all weapons toward target, hands above belt, support hand in front of strong hand)
- High Ready stance (widen interview stance, lower center, flex knees, extend hands away from body and shoulder height, palms forward)
Weapons available in the fighting platform principle of all weapons towards target
- empty hand control
- intermediate weapons
- firearms
Moving from fighting platform
always move the foot closest to the direction you are going first… moving forward, step with front foot, moving backwards, step with rear foot, etc.
The tactical “L” pattern of movement is a combination of rearward and lateral movement… at least two steps to the rear and at least two steps laterally
different levels of tactical positioning
- frontal position
- frontal oblique
- neutral position (beside suspect)
- rear oblique
- rear position
Discuss reactionary gap
safety zone between officer and suspect that affords the officer time to react to an act of aggression… AVERAGE IS 6 FEET/DOUBLE ARM’S LENGTH… THIS DISTANCE CAN CHANGE DEPENDING ON IF THE SUSPECT HAS A WEAPON AND WHAT THAT WEAPON IS
Explain the importance of effective communicatio
conflict is a normal part of a police officer’s world… how we manage conflict is key. CONFLICT CAN BE POSITIVE.
Who is the father of modern public speaking?
Aristotle… he identified three pillars of ETHOS, LOGOS, AND PATHOS
Discuss those three pillars
- Ethos (character or presentation and provides credibility through impression and action)
- Logos (reason or logical appeal)
- Pathos (emotional appeal)
Discuss police legitimacy
authority, policies, and decision-making are believed to be unbiased and morally justified… it is impossible to effectively protect and serve a community that does not cooperate… we need the community to want to follow the law even when we are not present
Sir Robert Peel is the father of modern policing…
established the proactive, non-military Bobbies… “The Peelian Principles”
- 3rd principle… police must secure willing cooperation of the public
- 4th principle… degree of public cooperation diminishes proportionately to the necessity of the use of physical force
- 6th principle… police use physical force only to the extent necessary to secure observance of the law and restoration of order only when persuasion, advice, and warning fail to be effective
empathy vs. sympathy
- empathy = understanding feelings/reasoning
- sympathy = affinity/association/relationship with persons or things
Hypervigilance
elevated level of alertness, everything is perceived as a potential threat, sympathetic branch of the nervous system (fight or flight) increases function…
downside of hypervigilance… when off duty, the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system kicks in and the officer experiences biological homeostasis (exhaustion, isolation, apathy, anger)
how to avoid hypervigilance
- do not overinvest professionally
- continue hobbies and passions
- keep friends outside of law enforcement
triggers and hot buttons
treat all people how we would want to be treated… NO BIAS… dignity is our inherent value as humans
tactics that demonstrate respect
- use empathy
- listen with all 5 senses
- request actions (DON’T COMMAND) and answer questions
- offer options and allow choices
- give opportunity for reconsideration and second chances
two main kinds of triggers in conflict
- Universal (same for everyone)
2. Personal
How to avoid being roped-in or triggered
- keep your emotional equilibrium or balance, remain calm
- build trigger guards… don’t take things personally
- take responsibility for your own behavior… be self-aware enough to know your own hot buttons
ALSO BE AWARE OF OTHER PEOPLE’S TRIGGERS AND AVOID CREATING JEOPARDY.
Preparing for an encounter
- take a deep breath
- adopt a confident demeanor
- put on the appropriate facial expression
- use positive self-talk
- step on stage… you are in the spotlight
- perception is everything
- be aware of your body language
- prepare a relevant greeting
- listen to the person
reacting to a verbal conflict
- block and deflect (acknowledge what was said and move back to the relevant issue, divert attention away from the trigger and back to facts with a helpful deflection phrase)
- don’t let your partner get trapped in a disadvantageous verbal conflict
Special circumstances (juveniles)
Juveniles… 24 and younger… reduced neurological function in the area of the brain that controls behavior and greater activity in the area that associates external stimuli with emotional responses… they react emotionally and irrationally
juvenile life revolves around four needs:
- love and belonging
- power and importance
- fun and pleasure
- freedom and choice
Adult tactics can sometimes escalate juveniles
Special circumstances (mental illness/those in crisis)
always remain calm, they may expect you to get angry, yell, and get aggressive… categorize the person as emotionally disturbed person (EDP) as MAD, BAD, OR SAD
MAD
serious mental illness/not currently compliant with medications… no large groups of officers, reduce lights and noise, don’t challenge their beliefs BUT ALSO DON’T ENCOURAGE THEM
BAD
character disorders… narcissists and self-absorbed
- play their ego
- do not attempt to misrepresent your intentions
- try to give them a save-face option so their ego is not hurt
SAD
depressed people…
- bluntly ask if they are going to kill themselves
- don’t minimize their pain
- give glimmers of hope to break their tunnel vision
- self-disclose if you are comfortable
- remember they don’t want to die, they just want to end their pain
