APD Zone 2 Fangirl Report – Use Of Force
So after my ride along I am all jacked up and ready for class!
It started off with some general chatter from everyone about their ride along experiences – mine was BY FAR the most exciting! Oh wait – I guess that isn’t a list I really should be excited about being at the top of… oops.
This class was all about the rules surrounding use of deadly force and it got testy between the “cadets” and the instructor and between the “cadets” too. The bottom line is that the rules of engagement are clear-ish, but very broadly written to allow officers discretion and the outcomes of that can conflict with some people’s sense of morality/personal opinions. Take that – wrap it up in the messed-up media world we live in and top it off with our incredibly litigious nature in the US and you have the polarization over policing that we have seen so clearly in the last several years.
Let’s talk numbers first.
- ~330,000,000 residents in US
- ~670,000 police officers in the US
- ~100,000,000 police encounters each year
- ~10-12,000,000 arrests each year
- ~1,000 used deadly force (250 blacks /400ish whites)
Now let’s talk research. According to our instructor a 2019 study of police shootings done by Harvard found there was no racial disparity in police shootings
For those of you who want a little more depth in the rules – please read on. (please note this is paraphrasing really long laws)
There are three levels of guidance relating to use of force:
- Supreme Court / Federal Level laws
- State Rules (further define and add on to federal laws)
- Department Operating Procedures (SOPs) (further establish how individual departments are going to operate within the parameters of federal and state laws)
Federal: Something called “The Graham Factors” are used to determine when the use of lethal force is justified. They are:
- Severity of the crime
- Whether there is an immediate threat to life of officer or third party
- Whether suspect is resisting arrest
- Whether the suspect is attempting to flee
Over the years, these considerations have been added:
- Whether suspect is on alcohol or drugs
- What weapons are available (lots of stuff can become a deadly weapon)
- Skill level of the officer and suspect
- Weather
- Lighting (day/night)
- Population density (people around that can get hurt)
- Knowledge of the area
- Whether innocent bystanders are present
- Availability of backup
- Accessibility of weapons
- Knowledge, training experience (KTE)
- Size, age, condition of officer and suspect
- Duration of action
- Number of suspects
- Pre-assault indicators (things suspect does / says that indicate something is about to go down)
- Known history of the suspect
State laws essentially say an officer is justified to use lethal force when he / she reasonably believes their life or the life of a third party is at risk or if there is a threat of great bodily harm or injury which includes:
- Death
- Unconsciousness
- Extreme physical pain
- Disfigurement
- Loss or limb or organ
- Vegetative state
APD’s Standard Operating Procedures say officers follow the federal and state laws but in addition:
- De-escalation techniques are to be used first (KUDOS TO APD FOR PUTTING THIS IN PLACE – APPARENTLY THERE IS NOT A LAW THAT SAYS IT)
- Officers are permitted to protect themselves from harm to affect an arrest
- Officers must use city issued weapons only
- Officers do everything possible to gain voluntary compliance from the suspect prior to use of force
- When all hell breaks loose, the officer can use anything necessary as a weapon (definitely paraphrasing here!)
- Officers should not use choke holds unless to protect themselves, they have no weapons and it is the last resort (I.e, all hell breaks loose)
- If an officer observes another officer using excessive force they are required to intercede and report it.
Summing it up: The use of deadly force is a damned if you do, damned if you don’t proposition.
