Use of force

[v0lcomguy]

I am a college student conducting research on the use of force (deadly and non-deadly) and had some questions.

Does your department have specific continuum's of force and if so what are they?

Can you cite some instances of when you have had to use various levels of force?

Do you feel there is a need for review boards (internal and civilian) and why?

If any of this is out of line or inappropriate I apologise. Also if you know where I can find more information on the subject I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks - Drew

[MORA Ranger]

Check this out, California Peace officers use of force explained:
http://www.cpoa.org/Publications/Sam...of_force.shtml

[Kenpokev]

Yes:
Officer presence, Verbal Commands, Physical Restraints, Mechanical, Chemical-electronic, Lethal.
Yes, inmate swung fist, I placed inmate on the floor, typed report, repeat
No for minor, all agencies I'm familiar with review lethal.

[scott715us]

I assume most force continuums within depts are pretty similar, no matter what the state.

It would be safe to say that all LE agencies have a force continuum in the SOP's/SOG's, and probably most have a "use of force" report that has to be completed if any type of physical force is used. Most depts will do everything to cover their *** so when these jackasses try to sue for getting their butt handed to them, we are 100% correct in the amount of force used to gain control of the subject to effect the arrest. ;)

[Joeyd6]

a) Use of force is pretty standard in most places:
Presence, Verbal, Physical, Mace/Tazer/Impact Weapon, Deadly Physical Force
b) Officers use force every day. From just parking the car next to the kids making noise on the corner to wresting a perp and macing them. There are multiple incidents a day. I could go on for hours.
c) There will always be review boards, internal and external. There is not much I can say about internal ones. External ones I have issue with. They need to be run fairly, and THERE MUST BE PENALTIES FOR FALSE COMPLIANTS OR ALLEGATIONS made by the public against an officer. They also should not be able to make complaints for BS...like "he was rude" or "he did not answer my question." Grow up. I am doing a job. And if you are interacting with me, 80% of the time it is because YOU called me for a problem, or YOU are a problem somebody called me about. I am fed up with BS complaints...that end up on a record as "unsubstantiated" by the board, when they were BS to begin with. Liek what? How about pulling a driver over for being on their cell phone and having objects hanging from thier mirror? Then..their license is suspened. So you go up to arrest them and say "Step out of teh car plase?" and they argue. Then you go to cuff them and they say "I am not waeinr those." And it goes on and on about not being a criminal and how they are not getting into the cell, etc... Then they eventually calm down and ask to explain thier story. Still being polite I listen and spend 45 minutes investigating...and find that their situation is unique and I could just issue summonses and let them out. So I do such...despite their crap. Then...I get the complaint..."discourteous and unprofessional." Why? Because I did not say "please" get out of the car. What does the review board say? Lets just say it was like a federal investigation and teh results are crap! This is just one of many examples of how a poorly run review board and a liberal public can waste $ on cases that should not even be entertained. External review boards need to be 100% independant, a background check on all members, be thoroughly trained and have serious consequences for those filing false or exaggerated complaints.

I feel much better now!

[rdp]

The first level of force in almost every continuum is presence.

So, yes, we use it every day. Without presence, we wouldn't be there;)