Use of Force
Use of force
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Physical force used infrequently
– Actual prevalence is uncertain as
much policing is done in private
– Officers may downplay or not
report
– Citizens may not report or might exaggerate
Most use of force is at lower end of scale
Most use of force occurs during arrests
“Split-second syndrome”
– An explanation or an excuse?
– Police Issues “Making Time”
Police culture and
officer characteristics
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Police culture
– “Whatever it takes”, “Don’t back down”
– Losing face
Many excessive force complaints involve persons
already in custody
– Officers can fail to restrain or complain about colleagues
Race and ethnicity
– Historical abuses of minorities and the poor
– But -- research suggests that race and ethnicity of officers and suspects do not
influence use of force
Belief that relatively few officers account for most of the use of force
– “Violence-prone” officers: myth or reality?
Gender
– Use of force more likely when officer and suspect are both males
Is social class important?
– Nature of officers, antagonists and encounters in lower class areas
Law on use of force
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Must act reasonably - actions cannot violate law or “clearly
established” legal precedent
Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (US Supreme Court, 1989)
– Claims of excessive force are evaluated by the Fourth
Amendment's "reasonableness" standard: were the officers'
actions "objectively reasonable" in light of the facts and
circumstances at the time?
– The "reasonableness" must be judged from the perspective of a
reasonable officer on the scene
– There must be an allowance for the fact that police officers are
often forced to make split-second decisions
LAPD use of force policy
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Force may be used to...
– Defend officer or others
– Make an arrest or detention
– Prevent escape
– Overcome resistance
Force used must be “objectively reasonable” per Graham
Some factors to consider
– Seriousness of crime
– Level of resistance
– Threat of suspect to officers and public
– Potential of injury to officers, suspect & public
– Presence of weapons
– Relative physical attributes & level of exhaustion of officer and suspect
Use of force continuum
LOW
Verbal commands
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Use of hands, chemical agents
INTERMEDIATE
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Punching
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Canine
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Baton, impact weapons, less-than-lethal projectiles (i.e., rubber bullets,
bean-bags)
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Taser
LETHAL
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Any object or projectile of significant mass that forcefully strikes the head
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Firearms
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Less than lethal force
Kicking and punching
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Are kicking and punching
legitimate tactics?
– Should they be?
– If so, under what
circumstances?
Were they necessary in these
cases?
– Do the videos provide
sufficient info?
– What other tools and
techniques are available?
Inglewood incident
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In July 2002 an Inglewood police officer was
caught on an amateur video slamming a
handcuffed black youth against a patrol car
and punching him.
The youth had been arrested for allegedly
interfering during a traffic stop of the car his father was driving.
Two white officers were tried.
– One officer was acquitted of falsifying a police report and was reinstated.
– Charges of assault against a second officer were dismissed after juries
deadlocked twice (7-5 for conviction, then 6-6). The officer was fired.
– A black officer was also disciplined.
– Both white officers later won a lawsuit against the city for reverse
discrimination and were awarded a total of more than $1.5 million. The city
then sued the law firm it had retained to handle the case for incompetence.
In January 2010 DOJ demanded use of force reforms by Inglewood PD, calling
its rules outdated and internal investigations deeply flawed
Videotaped Officer Won't Be Charged
The decision was denounced by minority leaders and L.A. Mayor Hahn
After a five-month review, the LA District Attorney
concluded that there wasn't enough evidence to
charge Officer John Hatfield, who struck suspect
Stanley Miller 11 times with a 2-pound steel flashlight
after a June 23, 2004 car-and-foot chase in South L.A.
"In light of the totality of the circumstances facing
Officer Hatfield, we cannot establish beyond a reasonable
doubt that [his] actions were without legal necessity," said
Deputy D.A. Margo Baxter.
Miller, who is black, was beaten on the ground after he
appeared to surrender. The arrest, which was videotaped
by television news helicopters, was compared to the 1991
beating of Rodney King. Hatfield, who is Hispanic, ran up
and joined other officers who had pushed Miller to the
ground at the end of a foot chase.
Officer Hatfield was fired by LAPD Chief Bratton after a
three-officer police board of rights found that the one kick,
11 flashlight blows and five knee blows demonstrated that
the officer was “at best, out of control.”
Chief Bratton said this type of flashlight would be “phased
out. In November 2006 Miller’s civil rights lawsuit was
settled by Los Angeles for $450,000.
Officers often respond
emotionally
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Appearances are important
What we can realistically expect?
– From officers?
– From citizens?
Are there limits to training and rulemaking?
– Uncertain and threatening environment
– Impact of chases and critical incidents
Dispassionate oversight is often required
– Supervisors can’t do their jobs if they’re
(a) unavailable or (b) always want to be
liked
– Command staff must be present
whenever there is the possibility of a
confrontation between officers and
multiple citizens
2009 New School sit-in
Birmingham
incident
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On 1/23/08 a man being questioned
about drug dealing by Birmingham
(Alabama) police took off, leading
officers on a long chase. One cop
was struck and injured.
After 22 minutes the suspect’s vehicle rolled. The man was ejected and
knocked unconscious. Five officers pounced on him, kicking and beating him
with a club and fists.
The suspect pled guilty to felony assault and is serving a ten-year term. The
beating was covered up for over a year. On May 19, 2009 five officers were
fired for unnecessary and excessive force and face prosecution. Other
officers who helped in the cover-up also face discipline.
El Monte incident
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On 5/13/09 El Monte PD pursued a vehicle
that did not yield for a traffic stop. It was
occupied by three gang members.
During a slow-speed part of the chase one
of the gang members exited the vehicle and gave himself up. The others
remained in the car until it crashed some time later into a parked car. The
passenger surrendered; the driver, Richard Rodriguez, a parolee at large, ran
off.
Rodriguez was eventually cornered and lay down. Newscopter video depicts
an El Monte police officer, gun drawn, approaching Rodriguez. The officer
kicks Rodriguez for no obvious reason, striking him in the head. Other
officers then arrive and Rodriguez is handcuffed.
Police Issues “Kicking a Suspect When He’s Down”
Taser spurs two opinions -are they contradictory?
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Bryan v. McPherson & Coronado P.D. (9th. Circuit, no. 08-55622, 12/28/09)
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Shortly after getting a speeding ticket a young man was pulled over for not wearing a seat belt.
He was wearing nothing other than boxer shorts.
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He stepped outside his car. He was clearly agitated but not threatening anyone. From about
20 feet away a police officer ordered him back into the car. When he didn’t the officer fired a
Taser without warning. The man fell and was injured.
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The man sued under 42 USC 1983. The District judge ruled that the officer was not entitled to
qualified immunity because a reasonable officer would know that the force (Taser was called
“intermediate”) was clearly excessive. The Ninth Circuit agreed.
Mattos v. Agarano (9th. Circuit, no. 08-15567, 1/12/10)
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Officers responded to a family fight. They encountered a drunk husband and a sober wife.
When they stepped in to arrest the husband, the wife wound up in the middle.
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The arresting officer bumped against the wife. She raised her palms to keep the officer away,
touching him in the process. The officer stepped back and tased her.
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The man and wife sued under 42 USC 1983. The District judge denied qualified immunity
and let the case to go forward. The Ninth Circuit overruled, saying that under the
circumstances and close quarters the use of force was reasonable.
Deadly force
Justifiable homicide generally
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California Penal Code, sec. 196, homicide by public officers
– When necessarily committed in overcoming actual resistance to
execution of legal process, or in the discharge of a legal duty
– When necessarily committed in retaking felons who have escaped, or
when necessarily committed to arrest persons charged with felony, and
who are fleeing or resisting
California Penal Code, sec. 197, homicide by any person
– When resisting any attempt to murder any person, or to commit a felony,
or to do some great bodily injury upon any person
– When necessary to arrest for a felony, or in lawfully suppressing any riot,
or in lawfully keeping and preserving the peace
BUT: Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (US Supreme Court, 1985)
– Cannot use deadly force to apprehend escaping suspects unless they pose
a threat of serious injury to the officer or other persons
LAPD policy on using deadly force
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Protect officers or others from imminent threat of death or serious bodily
injury; or,
Prevent a crime that poses imminent jeopardy of death or serious bodily
injury; or,
Prevent the escape of a violent fleeing felon if there is probable cause to
believe the escape will pose a significant threat of death or serious bodily
injury to the officer or others
– Attempt must be made to avoid injuring or killing innocent persons
Warning shots require exceptional justification
No shooting from or at moving vehicles except in immediate defense of life
– Getting out of the way is the best response
US DOJ policy on use of deadly force:
Fleeing suspects
“Deadly force may be used to prevent
the escape of a fleeing subject if there
is probable cause to believe: (1) the
subject has committed a felony
involving the infliction or threatened
infliction of serious physical injury or
death, and (2) the escape of the subject
would pose an imminent danger of
death or serious physical injury to the
officer or to another person.”
Armed carjacker pursued by several agencies. He bails out, runs away, is pursued
by a police officer on foot. Officer shoots and kills the suspect, whom he said turned
at him a pointed the pistol. The weapon is recovered at the scene.
Some situations are ambiguous
Parolee suspected in jewelry thefts drives off with associate as plainclothes
deputies prepare to serve a search warrant at his residence. Deputies chase parolee,
shoot and kill him when he bangs up police cars and refuses to surrender.
Passenger is arrested. He allegedly tells police that he and the driver knew it was
the cops. Passenger later became a suspect in the thefts and a fugitive.
L.A. Times, 12/9/05
Information processing in
rapidly shifting situations
Constraints on decision-making
• Confusion and uncertainty
• Fear and excitement
• Limited information
• Lack of time to gather and analyze
information, review options and make
an informed decision
• Police Issues: “Making Time”
Could deadly force have been used? Should it have been used? If so, at what
point(s)? What would be the justification?
Three NYPD
detectives indicted
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On 11/25/06 five NYPD detectives, two white and
three black, shot 50 rounds at a vehicle occupied by
three unarmed black men, killing Sean Bell, a 23year old man on his wedding day, and seriously
wounding his companions.
One detective fired 31 shots, reloading once. The
detectives, members of a night club squad, thought
that one or two of the men were armed and that a
shot had been fired.
Officers approached the car and ordered the men to
exit. Instead the driver, Sean Bell, gunned it
forward, striking an officer in the leg and a police
van. Bell was legally drunk.
Two officers were indicted for manslaughter, one for
reckless endangerment.
In April 2008 the officers were tried by a judge and
acquitted. The judge said that he did not believe the
victim’s witnesses, in part because they had records
and had changed their stories.
LAPD Shooting of
Devin Brown
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On 2/6/05 an LAPD officer shot and killed
Devin Brown at the end of an early-morning
pursuit. The 13-year old was driving a stolen
car while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
After stopping Brown jammed his car in reverse and backed up, striking the
police car.
The officer said he fired because he thought that Brown was trying to crush him.
A late-coming witness said that the officer, who had exited his car, was nearly
“sandwiched”, leapt out of the way at the last moment and instantly began
firing.
On 12/5/05 the L.A. County DA issued a detailed report on the incident. The
DA refused to charge the officer, concluding that his use of force was not
unreasonable under the circumstances.
The shooting was later determined to be “in policy” by Chief Bratton, who said
the officer was defending himself. But Chief Bratton was overruled by the L.A.
Police Commission, which determined the shooting was unnecessary.  
Chief Bratton and the Police
Commission disagree
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Chief Bratton ruled that the shooting
was consistent with department
policy, which allows officers to shoot
at a vehicle if it presents an
immediate danger. The D.A. declined
to file charges against the officer.
Later, on 1/31/06, the LA Police
Commission voted 4-1 that the officer
who shot Devin Brown violated
departmental policy. It based its
decision on a reconstruction showing
that the rounds entered the car at an
angle, placing the officer to its side.
John Mack was appointed
Chairperson of the Commission after
the shooting. A “civil rights activist
and long-time LAPD critic,” he had
already criticized the officer’s actions.
Airman shot by San Bernardino deputy
On January 29, 2005 a 21-year old passenger was
shot by a SBSO deputy after the vehicle he was
in crashed during a pursuit.
Witnesses say that a deputy ordered Elio Carrion,
21, an Air Force security officer, to the ground
and that Carrion complied. There is confusion
about what happened later, but a grainy videotape
made by an onlooker suggests that Carrion was
told to get up. When he did so, the deputy fired,
striking Carrion three times.
Carrion will recover. The videotape recorded Carrion’s pre-shooting comments that he was
“on the deputy’s side”, expletives shouted by the deputy, and Carrion’s protests after he was
shot that he was complying with the deputies.
Deputies were trying to stop the Corvette for speeding. Its driver has an extensive driving
record. Neither he nor Carrion were armed or wanted.
The officer, Deputy Ivory Webb, was tried for attempted voluntary manslaughter. He was
acquitted. During trial an expert defense witness gave examples of officers behaving oddly
during a crisis: “Their analytical process began to collapse. They had so much to do that,
literally, they were overloaded.”
“Contagion” shootings
Riverside PD shooting
of Tyisha Miller
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In December 1998 four Riverside PD officers
responded to a citizen in distress call. They
found a black 19-year old woman in the
driver’s seat of a parked car, foaming at the
mouth and apparently unconscious. A handgun was in her lap.
The car was locked and the officers couldn’t get the woman to respond so
they decided to break in. As they tried the woman suddenly woke up. One or
more officers thought that she went for her gun and fired. So did the others.
In all they fired 24 rounds. Half struck the woman, instantly killing her.
The shooting provoked great anger. The four officers were fired along with
their Sergeant, who made inappropriate comments about black persons.
The D.A. refused to prosecute. The California Atty. General had Riverside
PD placed under court supervision to improve training, tactics and equipment.
Steps were taken to improve community relations. A new chief was hired.
Each officer sued. Three were reinstated and given disability retirements.
The other two, both probationers, were not reinstated.
L.A. County Sheriff’s
Dept., Compton
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On May 9, 2005 LASD deputies
approached the victim’s vehicle while
investigating a shots fired call.
The victim, a multi-convicted felon who was unarmed but on drugs, panicked
and led officers on a slow-speed chase through a residential area of Compton.
His path blocked, the victim tried to drive around a police car while a dozen
deputies approach on foot. They opened fire -- each deputy said he was
protecting another from being potentially run down.
Ten deputies fired a total of one-hundred twenty shots were fired by ten
deputies. Nine struck the victim. Sixty-six struck his vehicle. Eleven hit other
deputies’ vehicles. Eleven struck residences.
Sheriff Baca disciplined the deputies for their uncontrolled fire.
A civil jury awarded the victim $1,326,468 for excessive force.
Police Pursuit
Police Pursuit
• Hurtling down the
street in a 4,500 pound
block of steel is a use
of force.
• It differs from other
uses of force in its
potential effects on
innocent persons.
• Can this particular
use of force ever be
“reasonable”?
Eight dead in Dinuba
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On 8/8/09 Dinuba police tried to pull
over a Dodge Neon with three
occupants for a traffic infraction.
The vehicle sped away, with police in pursuit. The chase left the city
and entered rural roads. The truck blew two stop signs. At the second
it collided with a pickup truck carrying a family of two adults and four
children ages 1 - 7. None of the children were secured and all were
ejected.
All three occupants of the Dodge Neon were killed, along with the
four children. One adult occupant of the truck was killed and the
other was left in critical condition.
It turns out that the Dodge Neon had been carjacked the previous
evening.
Pursuit policies
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USA Today (4/23/10) In 2008, 334 persons, including 94 bystanders, were
killed in police pursuits according to the NHTSA.
– No systematic nationwide tally; crashes after police stop aren’t counted
– Pursuit policies around the country vary greatly
LAPD (relatively permissive policy)
– Nature of crime
 Can pursue misdemeanor and felony suspects trying to avoid arrest
 Cannot pursue solely for an infraction or misdemeanor evading or
reckless driving
– Other considerations
 Seriousness of offense in terms of community safety
 Risk to public by pursuing
 Traffic, weather
 Can violator be apprehended later?
– Field units must assume secondary role when air unit arrives
Pursuit policies (cont’d)
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New Jersey (relatively restrictive policy)
– Nature of crime
 Serious crimes punishable by at least five years in prison, OR
 Person poses an immediate threat to the safety of police or the public
 No pursuit for traffic violations unless meets the “threat”
requirement
– Other considerations
 Road and weather conditions
 Likelihood of capture without pursuing
 Degree of risk to the public by pursuing
– Must terminate pursuit if...
 Ordered by a supervisor
 Unreasonable danger to police or public
 Violator has been identified and can arrest later