![]() For example, policies should instruct officers not to shoot at or from moving vehicles except under extreme, life-threatening circumstances that are not avoidable. Certain other practices should be curtailed to ensure the sanctity of life. Using chokeholds, strangleholds, or any other carotid restraints should be banned, unless deadly force is necessary. Departments should emphasize scenario-based training. ![]() Some departments have adopted a use of force continuum or matrix to help their training programs these may be helpful, so long as they are used as training tools and instruct officers that these are critical decision-making guides, not rigid response requirements. Police departments should provide their officers with specific guidance as to the appropriate level of force based on the resistance encountered. ![]() Officers should continually reassess the situation, recognizing that force may be appropriate at one moment but not seconds later due to changed dynamics. Use of Forceĭepartment policies and training programs should specify that officers use only the minimal amount of force necessary to safely resolve an incident and that they should exhaust all alternatives, including providing a verbal warning when possible, before using deadly force. Policies and training practices should also emphasize that officers should resolve conflicts in a safe and humane manner and, where possible, redirect people facing mental illness, intense personal distress, or substance abuse to appropriate mental and behavioral health services instead of pushing them into the criminal justice system. Policies, reinforced by training for officers and supervisors, should both guide officers on what to do-including using alternatives to force when possible, exerting the minimum amount of force when force is needed, and continually seeking to de-escalate-as well as set out specific prohibitions consistent with the duty to protect all human life. A commitment to using the least force necessary to achieve lawful objectives is a fundamental use of force restraint principle which departments should embrace as a best practice. ![]() Police departments’ policies should consistently emphasize that the sanctity of life is a central principle of policing. Use of force policies and training must also include, but not be limited to: bans on chokeholds or any other carotid restraints de-escalation and critical incident training peer intervention to prevent misconduct bans on shooting at moving vehicles except under extreme circumstances where a life is at risk limitations on car pursuits to avoid death or great bodily harm and defined parameters for foot pursuits, among other things. Officers must have the tools and judgment to differentiate circumstances that do not warrant the use of force. It is critical that we ensure that officers are properly trained to value the sanctity of life and only use the minimum amount of force necessary, if any, to accomplish lawful objectives. To ingrain this fundamental principle, use of force policies must clearly state this requirement, with specificity, and require officers to intervene when a fellow officer is using disproportionate or unnecessary force.Īs is often stated, just because one can use force, does not mean that it should be used. At the core of a police officer’s responsibilities is the duty to protect all human life and physical safety.
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