The basic rule of law regarding the use of force is that any use of force must be objectively reasonable under the totality of the circumstances in which it is employed.1 This has not changed. However, what the courts are willing to consider when determining reasonableness appears to be expanding.2 With this in mind, police agencies must be cognizant of what factors to consider when using, documenting, and investigating force. Assuming officers should or will receive the benefit of the doubt in a use-of-force encounter is no longer a sound strategy, if it ever was. The spectrum of circumstances that could impact a use-of-force incident are far too numerous for one article. Hence, this column reviews some general factors to help frame a review of agencies’ current practices.
Chief’s Counsel: Reviewing Use-of-Force Practices
Read More
Share
Training remains one of policing’s strongest legal safeguards, if properly vetted and supported by policy....
Share
Lawyers play a critical role in policing. The benefits an attorney brings to a police agency extend far beyond defending officers in civil suits. Agency lawyers can be vital to every facet of the prof...
Share
Much avoidable policing liability does not begin with bad intent. It begins with answering the wrong question.
Officers, supervisors, and chiefs are often asked after the fact to explain why...
Share
Police officers are intimately familiar with the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.1 The terms contained in that amendment—and how judges interpret those terms—dictate how officer...
Share
Failure to understand the distinction between so-called immigration warrants issued by an immigration judge or traditional arrest or search warrants issued by a federal court judge can lead to liabili...
Share
For today’s police officers, the first sign of a serious threat increasingly appears not on a street corner or in a call for service, but on a screen. Posts, comments, livestreams, group chats, and ...
Share
The practice of placing officers "on call" raises questions concerning a municipality’s obligation to pay officers, as well as the ability to restrict such officers’ activities while on an "on-cal...
Share
In 2011, this author wrote an article for the Chief’s Counsel section of Police Chief magazine titled “Critical Incident Review Board: Creation and Refinement.” The purpose of the article was ...
Share
Immigration enforcement in the United States is generally a civil matter, handled exclusively by federal agents working for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Patrol....
Share
Imagine this: a qualified applicant submits a résumé for a position in a department. Before anyone on the team lays eyes on it, an artificial intelligence (AI) system screens them out. No interview....
