Officer Safety and Use of Force
The legal standard
Graham v. Connor measures force by objective reasonableness under the totality of the circumstances, viewed from the perspective of a reasonable officer on scene rather than with hindsight. The Court named factors: severity of the crime, immediate threat, and active resistance or flight. Tennessee v. Garner limits deadly force against a fleeing suspect to situations where the officer has probable cause that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others. North Carolina's use-of-force rules are codified in G.S. 15A-401(d).
Mechanics
Force is not a ladder that must be climbed rung by rung; it is a continuous reassessment. De-escalation is required when feasible, force must stop the instant resistance stops, and officers have a duty to intervene when a colleague uses excessive force and a duty to render aid afterward. Tools include presence and verbal direction, empty-hand control, OC, conducted energy weapons, baton, K-9, and firearm; each deployment must be independently justified.
Aftercare and custody
Do not prone-restrain with body weight on the back or neck; move the subject to a recovery position, monitor breathing, and summon EMS. Watch for positional asphyxia and for agitated delirium with hyperthermia and superhuman strength. Secure weapons, check for hidden hands, and use contact/cover tactics.
Traps
Questions assert that officers must escalate step by step, that shooting any fleeing felon is permitted, that subjective fear alone controls, or that medical care can wait until the jail. All are wrong.
Rule of thumb
Justify each use of force with three sentences: what the subject was doing, what you reasonably believed, and why that belief made this level of force necessary at that second.