Police Procedures, Officer Safety, and Use of Force
The use-of-force framework
Ontario officers apply the Use of Force Model, which assesses situational factors (officer, subject, environment) against a continuum of subject behaviour - cooperative, resistant (passive/active), assaultive, grievous bodily harm, deadly force - and matching officer responses: presence, dialogue, empty-hand control, intermediate weapons, lethal force. The model is a training aid; the legal test is whether force was reasonable and necessary under Criminal Code s. 25 and s. 34. Proportionality, minimal force, and continuous reassessment are the standards examiners test.
Procedure and safety essentials
- De-escalation first where feasible: time, distance, cover, containment, communication.
- Reactionary gap, contact/cover, and tactical repositioning are recurring safety answers.
- Search incident to arrest must be for officer safety, evidence preservation, or means of escape - not a fishing expedition.
- Restraint and positional asphyxia: never leave a restrained person prone; monitor breathing and summon medical aid; treat severe agitation as a medical emergency.
- Reportable force (pointing a firearm, CEW discharge, force causing injury) triggers documentation, supervisory review, and annual reporting; SIU notification follows death, serious injury, firearm discharge at a person, or alleged sexual assault.
Traps
Assuming any resistance justifies a weapon; treating a subject's non-compliance as automatic justification; and forgetting that the SIU notification clock starts immediately.
Rule of thumb
Ask: would a reasonable officer, with the same information, at the same moment, have used this level of force - and did I stop when resistance stopped?