Because amazingly, these protocols are not openly published, it seems not to be at all obvious what the justifications are, or even that there are schools of thought on what these broad standards (re: “reasonable” force) actually resolve to in real life, I’m putting down my take here, which tries to uphold the following principles:
- Officers and citizens have equal life value
- Assumption of reasonably prompt backup and adequate staffing, so resolving issues on the spot with swift and highly violent approaches is not required to save time
- Proportional response to threat and crime
First I will outline the general categories of approaches to a situation based on the general threat level, which have associated protocols. Then I will go into each situation (which may have an individually applicable approach).
This document focuses on the individual officer case. With encirclement the main adjustment is you move in for the arrest, vs. waiting at distance.
Use of deadly force appropriate/urgent threat to life/disability:
- Officers take cover at distance; followed by opening fire
- Officer close up grabs the weapon/arm, followed with beating, stabbing, or other submission techniques
- Officer with neither option draws gun and fires
- Officer dealing with vehicle or other machinery shoots into the vehicle
- Pursue at relatively safe distance, look for cover
- Ready weapons with best positioning to kill suspect
- When in doubt, shoot
Immediate arrest appropriate, violently resistant/likely threat to others in time, but without the urgency/danger of immediate threat to life/disability:
- At distance, surround suspect and call for backup
- Close up, disengage if possible, otherwise subdue with all non-lethal force
- If the suspect approaches, kite suspect (look for escape routes) and use Taser/pepper sprays/blunt weapons/vehicle as needed to maintain officer safety. Failing this, shooting in leg as first choice and move to chest if unsuccessful in halting advance
- If the suspect is likely to get away, close pursuit. High-speed chase appropriate, non-lethal neutralization if feasible.
- Unholster weapons but avoid brandishing and pointing
- When in doubt, stay close and delay
Immediate arrest appropriate, non-compliant/unlikely to harm others:
- At distance, surround suspect and call for backup
- Close up, use physical strength and technique to neutralize but avoid escalating with the gun, punches, etc.
- If the suspect approaches, kite suspect (look for escape routes) and use Taser/pepper sprays/vehicle as needed to maintain officer safety. Failing this, push away and escalate to damaging force such as punches and nightsticks to keep the distance.
- If the suspect is likely to get away, close pursuit. Moderate-speed chase appropriate, neutralization if feasible.
- Ready non-lethal means but limit escalation and don’t prep guns (you don’t want the suspect to be able to turn them on you right away)
- When in doubt, run/fall back
Situations:
- Active shooter: Use of deadly force appropriate
- Ongoing attacks e.g. beating and reaching for weapons in the encounter: Use of deadly force appropriate with the option to use non-lethal means depending on the risk/reward
- Known murderer but not engaged in violence or posing a deadly threat (e.g. pointing guns at officers) at the time/in the encounter: Violently resistant
- Hostage situation: address as statistically indicated, but never make promises you won’t keep
- Holed up/fortified: Violently resistant. Best to siege/wait it out or send in robots
- High speed/intoxicated/reckless driving while in motion: Violently resistant
- Apparent harm caused to citizens e.g. in a domestic dispute: Violently resistant
- Motor vehicle offenses, but pulling over: Non-compliant. Don’t stand directly in front or behind the vehicle, don’t reach in unless the suspect has a gun or other weapon, and don’t shoot into the vehicle without provocation
- Suicidal, disruptive, and threatening officer or other citizen harm without other specific indicator and not close proximity: Non-compliant
- Taking direct risky action such as pointing guns at others (including officers) but no specific other serious crimes in progress/committed: Violently resistant
- Generally being drunk or a nuisance: non-compliant
Here, there is a critical point about the dividing line between these situations, that I have tried to use the general word “encounter” to cover: with the exception e.g. of aircraft, submarines, high speed car chases, etc. the dividing line is when the suspect is far enough away and/or enough time has passed, that the distance between the suspect and the crime is effectively beyond the horizon. To see the correctness: consider that you have a sniper: of course you would not consider that the distance or inability to locate the sniper means the sniper no longer is an urgent threat. Consider another common situation: the suspect gets in a car. One possibility is that the suspect is going to flee, but another possibility is that the suspect will use the car as a weapon to continue the assault, or merely drive it recklessly. The other situation in which the encounter ends, is when no knowledge of the suspect’s location exists/no contact/traces, within 2 hours. (The bound of “2” certainly is a point for debate – the thinking is that in 2 hours, you easily should be able to walk beyond the horizon.) That doesn’t mean you don’t pursue or investigate, but that to questions like e.g. is my life being threatened, at some point you have to say that the current situation has run its course, and that you have the capability e.g. to regroup, the suspect’s state of mind has changed, etc. which indicates the capability and desirability to reassess which action is the least risky way to accomplish the law enforcement objective.