July 22, 2009- Albuquerque, NM-- I review a lot of use of force incidents as a law enforcement/ military and security trainer. Most military engagements are usually pretty strait forward. There is a lot of gray area when security and law enforcement officers deal with the public and resort to use of force. All departments have a use of force continuum or 'ladder,' but it is not followed in countless incidents.
I recall a recent incident in Austin where a Travis County Constable used a Taser on response to the verbal resistance from a older lady. The incident made national news and illustrated the fact that a greater degree of force was used on this elderly woman to meet the threat she posed to the Officer. This occurrence wasn't necessarily uncommon, it was just 'caught on tape.'
The generalized use of force ladder for most agencies is the same. When you are confronted with a resistive person and you have determined that you must use force you start with your presence. A good strong presence may deter further escalation of force. Next is verbal action or commands. Many people comply with commands. Then there is empty hand control or force on force. OC spray/ chemical spray and Taser often are on the same level, which is the next greater degree of force. Impact devices, such as an expandable baton, is the next level. Finally, deadly force is the final level of force that may be used in permissible situations.
Many police or security officers skip many of the levels of force and go strait to Taser or OC Spray in confrontations when the situation could be handled with a lesser degree of force. "Good hand to hand techniques are essential for an officer to use the least amount of force necessary to control a situation," says Rob Hamic. This is the area where officers receive the least amount of training and have the least amount of confidence, thus moving to weapons instead of handling people with their hands.
Officers can seek out additional training because most departments offer no advanced or ongoing training after the police academy. Seriously. It astounds me that officers are not prepared to deal with the very situations that they encounter on a daily basis. Confidence comes from practice and muscle memory. If you wear a badge, you owe it to the forth (4th) amendment to use the least amount of force to take a person into custody or defend yourself or a third party. Why use a Taser on a 70 year old lady when you can easily take her down and put her into handcuffs, if that is what you need to do?
Security is in a different category all together. Most officers receive very little empty hand techniques in the small amount of basic license training. Ongoing training is all self-initiated and it is pretty had to afford training on $8 hr. It is sad because many good officers want continual training but they can't afford it in terms of money or time. The security company bears responsibility because they know the low level of training that the officers have when they contract with business to provide security. They often sell a different package than the actual guard who arrives on the scene to provide the service. The customer (business) say that they want good security but they often choose the lowest bidder and that is sometimes from an unlicensed or illegal security company. These companies can make lower bids by not paying certain insurance costs (worker's compensation, general liability, vehicle), taxes and other expenses; improving their margins by as much as 30%. This is how a bad company can under bid a good one. There is not much profit is doing security the right way.
The people to suffer or get beat up are sometimes completely innocent of anything except running into an inexperienced and scared officer who doesn't know how to use his/her hands and resorts to a higher level of force. Law Enforcement and security have a duty to do the right thing and have a reasonable standard of care that must be followed. People who are injured may seek damages and there are attorney's that specialize in negligent security, improper use of force and other liability issues.
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