Title: Describe appropriate use of force in criminal justice.
Course: Criminal Justice I (15051-I) > Section: Exploring Policing

Description should include

- the levels of force (i.e., the escalating levels of response available to the police officer, beginning with officer presence and continuing through verbal commands, control restraint, less-than-lethal force, and deadly force)
- duty to intervene
- the role of de-escalation
- citizen actions that precipitate the escalating levels of police response, to include cooperative, passive resistance, active resistance, active assaultive, and deadly threat
- threat perception
- the legal definition of self-defense
- the legal relationship between the fear of bodily harm and the use of deadly force (See the Code of Virginia for specifics about the use of deadly force)
- the tests under the law that justify the use of deadly force to defend oneself or another person
- the conditions under which an officer may use less-than-lethal force to control a situation or effect an arrest
- the conditions under which an officer may use deadly force
- the right of officers (and other protective services officers) to use deadly force vis-à-vis a citizen’s right to self-defense
- an administrative review of all use-of-force incidents
- a review of Graham v. Connor (1989).

Process/Skill Questions:

- What is an officer’s fundamental duty?
- What are an officer’s key responsibilities?
- What are the legal ramifications involved in the use of any force?
- What are the personal, civil, or criminal ramifications for the officer who uses any force?
- What is the difference between a citizen review board and an administrative review board?
- What are considered deadly weapons?
- Why is handcuffing considered use of force?
- What is the objective reasonableness test created as an outcome of Graham v. Connor 490 U.S. 386 (1989)?