# Avoiding liability for excessive force



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

Ask a dozen people when "reasonable and necessary force" to effect an arrest or detention becomes "excessive force" and you will likely get a dozen different answers, none of them particularly helpful in measuring the proper amount of force. Several people may ultimately question an officer's use of force and each one may have a different idea of how to decide whether the force was excessive. 

Force may be reviewed by an internal review board, supervisors and/or the chief, the district attorney screening the arrest for charges, an independent civilian review board, and perhaps even a judge and jury if a civil lawsuit for excessive force is filed. This column will help officers measure what force is permissible, and how to better report the use of force so that force investigations and lawsuits can be avoided, or at least made less painful.

*What is permissible force?*

*Full Article: http://www.policeone.com/legal/articles/1271618/*


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