# Test Your “Excessive Force” I.Q.



## kwflatbed (Dec 29, 2004)

By Judge Emory A. Plitt, Jr.

*Provided by Americans for Effective Law Enforcement*

Apart from employment-related litigation, use-of-force cases are the largest category of lawsuits against officers and their agencies. And all too often, officers win the confrontation on the street only to lose the confrontation in the courtroom when they're sued for using excessive force.

In federal civil cases seeking millions of dollars in damages, plaintiffs' attorneys commonly claim that defendant officers could have prevented fatal conflicts by using better tactics, that they should have deployed less-lethal options rather than shooting, that they failed to give verbal warnings before delivering deadly force, that they had a duty to retreat rather than violently engage, and so on. 
Their assertions may be little more than legal bombast. But they sometimes confuse officers just as they are intended to confuse civilian jurors. And that's dangerous. When you're facing a critical force decision, your mind needs to be focused without hesitation or doubt on the tactical problems at hand, not on where you might stand in a lawsuit later. 
This quick True/False quiz addresses issues typically raised in excessive force litigation. See how well you can separate legal fact from the many misconceptions that abound. The answers are based on federal laws and the decisions of the Supreme Court and federal appellate courts, the primary sources of legal rules that govern your use of force. For any differences that may affect claims brought against you in your state courts, consult your department's legal advisor.

Full Article: http://www.policeone.com/legal/articles/1666240/


----------

