Police Presence

• Police presence defuses many situations without force.
  
  When a subject is being cooperative, mere police presence is often enough to resolve a situation with no exercise of force. For example, youths loitering in a shopping area may move along at the appearance of a police cruiser.
  
  

Verbal Direction

• Verbal command is a low use of force.
  
  Verbal direction can range from the inquiry and instruction of a traffic stop to strong verbal commands to a subject, such as ordering a person to leave a premises, or to step up and put his hands on the police cruiser. In the majority of law enforcement interactions with civilians in the field, the subjects comply with authoritative verbal commands with no additional application of force.
  
  

Pepper Spray

• Intermediate Actions Call for Intermediate Force
  
  When a subject demonstrates verbal noncompliance, whether merely saying "No" or engaging in name-calling or attempts to psychologically intimidate the officer, a low level of physical force is appropriate to encourage compliance. Different police department policies set different scaled responses to this level of subject noncompliance, ranging from pepper spray to electronic stun-guns, to the application of empty hands in a soft or hard manner. Many factors play into the officer's decision-making at this moderate level of subject resistance, including her department's policies, the subject's age, and location of the incident.
  
  

Empty Hands

• Empty hand can guide or strike.
  
  When a subject demonstrates passive resistance such as walking away or putting something between himself and the officer, most departmental policies scale an empty-handed response as being appropriate. This can range from laying a guiding hand on the subject's elbow, to using the subject's pressure points to subdue him, to landing a strike or punch on the subject.
  
  

Intermediate, Nonlethal Weapons

• Nonlethal weapons
  
  When a subject demonstrates defensive but active resistance, such as pushing the officer away, or attempting to flee, intermediate weaponry is designated as the appropriate response on the use-of-force scale. This may include use of a baton, an electronic stun gun, or in the case of a riot, water cannons, rubber bullets, or flash bombs that temporarily incapacitate the subjects.
  
  

Deadly Force

• Lethal force
  
  When a subject engages in aggravated active resistance or indicates an intent to use deadly force, the use-of-force scale demonstrates that use of lethal force is the appropriate officer response. Discharging a firearm is the most common use of deadly force by a police officer. Department policies vary as to whether engaging in a high-speed police pursuit constitutes deadly force.