It is legal for police officers to use force under certain situations. For example, a police officer whose life is threatened may draw their firearm and use it against an alleged assailant. Or, a police officer involved in a physical altercation may strike their opponent to pin them to the ground if that’s what it takes to put them in handcuffs.
That being said, just because officers can use force does not mean that they can do anything they want without repercussions. There are many legal cases involving people who were victimized by the police via the use of “excessive force.” This is often referred to as police brutality. But when do they cross the line into excessive force?
When the amount of force is not appropriate for the situation
Unfortunately, this is a rather nebulous definition. The government notes that police officers are supposed to use force that is “appropriate to the situation at hand.”
What exactly does an “appropriate” use of force look like? What would a reasonable person assume is appropriate? The crux of the disagreement often lies in this differentiation.
For instance, say that a police officer draws their firearm and shoots someone, and that person dies from the resulting injury. The victim’s family may feel that the shooting was clearly excessive force when – even though the person may have broken the law – they never posed a physical threat and certainly did not deserve such a severe outcome for such relatively minor offenses like driving with a broken taillight or driving while intoxicated. At the same time, the officer may say that the person was combative during the traffic stop. The officer may allege that they feared for their life and used lethal force because they felt they had no other choice.
Situations like this are why these cases get so complex, as family members gather evidence and build their case. It can be very helpful to work with an experienced law firm when you suspect that excessive force was used against a loved one.