Page 6 - My FlipBook
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Often, the presence of a law enforcement offi cer may be
              enough to deter criminal activity. For example, a police vehicle
              parked by the side of the road may compel drivers to follow
              traffi c laws. An offi cer on patrol in a shopping district may make
              people think twice about shoplifting or causing trouble. Thus,
              an offi cer’s physical presence represents the lowest level on the
              use of force continuum.
                 The next step on this scale involves the offi cer using non-
              physical force, such as verbal commands, to compel a person’s
              behavior. There are a range of approaches the offi cer can take.
              An encounter could begin with the offi cer asking, in a calm and
              nonthreatening way, to see a person’s identifi cation. If a situa-
              tion becomes more serious, the offi cer might issue commands
              in a fi rm voice, demanding that a suspect end a particular be-
              havior (“Stop!”) or do something that the offi cer wants (“Put
              your hands on your head” or “Get down onto the ground on
              your stomach”).
                 If a person does not comply with these verbal commands, the
              next step on the continuum allows the offi cer to use physical force
              to gain control. This level begins with empty hand control, mean-
              ing the police offi cer uses bare hands, but no weapons, to sub-
              due the subject. There are two levels to empty hand control. Soft
              techniques include wrist holds and armlocks, as well as strikes to
              specifi c joints or nerve areas, which enable the offi cer to hold or
              restrain the person. The use of handcuffs is also considered a soft
              empty hand technique.
                 If soft techniques do not work—or if the offi cer believes, in
              the heat of the moment, that they will not work—a more physical
              and aggressive hard empty hand technique (punches or kicks) is
              permitted to subdue the person. At this level, some municipalities
              allow police to use special holds called neck restraints, which can
              render a person unconscious by compressing the carotid artery,
              cutting off blood fl ow to the brain. However, use of neck restraints
              is controversial because of the risk that, if performed improperly,
              death can result.



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