StudiGuide 20: Use of Force in California

Study Guide for the California Police Academy (P.O.S.T.) Written Examination

This StudiGuide course provides a practice review-testing resource for police academy cadets (based on the state of California’s Commission on Peace Officer Standard and Training 'POST' requirements) to help understand and pass the POST written examinations.

After review and study of this StudiGuide:

DEFINE the term “force option”

IDENTIFY:

• the circumstances set forth in the California Penal Code when a peace officer has the authority to use force

• that the objective of using force is to overcome resistance to gain control of an individual and the situation

• the legal standard for the use of deadly force

• the factors required to establish sufficiency of fear for the use of deadly force

RECOGNIZE:

• force options and the amount of force peace officers may use based on the subject’s resistance

• facts an officer should consider when determining whether or not to use deadly force

• the law regarding justifiable homicide by a public officer and the circumstances under which the homicide is considered justifiable

EXPLAIN:

• the legal framework establishing a peace officer’s authority during a legal arrest, including a subject’s requirement to submit to arrest without resistance and a peace officer’s authority to use reasonable force during a detention or arrest

• the importance of training and ongoing practice when responding to potentially dangerous situations that may require the use of force

• the legal and administrative consequences associated with the use of unreasonable force

• an agency’s potential liability associated with the use of unreasonable force

• the consequences of an officer’s failure to intervene when unreasonable force is used by another peace officer

DESCRIBE:

• why complete documentation of the use of force is critical to the peace officer and the peace officer’s agency, to include justification for using force and relevant factors and detail

• the benefits of ongoing physical and mental training for peace officers involving the use of force

GIVE EXAMPLES:

• of acceptable techniques for managing anger

DISCUSS:

• reasonable force as stated by law

• the components of the Fourth Amendment standard for determining objective reasonableness as determined by the U.S. Supreme Court

• the importance of effective communication when using force

• the role of agency policies regarding the use of deadly force

• factors that can affect a peace officer’s response when threatened with danger, to include:

• Fear

o Reasonable

o Unreasonable

• Anger

• Indecision and hesitation

• immediate and delayed intervention techniques

• factors that may inhibit a peace officer from intervening in a situation where a fellow officer may be applying unreasonable force

Selected information from this written examination will also appear on your Mid-Course and End-of-Course Proficiency Tests.