Use of Force

Over the last several NTOA publications the Legal Counsel section has fielded several articles dealing with mental health issues and the legal use of force when dealing with non- criminal subjects suffering some type of mental health episode. The purpose of today’s article is to review the current status of case law across the country dealing with this issue and ask the question – […]

Uses of Force cases have been a compelling issue for police officers. In our age of social media and a wide array of opinions on how police officers should operate it has become more difficult to do our jobs. What can make this topic an even more complicated one is that police officers are already under the gun, so to speak, so when an

Police use of force often results in negative media attention, civil suits, ridicule, and an emotionally charged community. These encounters are often captured on video and quickly go viral on the internet. As with police encounters involving citizens, attention to dog shooting incidents has increased creating more animosity toward law enforcement from the public. Headlines have show significant payouts for lawsuits resulting from shooting

Estate of Corey Hill v. Miracle, 2017 WL 1228553 (6th Cir. 2017) Decided April 4, 2017 FACTS: In June 2013, Hill suffered from low blood sugar and went into a diabetic emergency. His girlfriend, Worrall, called EMS. Two EMS units, with four paramedics, arrived. Finding him disoriented, Paramedic Streeter tried to talk to him, explaining what he needed to do, but Hill was “agitated

Roell v. Hamilton County, Ohio, _________ (6th Cir. 2017) In the late evening hours of August 12, Gary Roell, who suffered from a mental illness, entered into a state of excited delirium, and created a disturbance at his neighbor’s condominium, including throwing a flower pot through her window. The neighbor was awakened by the noise and attempted to talk to Roell. After Roell threw

During Use of Force Policy discussions and Training across the Country the topic often leads to a discussion of using force against an animal that is a pet. While litigation history has shown officers who have used force against the family pet are often faced with an internal affairs complaint or civil action for the unnecessary harm caused to the pet. While often these

One of the questions I am often asked when implementing a Use of Force Reporting system that requires completion of a use of Force report is whether the required completion of a use of force report is a compelled statement for purposes of Garrity. I am also often asked if in investigations where officers have refused to complete a required incident report or use

Written By: James Marker and Eric Daigle, Esq. Across the Country, in response to use of force incidents, there is a knee jerk reaction of different organizations to adapt the United Kingdom’s National Decision Making Model into American law enforcement. This article will discuss why this decision is unacceptable, and why it does not represent current case law and constitutional standards. Law enforcement has

On January 11, 2016, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the case of Armstrong v. Pinehurst, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 380. The Court’s decision has astounded much of the law enforcement community on the east coast and, since that day, we have not stopped talking about the use of the electronic control weapon. I must say, however, that I was not surprised by