CPI Use of Force Policies 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which Supreme Court case specifically addressed deadly force against fleeing felony suspects?
- Graham v. Connor
- Tennessee v. Garner (Correct answer)
- Terry v. Ohio
- Monell v. New York
Correct answer: Tennessee v. Garner
Tennessee v. Garner (1985) held that deadly force may not be used against a fleeing felon unless the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious harm.
Question 2: De-escalation techniques are best described as actions intended to:
- Increase officer control through immediate physical intervention
- Reduce the intensity of a conflict to minimize the need for force (Correct answer)
- Document the subject's behavior for court purposes
- Transfer custody to a higher authority
Correct answer: Reduce the intensity of a conflict to minimize the need for force
De-escalation involves communication, distance, and time tactics to reduce conflict and avoid or minimize force.
Question 3: An inspector identifies that an agency has no policy requiring supervisory review of use of force reports. The most significant risk this creates is:
- Increased overtime costs
- Inability to detect patterns of excessive force or policy violations (Correct answer)
- Reduction in officer morale
- Slower incident documentation
Correct answer: Inability to detect patterns of excessive force or policy violations
Without supervisory review, excessive force patterns go undetected, enabling ongoing constitutional violations and civil liability.
Question 4: When evaluating a use of force policy, which element confirms the policy addresses the 'immediate threat' factor from Graham v. Connor?
- A section defining authorized uniform regulations
- Language requiring officers to assess whether the subject can and will cause harm right now (Correct answer)
- A provision on reporting sick leave
- Equipment maintenance schedules
Correct answer: Language requiring officers to assess whether the subject can and will cause harm right now
Policies must direct officers to evaluate immediacy — whether the threat is present and imminent, not merely hypothetical.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes the 'totality of circumstances' in use of force analysis?
- Only the final moment of force application is evaluated
- All facts and circumstances known to the officer at the time of the decision are considered (Correct answer)
- Only post-incident evidence is reviewed
- Force is judged solely by the outcome for the subject
Correct answer: All facts and circumstances known to the officer at the time of the decision are considered
Courts evaluate all information reasonably available to the officer at the moment force was used, not just a single factor.
Question 6: Under Monell v. Department of Social Services, a municipality can be held liable for use of force violations when:
- A single officer acts independently against policy
- An official policy, custom, or practice causes the constitutional violation (Correct answer)
- The officer had prior discipline unrelated to force
- The incident occurred off duty
Correct answer: An official policy, custom, or practice causes the constitutional violation
Monell liability attaches when a municipality's own policy or deeply ingrained custom is the moving force behind a constitutional violation.
Question 7: An inspector reviewing body-worn camera footage to validate a use of force report is performing which type of assessment?
- Prospective risk analysis
- Retrospective evidence corroboration (Correct answer)
- Forward threat modeling
- Predictive compliance audit
Correct answer: Retrospective evidence corroboration
Comparing footage to written reports after the fact is retrospective corroboration, verifying consistency and accuracy.
CPI Use of Force Policies 3
Which Supreme Court case specifically addressed deadly force against fleeing felony suspects?