Use of Force: Family Fight

In this incident Officers were dispatched to a family gathering in which one of the family members had too much to drink and was now causing a disturbance. As Officers know problem but if things go wrong the family members who called, will now turn on the Police.

Three Officers arrive on scene at the same time. Family members are pointing inside of the house saying the subject is inside. For obvious safety reasons, the Officers asked the subject to step outside and talk to them. The subject, who is obviously intoxicated, exits the residence and very loudly starts telling Officers how his family no longer wants him. Officers separate the subject from his family to prevent any further arguments from arising. The subject is a little loud but is complying with Officers and does not seem to be combative.

Officers have the subject sitting on the ground when his brother walks over and starts to tell the subject how many problems he has caused. As one Officer removes the brother, the subject becomes angry and stands up and starts to go after his brother. The first Officer grabs the subject and puts him back on the ground. A second Officer goes to assist the first Officer with detaining the subject. The first Officer is a strong Officer who works out with weights daily. The Officer rolls the suspect to his back in order to control the suspect. This presented a problem as the suspect now can use his arms and legs in his defense. The suspect is now kicking at the second Officer in order to keep the Officer away. The Officer yells to the first Officer to roll the suspect over on his stomach. The suspect is rolled over and then quickly taken into custody.

In this instance the first Officer does work out with weights and is in good shape but he lacks the basic understanding of fighting. He turned the suspect on his back which allowed him to use all four limbs in his defense. The second Officer realizes the problem and has the suspect turned back over where it is easier to control him. Basic training and understanding in ground fighting would prevent this problem. It is important that agencies train all Officers in ground fighting and teach Officers to communicate when trying to control a suspect on the ground.


Use of Force: Domestic Violence

It was another day on patrol when Officers receive a call of a domestic suspect who has returned to his residence. Anyone in law enforcement will tell you that domestic violence calls can be among the most dangerous. Officers had been out at the location earlier in the day and the husband had hit his wife several times and broke her nose. She now has called the Police and said that her husband had returned. She advised that she would be waiting outside to the front of her residence as she was too afraid to be around her husband.

The first Officer on scene contacts the wife to the front of the residence. His partner watches the residence from the front yard. The wife tells the Officer that her husband is inside that he does not like the Police, what a surprise! As the wife is speaking with the Officer her husband exits the residence. She immediately points at her husband and tells the Officer, that is my husband, be careful he likes to fight. The Officer calls for an additional unit.

The Officer and his partner approach the suspect from different angles making sure not to create a crossfire situation. The first Officer orders the suspect to place his hands on the back of his head. The suspect complies but as Officers approach, the suspect puts his hands down. Several orders to get the suspect to put his hands back on his head, work to no avail. The suspect’s hands are in view but he is not complying with orders. The first Officer approaches and grabs the suspect’s right arm. The suspect forcefully pulls his arm away from the Officer. The Officer uses a common Jiu-Jitsu/wrestling hold. The Officer grabs around the suspect by sliding his right arm under the suspect’s right arm and then grabbing around the neck of the suspect using his left arm. This hold is a modified carotid hold applied by using your arm on one side of the suspect’s neck and bring his should against his neck to apply pressure on the other side of he neck. This hold goes by many names, carotid hold, rear arm triangle, connecting the shoulder to the head.

The Officer sweeps the suspects feet and brings him to the ground and takes his back. The Officers partner immediately grabs the suspect’s free arm and places a handcuff on it. The Officer on the suspect’s back switches to a side control position, pins the suspect down and grabs hold of the suspect’s arm which he had control of. That arm is brought around the suspect’s back and he is handcuffed.

In this incident there were two Officers on scene. They were aware that the suspect was violent and liked to fight. Both Officers train in ground fighting and were confident fighting as a team. As a result the suspect was quickly taken into custody without Officers or the suspect being injured. Many agencies feel that if they train too much in ground fighting Officers will hurt suspects in the field, that the liability is too high. The opposite is true, the more you train the less likely it is that an Officer or a suspect will be injured in the altercation. It is important that agencies train all Officers in ground fighting and teach Officers to communicate when trying to control a suspect on the ground.


Use of Force: Drinkers

In this incident an Officer response to a call of subject’s drinking in a parking lot. This call should have at least two Officers but often one Officer arrives on scene first and often clears a call quickly. The first Officer arrives on scene and contacts a small group of subjects drinking. The group complies but as usual there is always one in the crowd who is a little too intoxicated. As always this subject wants to speak with the Officer instead of staying in the background.

After several attempts to have the subject leave the Officer determines that the subject is too intoxicated and decides to arrest him for public intoxication. The Officer places a handcuff on one hand when the subject decides he does not want to be arrest. The subject in not combative but will not put his hands behind his back. The suspect tries to turn around towards the Officer in order to plead his case. The Officer, who in this case weighs about 120 pound, tries to use a control hold, often called a come-along. In this hold Officers control the wrist of the subject and grabs behinds elbow of the subject in order to control his arm. The subject is much larger and continues to try to turn towards the Officer. The subject is not truly combative as he is just trying to avoid being arrested and plead his case with the Officer. The Officer does not want to loose his position of advantage and is still trying to apply the hold. As a result the Officer