May 2025. BLUES Vo. 41 No. 5

GUEST COMENTARYpolice

GUEST COMENTARYpolice law newsDaniel CarrWAS IT JUSTIFIED?The standard question for police use of force.After an Officer-Ivolved-Shooting(OIS) or other police use offorce incident the media, influencer's,and police “experts”will undoubtedly use the terms“justified” or “not justified” whengiving their opinion on the incident.But, what do they mean by“justified”? Are they referring tothe actions of police officers as:• Being within the law?• In accordance to departmentpolicy and training?• Or, within the bounds of theSCOTUS approved “Graham standard”?Each of these standards aredifferent. For example, it is possiblefor a police shooting to bewithin the law but in violation ofdepartment policy.In nearly every article I writeabout a police use of force incidentI (briefly or in great detail)explain the different standards.There was to be a better way.Allow me to explain - once andfor all.DIFFERENT STANDARDSThere are several differentstandards to keep in mind whenevaluating a use of force incident:1. Graham v. Connor.2. State and federal law.3. Department policy.22 The BLUES - MAY ‘25THE GRAHAM STANDARDIn 1989 the Supreme Court ofthe United States decided Grahamv. Connor. In short, Grahamcreated a new way to evaluatewhether or not a police useforce was “justified” or excessive.The new standard was “objectivereasonableness”.• Essentially, it’s a question,“Were the actions of the policeofficer objectively reasonablegiven a totality of the circumstances?”Meaning - would another policeofficer faced with a similarsituation respond in a similarmanner?Under Graham police incidentsare evaluated by what the officerknew (or should have known) atthe time and 20/20 hindsight isnot considered.How do we determine what a“reasonable officer” would do?Graham provides guidance andencourages the use of the “Grahamfactors” - which are:1. The severity of the crime,2. The threat posed by the individualto the safety of officers orother people,3. And, whether the individualis trying to flee or resist arrest.The “factors” are not an exhaustivelist to consider but aplace to start any evaluation of apolice use of force case.The Graham standard is what Itypically apply when evaluatinga use of force case.STATE LAWEvery state has laws that governuse of force/use of deadlyforce by police officers. Thoughstate statutes may vary - theytypically track the followingconcept/language:Deadly force is permitted if theofficer, “has probable cause tobelieve that the resistance posesa threat of death or seriousphysical injury to the officer or toother persons.”State law typically allows apolice officer to utilize deadlyforce in order to protect others(or themselves) from an imminentthreat of death or greatbodily injury.FEDERAL LAWThere are also Federal lawsthat govern use of force by policeofficers. Some of these lawstrack state statutes for the use ofdeadly force as well as includelaws regarding civil rights violations.For example, not only wasDerek Chauvin prosecuted by theState for second-degree unintentionalmurder, third-degreemurder and second-degree manslaughter,but also charged with

Federal civil rights violations (towhich he pled guilty).Here is a link to some of themost common Federal CivilRights Statutes.Remember this?DEPARTMENT POLICYDepartment use of force policymay not give police officersmore leeway than allowed bystate or federal law. Departmentpolicy is typically far stricterthan state law or the GrahamStandard.For example, department policymay require police officersto: identify themselves, provideuse of force warnings, utilizede-escalation tactics, deployless lethal munitions, or notify asupervisor before using deadlyforce.A general use of force policygoverning deadly force oftenstates something to effect of,“An officer may use deadly forceto protect themselves or othersfrom what the officer reasonablybelieves is an imminent threat ofdeath or serious bodily injury.”*Due to the fact that departmentpolicy is often the stricteststandard that police officersmust follow - is not difficult toimagine a situation where a fatalOIS is determined to be: withinthe law, objectively reasonable,and in violation of departmentpolicy.FINAL THOUGHTSAs mentioned earlier, I preferthe Graham Standard and believethat state law and departmentpolicy should be based on this.An honest evaluation of policeactions based on what “areasonable officer would havedone”, with the information thatthe officer knew at the time,considering the incident giventhe totality of the circumstances- though not perfect, is the mostfair standard to judge the actionsof police officers.When I use the term “justified”or “not justified” as short hand -I am saying that the use of forceis “objectively reasonable” or“not objectively reasonable” underthe Graham Standard.DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX EVERY MONTH,FOR FREECLICK HERE FOR YOURFREE SUBSCRIPTIONThe BLUES - MAY ‘25 23