Week 10

Question 1

What is the case of Paul Boyd? (3)

Answer 1

Paul Boyd was a man with bipolar disorder who was fatally shot several times by police

A review found the officer not guilty of any wrongdoing as there was no evidence of excessive use of force

It was a clear case of officer-induced jeopardy, where the situation was handled in such a way that lethal use of force resulting in death was an almost inevitable conclusion

Question 2

Where does the authority to use force come from in Canada? (3)

Answer 2

Section 25 of the Criminal Code of Canada

Says any law enforcement officer is justified to do what is required or authorized and use as much force is necessary for that purpose

Emphasis on the belief on reasonable grounds and that it is necessary for the preservation of self or others

Question 3

What US court case informs the legality of use of force? (3)

Answer 3

Graham v. Connor (1989)

Defines that the reasonableness of a particular use of force must be judged from the perspective of a reasonable officer on that scene (not in hindsight)

Also described a number of factors to determine when force is a necessity (severity of crime, immediate threat, resisting/evading arrest)

Question 4

What Canadian court case informs the legality of use of force? (3)

Answer 4

Cluett v. The Queen (1985)

Officers are authorized to use force that is reasonable, proper and necessary to carry out their duties, providing necessary wanton or unnecessary violence is used

What is reasonable and proper depends on the circumstances of the case

Question 5

What strategies are put in place to encourage reasonableness? (5)

Answer 5

CCRF

Departmental policies

Rigorous use of force training

Use of force models or continuums

Body-worn cameras

Question 6

What is the National Use of Force Framework? (4)

Answer 6

Developed in the 1990s and adopted across the country

Different services use slightly different versions or call it different things but it is essentially the same model

It does not give the police the authority to use force but is more of a training aid for officers on when to use appropriate and proportional use of force dependent on the situation and the offender

Also used for post-event articulation to help officers explain what happened and their decision-making process when writing a use of force report (only if they use soft force or more)

Question 7

How does the National Use of Force Framework work? (5)

Answer 7

When a police officer encounters a situation, framework helps officers continuously assess, plan and act accordingly in response to the situation and its risk level

They then can break down the different behaviors that the offender exhibits into 5 different categories (cooperative, passive resistance, active resistance, assaultive, grievous bodily harm or death

They then assess their perception and tactical considerations (bystanders, training, abilities, tools available, time, etc.)

Options from there include officer presence, communication, physical control (soft to hard), intermediate weapons (taser, baton, pepper spray) and lethal force (gun)

All of the options are positioned on the chart in a specific way to encourage officers to use proportional responses to the level of threat (i.e., cooperative with officer presence, active resistance with physical force, grievous bodily harm/death with lethal force)

Question 8

What is the problem with use of force stats in Canada? (2)

Answer 8

There is not as much data in Canada than the US (no national database by police or government)

There are external databases by CBC and academic institutions but they are subject to bias and have superficial data

Question 9

What do use of force statistics show? (3)

Answer 9

One study examined 4 urban areas in Canada with 7 police agencies for 8 years

Only 0.1% of all police interactions result in force (likely higher, closer to 2%, due to different definitions of force that exclude soft force like pressure points and joint locks that don’t cause injury)

Most subjects involved were male (87%) and young (median 30)

Question 10

What modalities are used in use of force cases? (7)

Answer 10

Single use modalities make use 59.6%, multiple use modalities make up the rest

Physical strikes are the most common at 77%

CEW (conducted energy weapons) next at 14.9%

Firearm pointed in 10.2%

Vascular neck constraint in 6.6%

Pepper spray in 3.6%

Police canine in 2.4%

Question 11

What were the reasons that police were originally dispatched to the scene? (5)

Answer 11

Intoxication (22.5%)

Disturbance (17.5%)

Assault (10.3%)

Domestic (9.6%)

Mental health (7%)

Question 12

What did injuries in use of force incidents look like? (3) How many died?

Answer 12

16.6% were transported to hospital

57.3% had some kind of physical injury (from bruises to more serious injuries)

Most injuries will be minor

Only 0.14% (7) suspects died

Question 13

What is the role of police psychology in use of force situations? (4)

Answer 13

Use of force research

Use of force training and consulting

Expert testimony in use of force scenarios

Clinical interventions following use of force events (fitness for duty evals)

Question 14

What are the challenges with use of force research? (5)

Answer 14

Sensitive data being handled

Participation is low (time consuming, high risk studies)

Logistics (costs a lot of money due to safety concerns)

Measurement issues (self-reports can lie)

Realism (there are external validity problems when making fake things feel real)

Question 15

What is the impact of stress on decision-making in use of force incidents? (4) AP JD MP AM

Answer 15

Attention and perception

Judgement and decision making

Motor operation and performance

Articulation and memory

Question 16

How does brain functioning impact use of force incidents? (7)

Answer 16

The frontal lobe is responsible for thinking and decision-making, particularly the pre-frontal cortex

This impacts what the officer sees, feels, hears, and remembers

Under serious stress, the frontal lobe and all its biological systems/functions are compromised

Survival instincts kick in (fight/flight/freeze)

The subcortical areas (reptilian) of the brain take over, which are evolutionary parts responsible not for clear thinking but basic survival

Officers can react faster and stronger but this compromises higher level functioning

Some officers receive specialized training to modulate these reactions but most don’t, which creates problems

Question 17

How do perceptual distortions impact use of force incidents? (2)

Answer 17

Officers in UofF situations often experience perceptual distortions, which can impact an officer’s performance and memory

Examples include sounds getting quieter/louder, tunnel vision, time distortion, memory impairment, auto-pilot, paralysis, intrusive thoughts

Question 18

What are use of force myths? (2)

Answer 18

Lack of understanding about use of force dynamics and facts can lead to endorsement of myths

In addition to lack of understanding about law/police/UofF/psychology, biased media portrayals of use of force incidents lend to endorsement of myths

Question 19

What is the frequency of force myth? (2)

Answer 19

Most people overestimate the frequency of events where force is used by police

Research shows that use of force, especially lethal force, is rare

Question 20

What is the Single Bullet Fallacy? (3)

Answer 20

A lot of public discord comes from the public belief/perception that more than one shot/bullet is excessive and one bullet should be enough

Reality is that, depending on the case, substance use, physical state, adrenaline and other factors, several bullets may cause little reaction/impact

The only time a single bullet will incapacitate someone immediately is with a shot to the brain stem, which the average officer is not trained to do

Question 21

What is the shooting to wound myth? (3)

Answer 21

The myth that police officers can “shoot to wound” assumes a high degree of shot precision/accuracy

This does not match the actual abilities of officers, who are trained to shoot center mass simply because it is the largest area of the body with the highest probability of hitting something

The weapons are not good enough and the training is to infrequent/poor to expect officers to be able to shoot in places that will only wound

Question 22

What is the association between race and use of force? (4)

Answer 22

Several studies by criminologists and sociologists have examined the association between race and police use of force

Most studies find an association, with Black and Indigenous people overrepresented in these cases

The only thing up for debate is why there is overrepresentation (racism? situational factors? officer features?)

The results of studies relying on multivariate statistical analysis (to control for other factors) to answer this question comes back with mixed results, with some saying race is a predictive factor and other saying it is insignificant