[Peace-discuss] Police policy on lethal force

[Stuart Levy]

On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 03:41:54PM -0500, Karen Medina wrote:
> > deadly force is permissible if the officer can say they're trying to make an arrest.
> 
> Does it say anywhere that they have to have a good reason to arrest someone?
> In the past, there has been this circular argument that they were
> arresting people for resisting arrest.

That's a good question.  Do we have any entire police procedure manual,
or only its use-of-force section?

It sounds as though there should be something in writing about
what are appropriate conditions for making an arrest, and for that matter,
for stopping people in general.

The ILEAP (accreditation) manual's
       http://www.humanspan.com/uploads/archives/4341/ILEAPManual09.pdf
section on Limits of Authority (ADM.02.02, page 41) says:

    ADM.02.02 A written directive governs procedures for assuring compliance with all 
    applicable constitutional requirements including:  
     
    a. Interviews;  
    b. Interrogations;  
    c. Access to counsel;  
    d. Search and seizure, with a warrant;  
    e. Search and seizure, without a warrant;  
    f. Stop and frisk;  
    g. Arrest made, with a warrant;  
    h. Arrest made, without a warrant;  
    i. Assuring all constitutional safeguards are provided to non-English speaking persons in a 
    manner that is clearly understood; and  
    j. Assuring all constitutional safeguards are provided to hearing impaired persons in a manner 
    that is clearly understood.