By Christopher L. McFarlin, J.D., Faculty Member, Criminal Justice, American Military University
Turn on the news today and stories about police use of force are commonplace. There has been much criticism of law enforcement’s use of force against citizens. While attention to this issue is not a bad thing, a Supreme Court ruling last year is reshaping the way we analyze use of force as it applies to individuals who are held in jail but yet to be convicted, otherwise known as pretrial detainees.
In the past, officers and administrators alike have focused on the subjective justification of actions taken. As such, detention officers are often taught to articulate and defend why they took a certain course of action. However, in 2015, the Kingsley v. Hendrickson case set a new precedent by requiring that alongside law and policy, the objective view of an officer’s actions – without the officer’s subjective interpretation – is enough for proving excessive use of force.
Essentially, regardless of how the incident appeared to the officer(s) involved, the only question asked could be how a “reasonable” officer in similar circumstances would have responded. Moving forward, detention officers must be trained to understand that their actions may not be evaluated further than from the objective realm of analysis.
Read more: The Kingsley Case and Pretrial Detainees: How Use of Force Will Be Examined in Court
