HOOVER POLICE DEPARTMENT
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES
EFFECTIVE DATE:

03/01/2005

REVISION DATE:

SUBJECT; USE OF FORCE PROCEDURES Levels of Resistance

SECTION:

1900.03

APPROVED BY:
Nicholas C. Derzis, Chief of Police

Purpose:
The purpose of this policy is to describe the types of resistance that a police offieer may encounter
when placing a suspect under arrest.
Resistance is defined as the force used by a subject under arrest against the officer(s) effecting the
arrest. Although the resistance offered by the subject is usually physical, the type and amount of
resistance an officer meets is determined by the subject’s level of intent. The intent of the subject
may range from passive resistance to an active, aggressive attack on the officer.
Resistance may be categorized into three broad areas:
•
•
•

Verbal resistance, i.e., denial to lawful orders of arrest or eommands, verbal threats or assaults.
Physical resistive actions, i.e., passive resistance / defensive resistance / active aggression.
Aggressive acts against the officer, often leading to severe physical injury.

The officer’s reactions to resistance will be based upon his/her perception of the level of
resistance. The officer has been trained to use the neeessary amount of force to control a subject
offering any level of resistance.
A.

Psvchologieal Intimidation:
Non-verbal actions, often called body language, often influence an officer’s decision on
how to approach a subject or what level of force to use if a subject starts to resist an arrest.
Non-verbal intimidation actions may include clenching of fists, widening of foot stance, or
a blank expression that may warn an officer of an individual’s emotional state. These non­
verbal intimidation aetions often warn an officer of a subject’s potential for violence, when
the subject has offered no verbal threats. However, an officer’s reaction to a subject’s non­
verbal intimidation signals may be used as justifieation for attack. An officer who reads
the non-verbal signals and believes that physical control is necessary to prevent a subject
from injuring self, others, or the officer, may initiate action before any overt moves are
made by the subject.

B.

Resistive Dialogue:
A subject’s dialogue that offers the threat of physical resistance to an officer’s commands
is not normally considered resistance until he or she physically resists an attack.
1900.03

 However, dialogue in the form of threats of physical injury may influence an officer’s
opinion as to the amount of force needed to effect control. An offender may boast of
his/her fighting skill and his/her intention to injure the officer, or assume a fighting stance
such as raised hands or clenched fists.
Verbal threats or psychological threats may influence the officer’s judgement to attempt
either empty hand control, impact weapons, or even firearms if the subject has a weapon
or has such great physieal skills that threat of life is real.
The reaction to verbal threats made by a subject may differ from officer to officer. An
officer’s decision of the level of force necessary to control a subject will be based on
his/her perception of the threat and the subject’s ability to carry out that threat. An
additional factor is the officer’s knowledge of his/her own physical ability to manage the
threat presented. If the officer believes that he or she does not have sufficient skill to
establish control with empty hand methods, he or she has been trained to escalate the
level of force.

C.

Passive Physical Resistance:
Passive Resistance is the lowest level of physical resistance. The subject resists control
through passive, physical actions. At this level, the offender never makes any attempt to
defeat the physical contact of the officer. Passive Resistance is usually in the form of a
related or “dead weight” posture intended to make the officer lift, pull, or muscle the
subject to establish control.

D.

Defensive Physical Resistance:
Quite often, officers find themselves confronting a suspect who is physically resisting the
officer’s attempt to control the subject by directing overt, defensive, physical actions.
With this level of resistance, the offender attempts to push or pull away in a manner that
does not allow the officer to establish eontrol. However, the subject never attempts to
strike the officer.

E.

Active Physical Aggression:
Active Physical Aggression occurs when a suspect attacks the officer to defeat attempts
of control. The attack is a physical assault on the officer in which the offender strikes or
uses techniques in a manner that may result in injury to the officer or others.

1900.03

 F.

Aggravated Active Physical Aggression:
Aggravated Active Physical Aggression occurs when a subject uses a level of physical
force that the officer usually must use, or at least, is justified in using deadly force. At
this level, officers may not only face resistance to an arrest, but also overt, physical
actions of force where the subject is assaulting the officer with a weapon, and/or uses
techniques or objects which could result in death or great bodily harm to the confronting
officer.

1900.03