Officer presence
- The presence of a correctional officer works as a deterrent, and can diffuse a situation.
- Officers should keep professional and a nonthreatening demeanor.
Verbal Commands
- Issuing calm, nonthreatening commands.
- Officers may increase their volume and shorten commands in an attempt to gain compliance.
- Short commands might include “Stop,” or “Don’t move.”
- If nonthreatening commands don’t work a warning can follow. For example: “Don’t move or you’ll be tased”.
Empty Hand Control
- Soft techniques include grabs, holds and joint locks (including tackling) to restrain an individual.
- Hard techniques include punches and kicks for defence.
Less-Lethal Methods
- Blunt impact, such as nightsticks
- Taser Deployment
- Beanbag Deployment
Lethal Force
Officers can use deadly weapons such as firearms to stop an individual’s actions only under certain conditions:
- Lethal force may only be used when the individual is presenting an immediate threat to life, whether that be your own, another officer’s, or an innocent third party.
- A warning shot should be issued where possible.
- Any use of lethal force must follow with an incident report being written.