Tailoring Use of Force Training to Officer Stature?

[rdtompki]

Disclaimer: not in law enforcement. Several threads have mentioned female officers at 5', 100 lbs. give or take. With the spreading societal emphasis on "proportional" use of force does the training deal with the difference in mindset as a function of the range of physical capabilities present in the LEO population. The distance at which a 6'4", 635 lb. officer might be "safe" using OC spray on an unarmed, but aggressive individual is way inside where a smaller officer could be in real peril. Or is the training more along the lines of "use OC spray/Taser if and only if getting to your gun remains a viable fallback"? If OC spray is good to 10' or a bit more you better be darn quick to the gun if needed.

[BehindBlueI's]

Yes, at least here.

"Disparity of force" is the term you're looking for.

You can use all of the knowledge you have about a person to make use of force decisions. That includes physical stature of both parties. If I've dealt with you before and know you are a trained fighter, I can use that information. If I run your criminal history and you've assaulted police before, I can use that information. If I'm sick or already injured, if I'm exhausted, I can use that information. It's completely reasonable to escalate the use of force earlier when I'm otherwise at a disadvantage.

So, yes, a physically slight officer can legally shoot a given person in a given situation that, had they been on par physically, they could not legally shoot. Which is also true of any person in a self-defense situation.

[JodyH]

"Disparity of force" is the term you're looking for.

You can use all of the knowledge you have about a person to make use of force decisions. That includes physical stature of both parties. If I've dealt with you before and know you are a trained fighter, I can use that information.

I was shooting a 3-gun with a large group of LE a few months back and during some down time we were just BS'ing about various things when one of them asked me if I was a fighter or wrestler due to my jacked up cauliflower ears and crooked bumpy nose.
Another joked that if he was about to solo fight a guy with my ears and nose he'd just have to shoot me because there's no way he'd want to go hands on with me.
It was a joke at the time, but at 3am in the middle of nowhere I would not want to do anything to cause concern to an observant solo officer like that guy.
Cauliflower ears and a multi-time broken nose are physical characteristics that make use of force articulation much easier.

[1slow]

If the way you appear or present to people gives the impression of being capable of being dangerous you need to be careful not to spook them.