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Potsdam Town writes 'use of force' policy for armed court peace officer

Posted 10/9/19

BY CRAIG FREILICH North Country This Week POTSDAM -- The Town Council has written a new use of force policy for its armed court peace officer with the goal of expressly making deadly force a last …

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Potsdam Town writes 'use of force' policy for armed court peace officer

Posted

BY CRAIG FREILICH
North Country This Week

POTSDAM -- The Town Council has written a new use of force policy for its armed court peace officer with the goal of expressly making deadly force a last option in any confrontation.

The policy "sets force criteria governing the use of force to prevent unnecessary force, ensure accountability and transparency, and ensure the community's trust and confidence in the Town of Potsdam's ability to protect and serve."

"Only the minimal amount of force necessary to protect life or to affect arrest should be used by an officer. Excessive force and/or gratuitous use of force will not be tolerated," the polcy states.

It describes a "force continuum," a series of measures rising in impact to be used in enforcement actions beginning with the deterrent effect of "officer presence," followed by "verbal commands," "physical control," "less than deadly force," and finally "deadly force" "only when there is an imminent threat to an officer's life or the life of another person and such force is strictly unavoidable to protect life."

It also talks about de-escalation techniques to calm a situation before any force needs to be applied.

The court peace officer is armed with a handgun. Board members also discussed the used of alternative weapons, such as a nightstick, which they rejected as too dangerous because the officer would have to get close to the threatening person and could be lethal on its own, or a Taser, which they said could useful but also carries lethal potential.

The policy describes in detail under which circumstances the various options might be employed.