Chapter Two:
Resistance-Response Model
The Use of Force by an officer should be directly related to
the amount of resistance being offered by a subject. With this theory in mind,
an agency can represent their Use of Force policy in a simple chart, called the
Resistance-Response Model.
The Resistance-Response Model can be helpful in teaching and illustrating a
department's Use of Force Policy. The model's concise format makes it a very
simple but useful training aid in teaching students what level of response is a
appropriate. Thus it can not only help protect the officers in your department
from harm but it also protects them and the agency from liability.
The model also helps explain to students how a police baton, along with its
other various defensive and subject-control options, functions within their
agency's Use of Force guidelines.
Attention
As you review this graph, please keep in mind that this graph illustrates how
Monadnock baton techniques may be used by officers to respond to a specific
level of resistance offered by a suspect. It should not be viewed as a complete
use of force model, but rather as a concentrated view of how one force option
can be applied within a larger continuum context. This graph reflects the
philosophy of the Monadnock Police Training Council.
How To Use The Graph
Find a subject's action in the examples of levels of resistance to the left,
then move in a straight line across the chart to the point where it intersects
the graph line, then move down to determine the upper limit of an officer's
response. The responses between "zero" and that upper limit define the
range of possible techniques available to an officer who is certified in any of
the Council's programs.
Situational Force
Matching an officer's response to a situation should be a strong
consideration when force options are initiated. However, an officer's response
can be influenced by other factors. For example, a 6' 5" tall, 315 lbs.
Professional wrestler charges an officer (in uniform) as she is attempting to
arrest him for beating a waiter. The officer is 5' 4" tall and weighs 120
lbs. It is clear that there is a disparity in height and weight between the
suspect and the officer which tips the scale toward the suspect. The scale may
be tipped even further due to the suspect's familiarity with hand-to- hand
skills as a professional wrestler. Gender may also be a factor. When these
specific differences are taken into consideration, the officer, in this example,
may indeed need to use a higher response level than generally indicated by this
graph. Other factors that could also influence the use of a higher force option
by officers may include, but are not limited to, the following: age, fatigue,
involvement of multiple suspects, an officer/suspect's physical impairment (i.e.
rheumatoid arthritis, prosthetics, etc.), or a suspect's impairment caused by a
mental health and/or substance abuse problem.
Example
Let us assume that an officer confronts a loud and intoxicated person on a
public street. The subject begins to repeatedly shake a finger at the officers's
face while also making verbal threats to the officer. What would be the initial
response option a police baton could offer the officer as indicated by the
Resistance-Response Model above? Answer: "The officer could draw a baton in
an effort to stop this level of resistance by the subject." The officer
should also tell the subject to stop. If this does not occur the officer would
be in a position to: (1) block a punch/kick from the subject should it come, or
(2) to take the subject into custody using a control technique such as an
armlock.
Back to the Use of
Force Index
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and graphics on the MEB program presented on this site are the sole
property of the Monadnock Police Training Council, Inc., and
used with permission.
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