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Date: 03/05/89 Revision: 03/10/25 Reviewed: 03/10/25 HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE CHAD CHRONISTER , SHERIFF STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE Number: GEN 500.00 Page: 1 of 5 SUBJECT: USE OF FORCE I. PURPOSE : The purpose of this standard operating procedure is to provide guidelines for the use of force by sworn personnel of the Sheriff's Office. II. SCOPE : This procedure shall apply to all sworn personnel. III. DISCUSSION : In accordance with Sheriff’s Office standard operating procedures, State Law, and Federal Law , sworn personnel shall use force that is objectively reasonable, necessary, and proportional to a subject’s resistance or present threat. It will be the responsibility of each deputy involved in a use-of-force incident to ensure that a supervisor is immediately informed of the incident. If a subject is injured during the use of a restraint device , escort compliance, transporters, or takedowns for handcuffing purposes, it is the responsibility of each deputy involved to immediately inform a supervisor. IV. DEFINITIONS : A. Excessive Use of Force - A use of force that exceeds the degree of force permitted by law, policy, or the observing officer’s employing agency. B. Imminent Danger - Immediate danger, such as must be instantly met. An appearance of threatened and impending injury as would put a reasonable and prudent person to their instant defense. C. Proportional Force - The degree of force which is reasonably necessary to effectively bring a subject and/or situation under control. Proportional force does not require deputies to use the same type or degree of force as the subject presents. D. Reasonable Belief - The facts or circumstances the deputy knows, or should know, are such as to cause an ordinary and prudent person to act or think in a similar way under similar circumstances. E. Serious Bodily Injury - A bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death; causes serious, permanent disfigurement; or results in long -term loss or impairment of the functioning of any bodily member or organ. V. RESISTANCE AND RESPONSE LEVELS : A. Levels of Subject Resistance 1. Passive Resistance - A subject verbally or physically refuses to respond or comply with a deputy’s verbal commands . The subject does not make any attempt to physically defeat the deputy’s verbal commands or actions, but the subject’s actions require the deputy to use physical force to establish control. 2. Active Physical Resistance - A subject makes physically evasive movements to defeat a deputy’s attempt to control the subject . This may be in the form of braci ng or tensing, attempting to push or pull away , or by not allow ing the deputy to get close to them . GEN 500.00 03/10/25 Page 2 of 5 3. Aggressive Physical Resistance - A subject makes overt, hostile, threatening , or attacking movements, which may cause injury to themselves, the deputy , or others but are not likely to cause death or great bodily harm to themselves , the deputy , or others. 4. Deadly Force Resistance - A subject’s actions that create a reasonable belief by the deputy that the subject is capable of causing death or great bodily harm to the deputy or others. B. Levels of Deputy Response 1. When the life of a deputy or others is not at risk, the following response levels are appropriate : a. Dialogue - Talking a subject into compliance, i.e., verbal commands with an emphasis on decreasing the intensity of a conflict. The goal of the deputy is to achieve compliance through the use of verbal commands. b. De-escalation - The process of defusing a tense situation using a combi nation of dialogue , empathy, and experience in order to gain compliance from a subject. When safe and under the totality of the circumstances, deputies shall use de -escalation tactics in order to reduce the need for physical force. c. Physical Force - Force in excess of mere touching or grabbing of a subject. Physical force is achieving control or cu stody through the use of empty -hand or leverage -enhanced techn iques, such as pain compliance , takedowns, and striking techniques. This term does not include escorting or handcuffing a subject when there is minimal or no resistance by the subject . d. Less Lethal Force - Force that is not likely or intended to cause death or great bodily harm to a subject . Less lethal force may include , but is not limited to , the use of the following: (1) Expandable Baton : The deployment of an expandable baton may be an appropriate response to “aggressive physical resistance” by a subject who is about to be taken into custody and it appears the utilization of other control techniques will most likely result in a physical altercation that may cause injury to either deputies or the subject being taken into custody . * (2) G.L.O.V.E (Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter): A conductive distraction and de -escalation device that uses an electric charge and voltage to induce pain or involuntary muscle contractions to gain compliance. (3) Oleoresin Capsicum (