Coming along quietly: Using force to make an arrest is uncommon for most area departments

In the past two months, Cape Girardeau police have handled about 10 incidents involving resistance to arrest.

The incidents ranged from a 16-year-old girl damaging a vehicle while attempting to escape custody to a suspect fleeing the scene of an alleged shooting.

When faced with resistance to arrest or an unruly suspect, law enforcement officers have to resort to force to prevent a potentially dangerous situation from escalating. With most area departments, that doesn't happen often.

"When I worked the street, I had a flashlight and a nightstick," said Lt. David James, chief deputy of the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department.

Now, the sheriff's department and most area law enforcement agencies have introduced electric weapons, such as Tasers, and chemical pepper sprays into their arsenal, increasing the number options available before having to cause serious injury or use deadly force.

"Deadly force is always the very, very last resort. You'd let them escape first, as long as they aren't attacking anyone or putting people in danger," said chief deputy Leo McElrath of the Bollinger County Sheriff's Department.

Bollinger County doesn't have specific numbers on how often force is used during arrests, but it doesn't happen frequently, McElrath said.

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.com Sgt. Barry Hovis put the laser sight of his Taser on a target as he prepared to fire during a demonstration Monday at the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

The Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department doesn't keep records on use-of-force incidents, James said, though he added that the department's numbers may be higher than other jurisdictions with a similar number of arrests because the department includes a jail that has more than 200 inmates.

In Cape Girardeau, out of 4,148 total arrests last year, 61 involved officers using some kind of force, about 1 percent, chief Carl Kinnison said. That percentage is about average, he said.

Forty-five of those incidents involved use of a Taser, and five were cases in which a service weapon was drawn and pointed.

"Most people cooperate, and there's never an issue," Kinnison said.

The use-of-force policies were rewritten in Cape Girardeau about 15 years ago, he said.

The use-of-force continuum varies slightly between departments but usually begins with officer presence. For example, in a shoplifting case, the mere presence of an officer may convince a suspect to submit to arrest quietly. The continuum then goes to some kind of verbal command, then physical contact ranging from simply a hand on the arm to a kick or takedown.

"There's always been a progression from the least amount of force necessary to make an arrest or detain someone," Kinnison said.

Officers raise the force to meet the resistance they face, including the use of nonlethal weapons such as Tasers, small batons and chemical sprays.

Those weapons, especially Tasers, have helped decrease officer and prisoner injuries dramatically because there are fewer physical altercations, Kinnison said.

The Jackson Police Department increased the detail of its policy to meet the standards for Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, a process it recently completed. Since then, police spokesman Lt. Rodney Barnes said, the department has seen a reduction in use-of-force incidents, although he didn't have numbers.

In 2007, through November, there were four use-of-force incidents in Jackson out of 516 arrests.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245

Police chief Kinnison on the use of force

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