What term do courts use to describe the process for evaluating the appropriateness of an officer's response to a subject's resistance?

• A. Use of Force Continuum
• B. Objective Reasonableness
• C. Proportionality Test
• D. Due Process

Answer: (B)

Courts describe the evaluation of an officer’s response to resistance as objective reasonableness. This standard, drawn from Graham v. Connor, asks whether the officer’s actions were reasonable given what a typical trained officer would have done on the scene with the information available at the time. It focuses on the perspective of a reasonable officer on the ground, not on hindsight or personal intent.

Key factors include the severity of the crime, whether the suspect posed an immediate threat, and whether the subject was actively resisting or attempting to evade. The analysis is anchored in the situation as it presented itself to the officer, rather than an after-the-fact assessment of what might have been safer or more appropriate.

The other terms describe different ideas. The Use of Force Continuum is a training model of escalating options, not the formal legal standard courts apply. The Proportionality Test and Due Process address related but distinct concepts and do not define the on-scene reasonableness standard for use of force in this context.