9.3 Force Options, Communication, and Control

Options Before and During Control

TCOLE BPOC Chapter 28 lists force options as professional presence, verbal communications, weaponless strategies, weapon strategies, and deadly force. The point is not that an officer must climb every step. The point is that an officer selects a reasonable option under the total circumstances and can explain why lower, different, or delayed options were ineffective or unsafe.

Control is the degree of influence the officer must exert to take a violator safely into custody. Chapter 28 describes the physical arrest role as defensive because the officer protects the community and brings the violator under lawful control. Self-control is central. Emotional uncertainty can lead to hesitation, verbal abuse, bluffing, or unnecessary force.

TCOLE describes ineffective control as a force level below the subject's resistance. Excessive control is unreasonably greater than the resistance and may cause preventable injury. Exam answers often hide the issue by giving an officer a real problem but then offering an overbroad response. Choose the answer that is purposeful, controlled, and no more than a reasonable officer would use under all facts.

Communication strategy is tested heavily because BPOC says verbal skills make up most police duties. Officers must communicate with people who may not want to listen, are emotionally charged, distrust police, or are being watched by a crowd. Good tactics include listening, empathizing, asking, paraphrasing, summarizing, and using ethical, rational, practical, or personal appeals.

Scenario guidance: during a traffic stop, a nervous driver refuses to sign a citation and refuses to provide identifying information. A strong exam answer does not jump straight to high-level force. It identifies the legal authority, tries clear communication, uses questions to gain information, explains consequences when safe, assesses signs of impairment or disability, and chooses lawful control only if repeated refusal or conduct makes words ineffective.

Audience and constraints matter. BPOC Chapter 28 says everyone present is part of the audience, and the officer should read whether people are receptive, hostile, or critical. Constraints include weather, noise, time of day, location, officer mood, the person's values, intoxication indicators, and disability indicators. Procedural justice means adapting communication without surrendering lawful control.

Exam trap: hostile words are not automatically an attack. TCOLE teaches that words and gestures alone are not an attack, but words plus actions may show danger. When words and actions disagree, trust actions and be ready to use lawful force if the facts require it.