Tennessee Criminal Lawyer Blog

Tennessee statutes give law enforcement officers a great deal of leeway in their ability to exercise force in the apprehension of criminal suspects. However, that leeway is not unlimited, and an officer’s failure to abide by the prescribed standards may affect the rights of a criminal suspect.

Law enforcement officers, after identifying themselves, their authority, and their purpose, may break open any door or window of a house if they have been refused admittance. However, this option is only available to an officer if it is in an effort to make an arrest, and may be done so with or without a warrant. If an officer resorts to these means in an effort to obtain evidence, the officer must first have a valid search warrant.

Law enforcement officers, after identifying themselves as such, may use or threaten force that is reasonably necessary to accomplish the arrest of a criminal suspect who has resisted or fled from arrest. However, deadly force, which is the use of the officer’s gun, may only be used if all other reasonable methods of apprehension have failed, and the officer has attempted to alert the suspect that deadly force may be used unless the suspect immediately begins cooperation.

Still, deadly force may only be used if one of two other conditions are met: (1) the officer has probable cause to believe the individual has committed a felony involving the infliction or threatened infliction of bodily injury, or (2) the officer has probable cause to believe that the individual poses a threat of serious bodily injury to the officer or another person.

As you can see, the use of deadly force is statutorily limited to a very specific set of circumstances, and law enforcement officer are given specific training in the implementation of the use of force in the apprehension of criminal suspects. If you have any questions regarding your encounter with an officer relating to deadly force during your arrest, the experienced criminal defense attorneys in Tennessee at Baker and Associates can help. Call us today at 866-853-2888.