Law enforcement: use of force.

Existing law authorizes a peace officer who has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a public offense to use objectively reasonable force to effect the arrest, to prevent escape, or to overcome resistance. Existing law specifies that a peace officer who is making an arrest need not retreat or desist from their efforts by reason of resistance or threatened resistance of the person being arrested. Existing law, except as specified, makes a public entity liable for injury proximately caused by an act or omission of an employee of the public entity within the scope of employment if the act or omission would, apart from this provision, have given rise to a cause of action against that employee or their personal representative. This bill would remove the specification that a peace officer making an arrest need not desist in their efforts because of resistance or threatened resistance from the person being arrested. The bill would also require a peace officer to attempt to control an incident through deescalation tactics, as defined, in an effort to reduce or avoid the need to use force, to render medical aid immediately or as soon as feasible, and to intervene to stop a violation of law or an excessive use of force by another peace officer. Under existing law, a peace officer is justified in using deadly force only when the officer reasonably believes, based on the totality of the circumstances, that such force is necessary to defend against an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to the officer or another person, or to apprehend a fleeing person for any felony that threatened or resulted in death or serious bodily injury, if the officer reasonably believes that the person will cause death or serious bodily injury to another unless immediately apprehended. This bill would define "necessary" to mean that, as specified, there was no reasonable alternative to the use of deadly force that would prevent imminent death or serious bodily injury to the peace officer or to another person.