Question of Fact Raised Whether Police Officers Used Excessive Force In Violation of Plaintiff’s Civil Rights—Criteria Explained

The Second Department determined a question of fact had been raised about whether police officers used excessive force in violation of plaintiff’s civil rights.  The court explained the relevant law:

“A claim that a law enforcement official used excessive force during the course of an arrest . . . is to be analyzed under the objective reasonableness standard of the Fourth Amendment” … . The reasonableness of a particular use of force is judged from “the perspective of a reasonable officer on the scene, rather than with the 20/20 vision of hindsight” …, and takes into account “the severity of the crime at issue, whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others, and whether he [or she] is actively resisting arrest or attempting to evade arrest by flight” … . “[A]n officer’s decision to use deadly force is objectively reasonable only if the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others” … . “Because of its intensely factual nature, the question of whether the use of force was reasonable under the circumstances is generally best left for a jury to decide” … . “If found to be objectively reasonable, the officer’s actions are privileged under the doctrine of qualified immunity” … . Williams v City of New York, 2015 NY Slip Op 05470, 2nd Dept 6-24-15