Florida Statutes 943.1735 – Basic skills training related to use of force; use of force policies; contents
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(1) For the purposes of this section, the term:
(a) “Chokehold” means the intentional and prolonged application of force to the throat, windpipe, or airway of another person that prevents the intake of air. The term does not include any hold involving contact with another person’s neck that is not intended to prevent the intake of air.
Terms Used In Florida Statutes 943.1735
- person: includes individuals, children, firms, associations, joint adventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations. See Florida Statutes 1.01
(b) “Excessive use of force” means use of force that exceeds the degree of force permitted by law, policy, or the observing officer’s employing agency.
(2) The commission shall establish standards for the instruction of officers in the subject of use of force, and each employing agency in the state shall adopt policies in the subject of use of force. The standards and policies must include:
(a) Instruction on the proportional use of force.
(b) Alternatives to use of force, including de-escalation techniques.
(c) Limiting the use of a chokehold, if the employing agency authorizes the use of a chokehold, to circumstances where the officer perceives an immediate threat of serious bodily injury or death to himself, herself, or another person.
(d) The duty to intervene in another officer’s excessive use of force, which must require an on-duty officer who observes another officer engaging or attempting to engage in excessive use of force to intervene to end the excessive use of force or attempted excessive use of force when such intervention is reasonable based on the totality of the circumstances and the observing officer may intervene without jeopardizing his or her own health or safety.
(e) The duty to render medical assistance following use of force, which must require an officer who knows, or when it is otherwise evident, that a person who is detained or in custody is injured or requires medical attention to provide first aid or seek medical assistance when such action is reasonable based on the totality of the circumstances and the officer may do so without jeopardizing his or her own health or safety.
(f) Instruction on the recognition of the evident symptoms and characteristics of an individual with a substance abuse disorder or a mental illness and appropriate responses to an individual exhibiting such symptoms or characteristics.
(3) Beginning July 1, 2023, every basic skills course required in order for officers to obtain initial certification must include the standards for instruction required under this section.