Use of Force Reporting
The Brookhaven Police Department’s Use of Force Policy is designed to provide BPD officers with structured guidelines on the use of non-deadly and deadly force. The policy also establishes standard operating procedures for reporting and investigating every use of force incident, and creates a duty for all employees to intervene in the event that an unlawful or excessive use of force is observed. These policies meet or exceed the requirements of the Georgia Law Enforcement Certification Program (GLECP) and the Presidential Executive Order on Safe Policing for Safe Communities; and BPD's compliance is certified by the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police (GACP) and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).
Brookhaven Police Officers are authorized only to use that level of force which is reasonable and necessary to: defend others, defend themselves, effect an arrest or detention, prevent an escape, or overcome unlawful resistance. BPD officers are only authorized to use deadly force - which is any level of force likely to cause serious bodily injury or death - to: protect others or themselves from an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury; prevent the commission of a forcible felony; or to prevent the escape of a violent fleeing felon when the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or seriously bodily injury to others if allowed to escape. These provisions are set by Georgia law, established in O.C.G.A. § 16-3-21 and O.C.G.A. § 17-4-20.
It is the policy of the Brookhaven Police Department to report every actual, attempted, or threatened use of force by our officers. This includes a report every time an officer presents or displays any weapon, whether or not that weapon was used, and applies to: firearms, tasers, batons, “pepper spray,” and police canines, as well as to the use of an officers’ hands, feet, or other body parts to strike, kick, or otherwise gain compliance. Every use and/or presentation of force is documented in writing by the officer’s immediate supervisor (Sergeant). That report, and the corresponding video footage, is reviewed by the shift commander (Lieutenant), then by the Division Commander (Major), before being forwarded to the Office of Professional Standards (Major). Only after each of these four (4) separate reviews has been conducted is a Use of Force Investigation considered “complete.”
Notably, after the first four reviews, every use of force is reviewed again by our Agency Certification Manager (Sergeant) as part of our annual reporting requirements set by the Georgia Law Enforcement Certification Program (GLECP); and these reviews are inspected every three years by independent, external auditors on behalf of GLECP. In short: every use of force is separately evaluated six (6) total times. (2019 Statistics are listed in the pictures below.)
BPD also uses an “Early Warning/Intervention” system to identify and quickly detect officers who are exhibiting signs of stress or other behavior that poses a liability to the community, the department, or the officer himself. The automated system alerts supervisors to patterns of behavior by a specific officer, including: complaints, uses of force, use of sick leave, preventable traffic accidents, bi-annual performance evaluation scores, and other high-liability categories. Even those instances which are separately deemed within policy cause the system to alert supervisors to an abnormal frequency of events, allowing our supervisors to examine the events and determine whether there is an underlying problem with stress, training, or any other performance area. Each alert is reviewed by the officer’s Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Division Commander, and their findings are documented in writing.
The Brookhaven Police Department also conducts an annual review of our arrest and citation data for evidence of bias-based policing. These annual reports are maintained by the Office of Professional Standards and reviewed annually by the Chief of Police. These reports are also inspected every three years by independent external auditors on behalf of GLECP as part of our Certification process. (2019 Statistics are listed in the pictures below.)
Since 2015, BPD has also produced an annual report summarizing city crime statistics, calls for service, officer activity, criminal investigations, arrest and citation data, and notable incidents from the year. The 2018 and 2019 reports can be found here.
