What is defensive resistance?

What is defensive resistance?

• A. Physical actions which attempt to harm the officer
• B. Non-resistive compliance
• C. Verbal resistance
• D. Physical actions that attempt to prevent officer's control, but never attempts to harm the officer

Answer: (D)

Defensive resistance is when a person uses physical actions to prevent the officer from gaining control, but does not intend to harm the officer. This shows a direct attempt to oppose being restrained or controlled, yet the person is not trying to injure the officer. It sits between compliant behavior and violent aggression on the use-of-force spectrum, signaling that the officer may need to adjust technique to maintain safety. The other descriptions don’t fit because one describes actions aimed at harming the officer, another describes cooperating or yielding, and the last describes only verbal pushback without physical movement.

Defensive resistance is when a person uses physical actions to prevent the officer from gaining control, but does not intend to harm the officer. This shows a direct attempt to oppose being restrained or controlled, yet the person is not trying to injure the officer. It sits between compliant behavior and violent aggression on the use-of-force spectrum, signaling that the officer may need to adjust technique to maintain safety.

The other descriptions don’t fit because one describes actions aimed at harming the officer, another describes cooperating or yielding, and the last describes only verbal pushback without physical movement.