Resistance to Officer

  1. Law
  2. Tennessee Code
  3. Criminal Procedure
  4. Arrest
  5. General Provisions
  6. Resistance to Officer

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  1. A law enforcement officer, after giving notice of the officer's identity as an officer, may use or threaten to use force that is reasonably necessary to accomplish the arrest of an individual suspected of a criminal act who resists or flees from the arrest.
  2. Notwithstanding subsection (a), the officer may use deadly force to effect an arrest only if all other reasonable means of apprehension have been exhausted or are unavailable, and where feasible, the officer has given notice of the officer's identity as an officer and given a warning that deadly force may be used unless resistance or flight ceases, and:
    1. The officer has probable cause to believe the individual to be arrested has committed a felony involving the infliction or threatened infliction of serious bodily injury; or
    2. The officer has probable cause to believe that the individual to be arrested poses a threat of serious bodily injury, either to the officer or to others unless immediately apprehended.
  3. All law enforcement officers, both state and local, shall be bound by this section and shall receive instruction regarding implementation of this section in law enforcement training programs.

Code 1858, § 5040; Shan., § 7000; Code 1932, § 11539; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 40-808; Acts 1985, ch. 359, § 1; 1990, ch. 980, § 19.

Compiler's Notes. Some versions of this section have been held unconstitutional in certain circumstances in Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1, 105 S. Ct. 1694, 85 L. Ed. 2d 1 (1984) and other cases. See Notes to Decisions, Decisions Under Prior Law, 1. Constitutionality.

Textbooks. Tennessee Criminal Practice and Procedure (Raybin), §§ 1.23, 18.168, 28.121.

Law Reviews.

1985 Tennessee Survey: Selected Developments in Tennessee Law, 53 Tenn. L. Rev. 351 (1986).

In Pursuit of the Elusive Fourth Amendment: The Police Chase Cases (Ronald J. Bacigal), 58 Tenn. L. Rev. 73 (1990).

My Fellow Americans, We Are Going to Kill You: The Legality of Targeting and Killing U.S. Citizens Abroad (Mike Dreyfuss), 65 Vand. L. Rev. 249 (2012).

Attorney General Opinions. Extent of municipal police authority beyond municipal limits.  OAG 10-48, 2010 Tenn. AG LEXIS 48 (4/12/10).


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