reasonable force
Legally appropriate response
Reasonable force is the minimum level of physical action legally justified to protect oneself, others, or property from harm.
The concept appears primarily in legal contexts, where courts assess whether someone's defensive response was proportionate to the threat faced.
What counts as reasonable varies by jurisdiction and circumstance—deadly force against an unarmed shoplifter would not qualify, but subduing an armed attacker likely would.
The officer claimed he used only reasonable force to restrain the suspect.
- self-defenseProtecting oneself from harm
- proportionalityScaling relationship between quantities
- bodily harmDamage to one's person
- holdMaintain in grasp
- imminent threatDanger about to occur
fear for life · stand your ground · accountability · necessity · defense of others · castle doctrine · last resort · legal justification · reasonable person · criminal liability · police conduct · arrest procedures · citizen's arrest · statute · moral duty · precedent · judgment · fairness
- self-defenseself-defense, martial arts, self-protection, karate, pepper spray
- legal defensesself-defense, alibi, affirmative defense, insanity defense, insanity
- Police Forceless lethal, tasers, pepper spray, batons, handcuffs
- legal necessitynecessity, legal justification, justification, legal excuse, duress
reasonable forceexcessive force
Unwarranted severity in restraint
gratuitous violence · overkill · lethal force · measured response
reasonable forcecriminal assault
Unlawful physical attack
police brutality · aggravated assault · battery · assault and battery · torture