When Force Is Used
Fla. Stat. 776.05 — force to defend against bodily harm during an arrest, and the fleeing felon rule
Florida's rule for police force in an arrest is section 776.05. A law enforcement officer need not retreat or desist from a lawful arrest because of resistance or threatened resistance, and is justified in using any force the officer reasonably believes necessary to defend the officer or another from bodily harm while making the arrest, or that is necessarily committed in retaking escaped felons or arresting felons fleeing from justice.
The fleeing felon rule has a limit in a civil case. The fleeing felon provision is not a defense in a civil action for the wrongful use of deadly force unless the deadly force was necessary to prevent the arrest from being defeated by flight, some warning was given when feasible, and the officer reasonably believed either that the person posed a threat of death or serious physical harm to the officer or others, or that the person had committed a crime involving the infliction or threatened infliction of serious physical harm to another.
- For an officer on duty, deadly force means force likely to cause death or great bodily harm, and it includes firing a firearm in the direction of the person to be arrested, even without intent to kill or injure.
- It also includes firing at a vehicle in which the person to be arrested is riding.
- It does not include firing a less-lethal munition, a projectile designed to stun or temporarily incapacitate without penetrating the body, and an officer is not liable in a civil or criminal action for using one in good faith within the scope of official duties.
A death or a shooting injury brings an independent review. When an officer's use of force results in a death, or an intentional discharge of a firearm injures or kills someone, each agency's policy must provide an independent review by another agency, an officer from another agency, or the state attorney of the circuit. The reviewer completes an independent report, which goes to the state attorney of the circuit where the force was used.
A claim against the state or a local government starts in writing. Under section 768.28, an action may not be filed on a claim against the state or one of its agencies or subdivisions unless the claim is first presented in writing to the appropriate agency within 3 years after it accrues and the claim is denied in writing. Except for a claim against a municipality, a county or the Florida Space Authority, the claim also goes in writing to the Department of Financial Services. The civil action must then be commenced within 4 years after the claim accrues, with shorter limits for some kinds of action, wrongful death among them.
This is the statute, not an assessment. Whether any particular use of force was justified, which limitation applies to a claim, whether a federal claim exists beside the state one, and how sovereign immunity applies turn on facts and on case law these sections do not contain. A licensed Florida attorney, early rather than late, is who answers them.
Sources for this section (4)
- Fla. Stat. 776.05 — Law enforcement officers; use of force in making an arrest
- Fla. Stat. 776.06 — Deadly force by a law enforcement or correctional officer
- Fla. Stat. 943.1740 — Standards for use of force investigations
- Fla. Stat. 768.28 — Waiver of sovereign immunity in tort actions; claims and limitations
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Florida attorney.