Measure force principle: Use only the amount of force necessary to protect lives and accomplish the mission.

• A. Measure the amount of force used; use only the amount necessary to protect lives and accomplish the mission
• B. Always use maximum force
• C. Only use verbal warnings
• D. Never use force

Answer: (C)

Proportionality in use of force is about matching your response to the threat and stopping it with the minimum force needed to protect lives and accomplish the mission. This means you don’t rigidly use only verbal warnings or flip straight to heavy force; you assess the situation, start with the least intrusive options, and escalate if the threat persists or changes. The idea is to measure how much force is appropriate and apply only that much, no more. Relying exclusively on verbal warnings ignores scenarios where a threat requires physical intervention to prevent harm, while always using maximum force risks unnecessary harm and legal/ethical issues. Never using force fails to protect lives when a threat is real. So, the best approach is to measure and apply the minimum force necessary to address the threat and achieve the objective.