On October 3, 1974, Officers Elton Hymon and Leslie Wright of the Memphis Police Department were called to respond to a possible burglary. In determining the "objective reasonableness" of force, the court set out a series of three factors: "the severity of the crime", "whether there is an immediate threat to the safety of officers or others", and "Whether the suspect is actively resisting arrest or evading". Connor (1989), the Supreme Court held that it was irrelevant whether Connor acted in good faith, because the use of force must be judged based on its objective reasonableness. Over the course of the encounter, Graham sustained a broken foot, cuts on his wrists, a bruised forehead and an injured shoulder. Eventually, when Connor learned that nothing had happened in the convenience store, the officers drove Graham home and released him. After several other officers arrived, one of them handcuffed Graham. While on their way to the friend's house, the officer stopped the two of them and called for backup. In the midst of all this, he was being watched by Officer Connor, of the Charlotte City Police Department police department. When the store was too crowded, he and his friend proceeded to go to another friend's house. On November 12, 1984, Graham, who was a diabetic, felt an insulin reaction coming on and rushed to the store with a friend to get some orange juice. This kind of continuum generally has many levels, and officers are instructed to respond with a level of force appropriate to the situation at hand, acknowledging that the officer may move from one part of the continuum to another in a matter of seconds. One source identifies five very generalized steps, increasing from least use of force to greatest. The use of force may be standardized by a Use of Force Continuum, which presents guidelines as to the degree of force appropriate in a given situation.
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