Use-of-force guidelines set a ladder from observing and reporting through challenge and warning to proportionate defence, and the hardest skill on it is deciding not to climb. A person walking at 5 km/h covers 1.39 m/s, so a challenge at 20 m leaves 14 seconds for both sides and one at 100 m leaves 72, which is why a barrier and a greeting area outside the gate, a second sentry as witness, and positive identification before any weapon is raised matter more than the weapon itself.
Part of Community Militia Training
Use-of-force guidelines are the written steps and limits that tell militia members what to do from the first sight of a stranger to the last resort of defence, with the emphasis on restraint.
This Article Is About Restraint, Not Tactics
The register matches the rest of the corpus: visible deterrence, delay and observation, not combat instruction. Human Threats says to be hard to find, easy to avoid and ready to leave. An armed group that has not been taught restraint is the larger danger to its own side, as the parent article says. Nothing here teaches how to fight.
The Ladder, With Four Corrections
The parent ladder runs: observe and report; challenge from cover (“Stop. Identify yourself.”); warn (“This area is defended. Turn back now.”); show of force; and defend, if an individual or group uses force against the community, with proportional force.
- Observe and report is a full step. The sentry’s duty is to signal and log, not to act (Observation Post Operations).
- Challenge is made by a pair. One speaks and one is the witness who also covers the signal; nobody challenges alone (Two-Person Shifts).
- A show of force is visible presence, not aimed weapons. Pointing a weapon at a person is itself a use of force that can start the thing it is meant to prevent. Do it only when force is justified.
- No warning shot as a standard step. See Discipline and Rules of Engagement for why, and for the conflict with the governance article.
Worked Example: Distance Is Decision Time
Walking at 5 km/h is 5,000 / 3,600 = 1.39 m/s (a recalled ordinary pace). Running at 15 km/h is 4.17 m/s. Time to cover a distance d is d divided by speed.
| Challenge distance | Walking | Running |
|---|---|---|
| 100 m | 72 s | 24 s |
| 50 m | 36 s | 12 s |
| 30 m | 22 s | 7.2 s |
| 20 m | 14 s | 4.8 s |
The person challenged must hear, understand and decide. The sentry must hear the answer and decide. The access-control article puts a greeting area 20 to 30 m outside the gate (Access Control), which gives a walker 14 to 22 seconds. That is enough for a challenge and a reply, not enough to correct a mistake. A fence, ditch or locked gate across the approach adds time and reduces the need for anyone to decide in seconds. Ordinary speech is audible at 100 to 200 m in still air, so a challenge made loudly at 100 m also alerts everyone nearby (Noise Discipline).
Why Deciding Not To Is The Hard Skill
Under sudden threat the nervous system picks fight, flight or freeze before a person chooses (Fight-Flight-Freeze Response). Vision narrows and time seems to stretch or freeze (Tunnel Vision and Time Distortion). Fear spreads between people through voices, running and breathing (How Panic Spreads in Groups). Training has to produce the pause: look again, breathe, name what you see.
The parent’s critical principles are the starting rules: a person walking toward the perimeter is not a threat (they may be lost, injured or trading); a person fleeing is not a threat and is not pursued; a person who surrenders or is incapacitated is no longer a combatant and is cared for; a family with children is almost certainly seeking help.
A Noise At Night: Who Moves
The most dangerous situation for a militia is not an attack but frightened people with weapons converging on a sound in the dark, where each can mistake another for the intruder. Set the rule in advance.
- A named pair investigates, and everyone else stays at assigned positions.
- Nobody moves toward a noise without an order.
- Nobody raises a weapon at anything not positively identified. Unidentified means unidentified, not “probably”.
- Returning people halt at the recognition point, signal and wait (Night Patrols).
- A headcount at the stand-down: everyone is where they should be.
- A stop word that anyone may call.
Identification And Challenge
- Halt: a clear instruction in a low voice.
- Identify: ask who they are and why they are there.
- Hold at a distance across the barrier; one speaker, one witness.
- Recognition of members: a password and a reply that overheard words do not reveal (Authentication and Security).
- Admit one at a time, after the wardens decide (Visitor Protocols).
Principles Behind The Ladder
Three principles recur in codes of conduct for armed groups and police, and I am recalling them rather than citing a source. This is not legal advice. Necessity: force only when nothing less will do. Proportion: no more than the situation needs. Distinction: act only against someone who is actually threatening, never against someone merely nearby. Each is a test a member can ask: could I have done less? is this proportionate? is this person actually threatening?
Weapon Safety
Weapons injure the people holding them first
Rules commonly attributed to Jeff Cooper (recalled): treat every firearm as loaded; never let the muzzle point at anything you are not prepared to destroy; keep the finger off the trigger until the sights are on a target you have decided to hit; know your target and what is beyond it. A bullet that misses or passes through continues, so there must be a backstop such as a hill or earth bank behind any target, and no house, path or neighbour beyond. Never point any defensive tool at a person you have not positively identified and have not decided to defend against. Weapons are stored unloaded and apart from ammunition, and no one carries one while impaired (Community Substance Policies).
After Any Use Of Force
Step 1: Care for the injured, including anyone who was an opponent (First Aid and Casualty Care).
Step 2: Restrain and detain only if needed, and bring detainees to the community process (Dealing with Violence).
Step 3: Write the account in order, with decisions and reasons, for the review.
Step 4: Look after the members. Check on them and offer support (Buddy System for Trauma).
Step 5: Review and amend the rules if they failed.
Diagnosing Failures
- A sentry raised a weapon at a neighbour. The patrol was unannounced or the recognition point was unclear; fix the briefing and the point.
- Two people shouting orders. The chain of command was not clear (Chain of Command).
- Members converge on a sound. The rule on who moves was not drilled.
- A challenge ignored. The distance or the voice was wrong; or the person was not able to hear.
Common Mistakes
- Treating the ladder as a checklist to climb. It is a set of stops.
- Showing weapons for effect. It invites the response it should prevent.
- Confusing readiness with eagerness. The best defender is the one nobody needs to shoot.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Dealing with Violence — what the community does when violence has occurred
- Combine with: Code of Conduct — the standing rules beside the ladder