Pennsylvania Statutes

§ 508 — Use of force in law enforcement

Pennsylvania § 508
JurisdictionPennsylvania
Title 18CRIMES AND OFFENSES
PartPART I
Ch. 5GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF JUSTIFICATION

This text of Pennsylvania § 508 (Use of force in law enforcement) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 508 (2026).

Text

(a)Peace officer's use of force in making arrest.--
(1)A peace officer, or any person whom he has summoned or directed to assist him, need not retreat or desist from efforts to make a lawful arrest because of resistance or threatened resistance to the arrest. He is justified in the use of any force which he believes to be necessary to effect the arrest and of any force which he believes to be necessary to defend himself or another from bodily harm while making the arrest. However, he is justified in using deadly force only when he believes that such force is necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury to himself or such other person, or when he believes both that:
(i)such force is necessary to prevent the arrest from being defeated by resistance or escape; and
(ii)the person

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Legislative History

(July 17, 2007, P.L.139, No.41, eff. 60 days) 2007 Amendment.Act 41 amended subsec. (c). Cross References.Section 508 is referred to in section 8340.2 of Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure).

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Bluebook (online)
Pennsylvania § 508, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/statute/pa/18/508.