The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week ruled that judges did not need to instruct juries on deadly force in excessive force cases involving police or security officers.

That ruling might have reduced liability for organizations involved in such cases, but it didn't clarify the definition of excessive force.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit case upheld a verdict that rejected Elizabeth Acosta's civil rights complaint against the city of San Diego. She alleged that security officers and police at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium violated her civil rights when an officer slammed her to the ground after she continued kicking him when she was removed from a stadium bar.

"It's a very subjective judgment," said William McShane, director of corporate loss prevention and life safety for Denihan Hospitality Group. "A jury could easily take a look at a situation and say a 6-foot-4, 250-pound security guard grabbing a 5-foot-1, 105-pound woman is excessive force and rule in favor of the woman although the security guard's actions weren't malicious."

Both Robbie Foster, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, and McShane said training is the best way to protect an organization against excessive force claims.

"There is just not a clear definition that you can tell security officers as to how they should handle that situation," Foster said. "It takes judgment, training, and the professionalism of a security officer not to lose his cool."

McShane said his officers, through New York state's security guard act of 1992, are mandated to complete three levels of training: An eight-hour course that covers basic security procedures including use of force, a follow-up 16-hour course that expands on those basic procedures conducted 90 days after an officer's hire date, and a yearly refresher course.

"My personal take all comes down to education," McShane said. "Whether it is the continuing education for staff awareness or beginning education courses, I feel it is just so important."

Foster said that adequate training could mean the difference between being held liable or not. In his experience as an attorney representing hotels and casinos, he said, organizations that trained their officers in courses that included use of force procedures were almost always found not negligent in excessive force claims.

"If your organization doesn't provide training on excessive force, handcuffing and things of that nature and you end up in court, that could be potential for a negligence finding," he said. "Training doesn't give you carte blanche, but it makes the company look like they did what they should have done to handle the case."