High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The term use of force describes a right of an individual or authority to settle conflicts or prevent certain actions by applying measures to either: a) dissuade another party from a particular course of action, or b) physically intervene to stop them. In nations of the developed world and the developing world, citizens allow police, corrections, or other security personnel to employ force to actively prevent imminent commission of crime, or even for deterrence. It may also be exercised by the executive branch (i.e., through the president, prime minister, premier, governor or mayor) of a political jurisdiction, deploying the police or military to maintain public order. The use of force is governed by statute and is usually authorized in a progressive series of actions, referred to as a "use of force continuum.