What Does a Claim Against an Individual Officer Focus On?

It focuses on that person's conduct. The analysis may examine what the officer knew and did during the encounter, and courts then apply the appropriate constitutional standard to those facts.

Two things follow from that. Responsibility may extend beyond one person, so who else was involved and whether institutional conduct requires further investigation is a separate question. And qualified immunity can become a major issue in federal civil rights litigation, including whether the conduct violated a constitutional right that was clearly established at the time. Because this area is highly fact-specific, legal evaluation matters.