Excessive Force: A Case Study

Police use of deadly force in the United States has been growing at a rapid pace due to several incidents that have taken place over the last few years. The biggest question today remains why has this been such a relevant topic across the U.S. lately? The use of deadly force is specifically important because it directly affects the publics’ attitudes and behaviors towards the police and government. Some will blame police policies, some will blame abuse of power, and some even claim the use of deadly force is necessary to in order to properly defend themselves. The use of deadly force continues to increase due to lack of what the true definition of “use of force” and what actually means. This lack of definition creates

Police behavior plays a gigantic role in whether or not an officer will be willing to use excessive force against a suspect such as their background, training, morals, and composer in stressful situations. In Worden’s article he explains three theories about police behavior that comprise of existing research on police behavior and they’re training. These are sociological, psychological, and organizational theory. He explains sociological theory as the premise that police behavior is

This paper will discuss issues related to the use of excessive force by the police. In doing this the paper will look at the concepts such as the need for police officers to use force, the definition of excessive force and causes that contribute to the use of excessive force. The paper identifies inadequate training, adrenalin overload, accidental application and retribution as the major causes of the use of excessive force. In order to reduce the use of excessive force as a result of these circumstances, the paper argues that it is instrumental to provide adequate training as well as regular training to police officers in order to improve their relations with the community and reduces occurrences involving the use of excessive force.

In today’s society the police are harassed for supposedly abusing their power against people who commit crimes and innocent bystanders however the general public usually mix those two categories of people with each other. Officers are blamed for whatever course of action they decide to take in order to prevent a serious threat from arising. Consequently, the public is having a growing fear of the police, their own definitions of excessive force are biased, the police abuse their powers, etc. The change in how a police officer may carry out every situation may be a change that we need to protect the people.

A claim that prison officials used excessive force on an inmate and thereby inflicted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment involves both objective and subjective elements. Stanley v. Hejirika, 134 F.2d 629, 634 (4th Cir. 1998). The objective element of the analysis requires a determination of whether the defendants’ actions offend contemporary standards of decency. Hudson v. McMillian, 503 U.S. 1, 8 (1992). To answer this question, the Court weighs the need for the application of the force, the relationship between the need for the use of force and the amount of force used, the extent of the injury inflicted, the extent of the threat to the safety of staff and inmates as reasonably perceived by the defendants and any efforts made to temper the severity of the use of force. Whitley

If there was a national certification program that certified police agencies to have a regulatory compliance certification and training in the use of force in the United States, it would minimize the number of cases of or deter the use of excessive force in America. This is demonstrated by the progress made various police agencies across about minimizing and deterring excessive use of force by their officers. The Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) and the New York Police Department (NYPD) are examples of police departments which have registered significant progress after taking measures to minimize or deter the excessive use of force.

A striking aspect that differentiates the profession of policing from other forms of professions entails the legal authority bestowed upon the police to use force should situations call for it (Greenfeld 2012). According to 2009 Victorian police data, the situations involving the use of force was encountered in every 2.5 hours and for every 49hours, there was a critical incident related to the use of force by police (Office of Police Integrity 2009). These statistics show that at some point, the

Police officer’s participation in ethical/unethical shootings and/or patterns of excessive force practices has shown a greater prevalence in low-income black communities’ statewide more often than white communities. Eruptions of anger due to the outcome of civil proceedings leading to civil protests, violence, and the creation of various pro-black groups have shown greater evidence of a widespread issue meanwhile having a domino effect in cities and states across the nation. In the wake of the death of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Freddy Gray, all killed by white police officers during apprehension cities in the states: Cleveland, Pennsylvania, St. Louis, and Baltimore have

The Warrior Cop Project Organization represents law enforcement officers. Our ultimate goal is public awareness and education on the origins, the present, and the future of militarization of police and the safety of all American police officers. This paper examines the militarization of the American police forces as it pertains to the increased equipment and training needed by police to remain safe while effectively doing their required jobs. Militarization of police: it is more than just equipment. Our organization is pro-militarization of the police. Our police officers must be allowed to protect themselves when threatened. These threats are manifested on

The impression of public in the U.S of the police using excessive forces, such as brutality, in today's modern policing continues to be a sensitive issue across the country. Many police agencies around the nation are under the pressure for alleged abuse of force from the view of the media perspective. Justified or not, the image of the police use of force continues to strike a nerve with the American public. However, an attempt to use force is often misunderstood by the community because of the media frenzy using false declarations and propaganda techniques. These techniques weaken the power of the police and reduce the trust that the community has in the police force.

Over the past three years there has been a conflict with the use of force not just by police but with citizens as well. Recent events such as the shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman in 2012 and the killing of Mike Brown by a Ferguson police officer just recently in August of 2014 has raised eyebrows about the use of force. Clearly there is a misunderstanding of the concept of when and when not to use force especially when it is the use of deadly force. The training that is given as well as the understanding of use of force is outdated. The federal government should implement excessive use of force training for all law enforcement agencies in the U.S.

Police Agencies in modern society are a part of the American fabric to serve and protect the American public. The United States currently have more than 15,000 police agencies, (Walker & Katz, 2011). Police Departments across the United States face similar critical issues policing. All police officers face dangers in the job of policing the dangers can emanate from internal and external origins. Police officers have continued to evolve to serve communities by finding better less than lethal alternatives to weapons used. In addition, police departments have continued to keep up with

The public impression of police use of force, as brutality, in modern day policing continues to be a sensitive issue for law enforcement agencies across the nation. Police agencies across the United States deal with accusations of misuse of force on

Their abuse of powers does not only directly impact their victims, but the very people they pledge to keep safe. It also contradicts the rule of law (MULLINS, 2018). Recommendations for the future to limit the abuse of police powers, is to provide adequate training and reinforcements about not utilising more force than “reasonably necessary to make the arrest or to prevent the escape of the person after arrest” because applying more force than necessary is assault and is costing innocent lives globally. The training should be centred around reinstating that the use of firearms is the last resort, this will prevent more lives being lost due to abuse of police powers. An increase in the penalty associated with the crime and adding prevention measures is also applicable and essential to limiting the misuse of powers. In addition, all law enforcement officers should wear camera gear on their chest when receiving an incoming call, when making an arrest and when called to a scene. This will ensure primary evidence if issues arise. 100% of the survey respondents agreed with this recommendation. In addition, there should always be more than two officers attending a scene, this will decrease the likelihood of unreasonable actions from occurring in relation to brutality acts and civilians resisting arrests. To limit the racial and bias elements in regards to brutality incidents is to avoid racial stereotyping and try to incorporate programs that increase exposure and cultural competence within the police academy. There should also be an introduction of measures to ensure that police officers who engage in police brutality are properly investigated by a body other than the police force itself (Nedim, 2018), because if they were investigated by law enforcement officers, that could inflict bias perspectives

Whenever police officers come into contact with citizens, there is a chance that the encounter will digress to one in which force is used on a suspect. Fortunately, most police activities, such as traffic or investigative stops, or even arrests, do not result in the use of force (Alpert, 2004).