Excessive Force In Criminal Investigations

The media has scrutinized the use of force even more recently. Recordings of officers using force (weather excessive or not) become uploaded to the web and many individuals quickly jump to conclusions. Police use of “force” is up to the discretion of each individual police officer, and with each action a multitude of consequences can occur. The public often gets enraged after a court justifies the use of force, but often individuals do not have the full facts or understand how the justice system works. The outcomes of some use of force cases, many individuals are asking for transparency of agencies. Policy makers are often quick to react to satisfy the public by changing police policy.

A '''use of force continuum''' is a standard that affords law enforcement officials & security officers (police, probation, or corrections) with guidelines as to how much use of force may be used against a repelling subject in a given situation. In certain ways it is similar to the military’s escalation of force. The reason of these models is to clarify, both for officers and citizens, the complex subject of use of force by law officers. They are often vital parts of law enforcement agencies' use of force policies. Although various agencies have developed different models of the continuum, there is no universal standard model (Stetser, 2001, p. 36)

Police brutality is seen as a real problem in America today. What people do not seem to realize is that the police carry a massive burden each day. The work that officers do has the potential to be very demanding and sometimes involves dangerous situations. In these situations the officers are in the position where they may be required to use force to gain control. The continuum of force dictates the level that is most appropriate for the situation. Most people do not realize that is not the officers job the meet the force. However, it is their job to overcome the force. Police departments have very strict standard operating procedures about officer use force and how force is applied. With this paper, I will attempt to explain the continuum of force, police discretion, and why the police can do some of the things they do.

The use of deadly force by police officers is a very important subject in today’s society. Many consider the use of deadly force excessive in most cases. However, there are many aspects to look at when considering this topic, such as: Why was deadly force required? When did the officer feel it necessary to apply deadly force? What will be the implications for the officer after the fact? How does the use of deadly force affect society as a whole?

While racing down the freeway on March 3, 1991, driver Rodney King and friends were leading the Los Angeles Police Department on a high speed chase making it up to 115 miles per hour. When King was eventually caught, officers pulled him from his car and began to beat King with their batons hitting and kicking him more than 50 times and shocking him with stun guns in a period of two minutes as he struggled helplessly on the ground outside of his car. King suffered 11 skull fractures, kidney damage, and brain damage. This was one of America’s first viral video of what excessive force is, and it changed the way police interacted with communities forever. The use of police force is an obligation, but unfortunately some officers may misuse, or abuse

In light of the recent spate of police-involved homicides of suspects who may or may not have put the lives of the police involved in fear for their safety and well-being, this paper seeks to examine the use of deadly force by police officers in the line of duty. The training involved in using one’s service weapon in situations that call for a determination of the use of force will be explored, as will the rules, regulations, and extenuating circumstances that lead to the firing of a service weapon in the line of duty, resulting in the death of a suspect. The Supreme Court cases that have led to and/or upheld laws allowing a broader interpretation of what is considered justifiable use of deadly force will be briefly examined. Additionally, the use of non-lethal weapons, such as Tasers, by police forces and how the availability of these weapons influences the rate of deadly force will be inspected. Finally, an elucidation of the various perceptions of the general public of the police after use of deadly force is used within their communities will be addressed.

In most cases the police is permitted to use any form of necessary force to suppress a suspected criminal with minimal consequences if they use excessive force (“Police Use Of Force”). According to the current law all law enforcement officers should use only the amount of force necessary to weaken an incident, make an arrest, and protect themselves and others from harm (“Police Use of Force”). Officers receive guidance from their individual agencies, but no universal set of rules that governs when officers should use force and how much (“Police Use Of Force”). Police use of excessive force against the unarmed public should be illegal because it lowers the amount of unnecessary deaths, reduces riots, and would decrease racism.

Have you ever thought about what happens if a person breaks a law? What if this individual breaks a minor law and creates a larger problem? A strong topic is upon our society when it comes to law enforcement and the tough physical and verbal oppression that they have the potential to put on people when it comes to breaking the law. Police officers are supposed to be society 's saviors, guardians, and our friends. However, when things do not go quite right, and when someone breaks the law, there will always be that chance that things could escalate. These officers are supposed to deescalate situations and solve problems. That is what society relies on them at any given moment. Sometimes it takes an escalation of force to deescalate a criminal situation. This is why society sees the men and women in uniform with weapons capable of hindering life to the fullest. However, when this force is used and abused, it creates problems. The public eye becomes weary of the police in many different ways for using excessive force to deescalate a situation. Excessive force and police brutality are often caused by depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, as well as other mental disorders; due to the way they are portrayed by the media, excessive force and police brutality have a direct effect on the American society as well as fellow officers in all branches of law enforcement.

The pedigree of this literary review will outline some of the dimensions and elements that provide empirical research by reliable researchers using reliable methods. The purpose of this paper is threefold: The first purpose is to review the communication and organizational literature on authority in order to illustrate how police brutality assist and continues to evolve. Although the Federal government will not recognize “brutality” among law enforcement, but has classified it as “excessive force.” Excessive force is when law enforcement officers are making arrests, maintaining order, and defending life, law enforcement officers are allowed to use whatever force is “reasonably “necessary (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2015). This definition of authority can be used to validate the degree of ill-treatment that descends from the individual interpretation of law enforcement. The second purpose of this review is to review if Congress is powerless in approving non-lethal weapons for law enforcement. The purpose of a non-lethal weapon is to reduce assassinations at the hand of law enforcers when they need to physically restrain a dangerous person (Andersson & McCray, 2012), and thirdly, determine why black Americans are more likely to be restrained with a lethal weapon as opposed to a non-lethal weapon. The results of this research will show

When debating the issue of police use of force, the issue of what actions constitute too much force must also be addressed. Another concern is the possibility of corruption amount officers. When given such great power, the probability of corruption is high. Officers generally do not start out as corrupt, but years of work on the force can create animosity between officers and suspects and lead them to decide to use force more quickly (McEwen, 1996). Many times, officers patrol the streets alone which creates the opportunity for potential abuse of power (McEwen, 1996). Although police officers need to be permitted to exercise some discretion, they also need limits and guidelines to follow when using their powers of discretion (Manning, 1997). The decision to use force should not be taken lightly in that citizen’s lives are at stake. Police should be allowed discretion in decisions to use force; however, this discretion should be limited. In several cases in Arizona, officers have used deadly means of force. In all cases, the officers

I do agree that using excess force is uncalled for, but if you are in the line of duty and your life may be threatened who is to say that it is excess force. The officer may have been acting on sheer human nature to protect himself and his fellow workers. With the friend stepping in to stop the office, I feel that this was very courageous and she did display the right amount of virtues. If a fellow officer is using too much force, it is the duty of the other officers to stop this from happening. By doing this it is a very courageous act as you may stop another officer from beating a person that is resisting and the man may get up and pull a gun. So there is a very thin line if the use of excessive force so they must trust themselves and the

Law enforcements use of excessive force has been a long-standing issue in the United States. The history of modern policing itself indicates a longstanding concern with excessive, sometimes brutal, control over citizens by law enforcement agents (Lopez & Thomas, 2004).

Abstract: Police use of force is a controversial topic in today’s society. It is now happening at a dramatically increased rate in some of the finest police departments in the United States. As an integral part of police work, officers are tasked with detaining individuals who break the law. Part of detaining those individuals, officers use discretion when determining the amount of force to use on a suspect if they become too resistant. But many of those officers are using unnecessary force against those suspect in fear of their safety. Those officers use physical force which often times becomes police brutality. Officers are often not held accountable for their actions because their actions are always deemed as justifiable. But how many of those cases are not justifiable to their actions? Even when the proof is there they are not held accountable. Many researchers have conducted research how and why these problems have occurred and the possible solutions. In this paper, I plan to review and advance on what can be done to reduce police brutality. Looking at six different sources relating to the research question. I have found that not all of the data in the articles is substantial enough to answers how we can reduce the occurrences of those situations. The research conducted is good enough but further research is needed to reach mitigation strategies for possible solutions. There needs to be improvement made on the DOJs end in

United States National Institute of Justice issued the article 'Understanding the use of force by and against the police' in November 1996 at its journal, 'Research in Brief'. Written by Garner, Buchanan, Schade and Hepburn, the article reported the result of a two week research on the officers of the Phoenix Police Department and the use of force involved during the period of time, both from the police officers or from the suspects. The study defined the use of force into five different areas, including voice, motion, restraints, weaponless tactics and weapon. Each first respond officer would fill out a use-of-force survey after their arrest report, in which they would address the action that being conducted by other officers as well.

Many people believe policemen are only doing their job when using excessive force. They are wrong because many reports have resulted in injuries or death. By limiting the use of excessive force it will make more citizen feel safer when they are in police custody. It will also reduce some of the violence that protestors are causing against policemen. Going back over some of their training techniques will also help the