Minor Police Shootings

In his article The Paranoid Style of American Policing, Ta-Nehisi Coates suggests that police officers in the United States are too quick to use lethal force as a resolution to de-escalate a potentially dangerous situation. He believes they should be held accountable for their actions, the same way every day civilians are.

In certain situations, the police may have to act quickly on their instincts. Sometimes, a situation is unpredictable and a decision needs to be made in a split second. The quick decision may to be to take a person down physically with the officer’s own hands, or to use deadly force, unfortunately. Anything can happen and the officer needs to be ready for every scenario. The different levels of force can be anywhere from just a police officer being present, to having to kill someone to prevent him or her from hurting anyone else. It’s a harsh reality, but sometimes the officer needs to make the decision to die or to protect him and do what he needs to do.

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 force is without a doubt an important aspect in policing. The decision to utilize any type of force comes from a multitude of recourses; department policies, training, situational variables and ethical systems. There are three major categories in which an officers use of force is categorized under; justifiable, excessive and deadly; with a thin line between justifiable and excessive. Cases where excessive force has been used, has lead to injuries, deaths, civil damages, officers convicted and sentenced to jail and police chiefs and elected officials being removed from office (Fyfe, 1988). It is an officer`s discretion in determining when the use of force is justifiable.

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?

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.

The use of deadly force in extreme situations goes back several hundred years when it was first admitted as a right during the early nineteenth century as sheriffs realized that they needed to kill certain threatening individuals in order to protect others. Thousands of police officers were killed during the recent decades and this raises an alarm regarding the authority to use deadly force. Individuals criticizing this right have to acknowledge that police officers fight with the purpose of preserving a peaceful world and are constantly exposed to criminals who are unhesitant about

Police officers are faced with a wide variety of threatening situations on the job every day, they go through an intensive training at the academy to prepare them for the safety keeping job they have. The use of force may or may not be a significant predicament but it should be viewed by the community as well as the police. Often police officers find

Before taking this course in Criminal Justice Ethics, I thought police officers were using too much excessive deadly force when handling situations. I believed that all the officer-related shootings were unnecessary and it seemed to be happening more often and more than we would like. My first thoughts were that police officers were shooting, because the person had a weapon and they were concerned for their safety or because of their race. But that wasn’t always the case. Although, some of the officer-related shooting were justified and some were not. It was, however, revealed in one of our lessons that there were many officers who experienced a condition called Perceptual Distortion. It’s a disorder that occurs when a person’s response varies from how it is seen by that person. The studies showed that officers involved in officer-related shootings, were not fully aware of what

Throughout the last two years there have been many police involved shootings where they have killed someone. Some say the cops where right and others say they were wrong in the situation. Are the police right in using deadly force instead of trying a different situation? When is it ok for police to use deadly force and are they right in doing so? In the past two years there have been multiple police shootings, which have been the main topic with police. Some have said that race has played a huge role in the recent shootings and blame racism on the deaths by the officers. In the recent cases it has been a white officer who has killed a black person. Who has the say in the case if the police made the right decision if

Whenever a law enforcement officer places an individual under arrest or is involved in a deadly force scenario the officer has used some degree of force. The incidents where an office has to make a split second decision and use physical force to control a situation is known as “Use of Force.” The use of force varies as situations present themselves to the officer and they must decide what level of force is necessary to control the situation. Often the use of force is subject to much debate and not a year goes by without some media coverage of some law enforcement officer accused of using excessive force. In dozens of studies of police use of force there is no single,

The use of excessive force by police officers is a topic that continues to make headlines and a study that needs to be done. Although much research has gone into this topic there still is no consensus on why the use of excessive force occurs. Some studies suggest lack of training and/or problems with organization policy/procedures. Law enforcement officers are authorized to use force when necessary, but when the level of force is excessive, however, the actions of the police come under scrutiny. The resulting effects can include; public outrage, scandal, negative reputation for not only the officer but the law enforcement community, and criminal considerations. Although there’s is no concrete definition of excessive force, police

Police officers are given a significant amount of discretion simply due to the nature of the job. Officers are faced with many threatening situations forcing them to react quickly, yet appropriately. They have the power to infringe upon any citizen’s rights to freedom and therefore they must use this power effectively. One major concern with the amount of discretion officers have is their power to decide when to use force or when to use lethal force. Manning (1997) argues that it is generally accepted that police should be allowed to use force. He also explains that there are an uncertain amount people who agree on as to what constitutes excessive force. The line

Armed police are required to become skilled at responding to events that demand the use of firearms (Fyfe, 1981). Arguments arise from the public's failure to recognise the police’s difficulty in making a straightforward judgment as to whether coercive force or the use of guns is required in events (Dick, 2005). When police do use guns, there is a risk that police may misfire and consequently cause more victims as a result (McCulloch, 1989). Furthermore, in circumstances that require force, natural biological impulses kick in; informally known as the fight or

This places the police in a difficult situation, whereby they have to assess the situation and decide whether the situations warrants brutal force, but in that split second before making the decision, they could be harmed or even killed (Slansky 83). This is what makes it easy for some officers to feel justified in their abusive brutal actions. Avoiding this quagmire calls for adeptness in the roles of the police, as well as strict discipline that their training can only enhance. Without these qualities, the poor judgement of a police officer means that they compromise on the rights of civilians when they overstep the boundary in efforts to protect their own rights.