Upon hearing the Court’s decision, a complete review of all the department’s policies would be conducted, with attention to use of force. Are the policies written to allow for movement up and down the force continuum? Do they place an undue burden on the officers by not allowing them to make reasonable judgement decisions based on the facts presented before them? Polices are more guidelines than absolute directives. An evaluation of the departments training would become a priority. Officers would be subjected to more intensive legal training to understand elements of law, how to apply the law, and institute a more rigorous training program for use of force situations. The department should be equipping the officers with the knowledge to
The shooting of 19 year-old Zachary Hammond took place on July 26, 2015 in Seneca, South Carolina. At around 8:20 p.m. on that day Hammond and his date Tori Morton drove in a 2001 Honda civic to Hardee’s restaurant parking lot, after an undercover officer arranged to buy drugs from her. Lieutenant Mark Tiller was sent as backup for the undercover officer. As Tiller arrived to the parking lot he parked his vehicle behind Hammond’s car in order to block Hammond’s escape. Tiller then approached the vehicle by demanding him to put his hands up, which Hammond ignored and began to drive away from the scene. After, Tiller attempted to stop the driver by stepping towards the path of the fleeing vehicle exclaiming “stop, I will blow your f**cking head off”, yet Hammond still accelerated and remained clear of the officer. Tiller then reacted by firing two rounds from his .45 caliber handgun through the open
Assume a officer faces the subsequent deadly force situation: He responds, together with 2 different officers, to a residence as a results of a 911 call from the house owner. Dispatch reports the homeowner’s son vulnerable her with a table knife, however she was able to shake off the residence.
Police brutality has disturbingly become a trend in America. Cases like Walter Scott and Eric Garner has caused Americans to question the true duties of law enforcement officers. Is it to protect and serve? During the death of Walter Scott brought about questions because Scott was routinely stopped for a missing break light. Video footage shows the two men, Scott and the police officer having a civil conversation. Footage then shows Walter Scott running from the law enforcement officer and the officer shooting him in the back. The case of Eric Garner is slightly different from Walter Scott’s, Eric Garner was choked and killed by a police officer and it was all caught on video. The police officer approached Garner after he was caught illegally selling cigarettes. The acting law enforcement officer put Eric Garner in the chokehold, Garner stated he could not breath but the officer did not loosen his grip resulting in the death of Eric Garner.
The Supreme Court has stated that the calculus of the propriety of an officer’s use of force must include the fact that officers are often forced to make split-second decisions in circumstances that are tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving. Officers who use force in the street are judged under the Objective Reasonableness
There have been seven levels of use of force that have been identified in policing. The first level is mere presence, which is believed that just the presence of an officer can deter criminal behavior. The second level of force is verbalization, officers are taught to speak in a persuasive manner and if that does not work officers are then forced to move to a more forcible option. Level three is command voice; this voice is more stern then their regular speaking voice and tends to be more demanding. If verbal forced does not work then the use of force becomes more of a physical matter. Level four is the firm grips, which is a physical grip on the body that is not intended to cause pain, specifically in order to direct the suspect where to go.
In the Houston Police Department, our use of force policy is divided into three unique sections and they are as follows: (1) affecting an arrest; (2) deadly force; (3) treatment of prisoners; (4) nonlethal control devices; (5) restraints; and (6) baton. HPD’s departmental policies and procedures are implemented as a source of guidance for officers to follow; however, there are certain situations where there are no clear instructions on policies for officers to follow, so they must rely on good sound judgment and training to accomplish their mission. Use of force policies and procedures are found in almost every police department; however, it is written so vaguely leaving no clear and precise directions about what police administrators actually
The legal standards of police use of force are? There is a report estimated in 1999 that less than half 1 percent of the 44 millions of people who are or had face to face contact with a police officer were threatened to use the use of force. Policies of a police department can be significant impact on how police use of force on different levels. When officers are dealing with a dangerous or a unpredictable situations, officers usually have very little time to determine the proper response. Here is some good training that can be enable for the officer to react properly to any threat and in any situation that may need law enforcement. For good response with the appropriate tactics to address any situation that might possibly included different
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 force, with regards to law enforcements use of it, is a complex topic that should be looked at in all perspectives. There is tension between the police and the community they work for, on whether this is a power that the officers should have or not. There are ambiguous laws that do not give law enforcement offices much guidelines on what is exactly permissible when it comes to force, and all the different situations it could occur. The line that the use of force leis on is often a fine one. It is teetering between excessive force and never being able to enforce the laws. The use of forces is a conversation that is worth having with all the pros and cons that it brings to the discussion board.
Use of force The use of force in law enforcement is unavoidable. In most cases the wellbeing of the officer and the patient can be put in dangerous circumstances by not using force when necessary. Both police and correctional officers and all other law enforcement officers use force to maintain order, enforce the law, and to keep people safe. The use of force by law enforcement is the amount of effort that is required by the enforcer to compel compliance by a person that is unwilling to comply. For example, when an inmate is told to exit his cell, but does not willingly comply, the correctional officers will begin the use of force tactic to force the inmate to comply and exit his cell.
Training is the only option to teach and gives lectures of how any criminal enforcement officer should have because here in this training they will find the way how to handle dangerous situations and if they would need to use the force if they are the situation requires it. As J.C. Hall expressed in his book, “Police Use of Nondeadly Force to Arrest”, he describes that the training should describe the twofold of the offenses. One of this factors should describe how an officer should assess any threat that they encounter while conducting their duty. While on the other hand, the training as well should also describe how to encounter a threat. At first, this two factors might sound the same thing but its truth is that they are completely different from each other because one is mainly focusing how the criminal enforcement officer should think before they act.
Under certain situations police officers are allowed to use force; for instance controlling a disruptive or disturbed person when undergoing arrest. Officers are trained to properly use force from the academy and any further training the department the officer’s work for. However lately there has been a debate amongst the public, law enforcement agencies, televisions, newspapers, and civil as well as criminal courts. The topic of the debate was if the police officers use excessive force against suspects (U.S department of Justice, 1999). Force is defined as, a non-negotiable use of police authority to influence the behavior of citizens (Ederheimer, Fridell, 2005). The National Institute of Justice defines use of force as the amount of effort
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.
This paper will describe police power and police authority. I will also talk about police discretion as for as whom gets locked up and who is allowed to go free. This paper will discuss the different use of police force. In this paper I will also talk about police attitude, police misconduct, and physical abuse among police officers.
Police have the uncontested right to use force when necessary to apprehend a suspect. If the force exceeds that which is necessary it is defined as excessive force and is illegal. An officer’s discretion on use of force is a based on judgment. They do not know if a judge will later rule an instance of use of force as excessive or not. There is a fine line between what is considered acceptable force and what is considered excessive force. All an