Pros And Cons : The Use Of Force In Law Enforcement

There were boycotts of the malls in Baton Rouge, people were marching even holding up traffic. This didn’t only occur in Baton Rouge, but across the U.S. people were standing up for this injustice. Alton Sterling was selling cd in front of a convenience store when two officers approached him, the situation escalated Mr. Sterling was shot several times resulting in his death. Baton Rouge police did not provide much information about what escalated the incident between the officers and Sterling or what prompted an officer to fire his weapon. A witness, however, described police as “aggressive” and said Sterling was armed but was not holding his gun or touching his pockets during the incident. The level of force an officer uses varies based on the situation. Because of this variation, guidelines for the use of force are based on many factors, including the officer’s level of training or experience.

Law enforcement officers are given much power and authority over one’s civil liberties. Not only do they have a duty but also a responsibility to enforce laws and ordinances in their jurisdiction, maintain order and protect its people. In some cases, the only way to accomplish this is through legitimized use of force. Use of force can best be described as "the amount of effort required by a law enforcement officer to induce compliance of an unwilling subject" (nij.gov, 2012). With that said, law enforcement officers have been given the right to apply only enough force necessary to control a situation, while defending others, preventing escape, during self-defense and while a subject is resisting arrest (Pollock, pp. 234). It is not until that force becomes excessive that it becomes say an issue.

Deadly force is defined as force employed by a police officer that a reasonable person would believe could result in serious injury or death (McEwen,1996). Many people believe that officers resulting to using force to overcome a suspect they are questioning or subject that they have in custody are abusing their power. However, there are laws and regulations that allow officers to use the amount of force they believe is necessary to apprehend a suspect. For instance, California penal code 835a states “Any peace officer who has reasonable cause to believe that the person to be arrested has committed a public offense may use reasonable force to effect the arrest, to prevent escape or to overcome resistance. A peace officer who makes or attempts to make an arrest need not retreat or desist from his efforts by reason of the resistance or threatened resistance of the person being arrested; nor shall such officer be deemed an aggressor or lose his right to self defense by the use of reasonable force to effect the arrest or to prevent escape or to overcome resistance.” The first sentence of California Penal Code allows officers to use the force and do what is necessary to stop a suspect. Whether it be using pepper spray, a taser, physical fighting, or having to use a more lethal and deadly force like a gun. The second sentence of the penal code allows officers to use the force necessary without finding them at fault as long as

The use of force is inevitable in police work. In many situations the lives of officers or civilians can be taken by not using force when necessary or using it improperly. Many factors come into play when an officer decides to use force. This includes is the use of force justified, has the officer been properly trained to use force, and will the department be held liable if the force is used improperly?

First and foremost I’d like to say that I am against police using their force so willingly. In the New York Times article “Police Shouldn’t Ask If a Shooting Is Justified, But If It’s Avoidable” by the University of South Carolina School of Law professor Seth Stoughton. Stoughton points out that he suggests that there is a difference in attitudes between civilians and law enforcement when it comes to the use of force. He goes onto say that law enforcement looks at it from the standpoint of is the force justifiable while civilians look at it as is the force avoidable. In the Supreme Court case of 1989 Graham v. Connor, the supreme court said that the police could use force as long as it is objectively reasonable. Why does force only have to be reasonable to be used, shouldn’t force be used only out of necessity? In another article in the Los Angeles Times by Kate Mather an interview was conducted with Mac Shorty, chairman of the Watts Neighborhood Council. In the interview Shorty says, the people in his neighborhood lost their trust in the Los Angeles Police Department after their recent shootings, saying he even questions calling the police. He goes on to say, that the police can’t be the guardians of the community with all the distrust, whenever the people of the community start to trust the police they shoot someone else.

Use of force is the effort used by a police officer to force compliance of a suspect who is not willing to submit. The basic presumption is that police officers should not use force that is more than necessary to make an arrest or protect themselves and the public from danger. There a several factor to take into consideration in determining if the use of force is necessary. Some of these factors are the location of the encounter and the mental capabilities of the subject. Although there is an established guidelines for officers to determine whether it is necessary to use force and the amount that is appropriate, there are situations

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.

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 in the criminal justice fields can be seen as a daily routine because this force by the criminal enforcement officials can save people’s life or they can wrongly interpret by people who witness the use of force. For decades, a very debatable topic people and criminal enforcement agents had fought was the fact that if the use of force by the criminal enforcement officials good for the society or it can be used as a violation of the citizen’s rights. A factor that the people who are against this idea of the criminal enforcement use their force in their duty, is that they don’t realize that as a criminal enforcement officer deal with problems every day dealing with someone’s health from a menace or even the officer’s own health.

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

Force that police tend to use on subjects that pose a threat has become an escalating issue in society today as we know it. Sometimes the public gets the notion that the police abuse their authority and use dangerous

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

When a law enforcement officer uses force on a subject it will be classified into one of three main categories which are, justifiable, excessive, and deadly force. The authority for law enforcement officers to use force comes from the United States Constitution (case law), state statutes, and department policy. Law enforcement use of force is very important because it involves the patrolman on the street, the corrections officer in jails and prisons, and the courts where excessive use of force cases are held.

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

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