The Basic Function Of A Police Officer

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.

There are several different types of force. These types of force include verbal commands or persuasion, physical force (unarmed), force using weapons that are non lethal, force that involves using weapons such as the bean bag gun or taser, and lastly, deadly force. All officers have to give way to each force option before last resorting to the use of deadly force, unless of course if the officer is in a life or death situation. This may be the only way to use deadly force in the first and last resort. They have a couple of weapons that they carry in case the need to use them arises. They carry a baton, tasers, handcuffs, guns and they also have police dogs. Some police do follow the guidelines for using force. Others may abuse their authority and not use force properly. It is really only up to the officers to do the right thing. Some cops are great and live to protect our communities while others abuse their authority.

The main purpose of the law enforcement is to maintain order and enforcing the laws. The police are given one toughest tasks in the world, and that is with preservation wellbeing of the public. When dealing with people that those that violate the law and situations that creates, the police are authorized to use as much as force as necessary and within reason to protect themselves and others. It is sometimes quiet difficult for the public to understand what is reasonable when it comes to the use of force. It is very easy to watch a video and judge when you are not in the situation or do not have the level of training that officers are given.

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

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?

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.

Your honor, I respectfully request that you find the defendant, Jamie Hayes, guilty of voluntary manslaughter. As you can see from our witness’s testimony, we have shown beyond a reasonable doubt that Jamie Hayes, is indeed guilty of manslaughter. Our first witness, Lou Williams, head of campus security, explained the specific details of every incident involving the track team and campus security. Alongside this, Lou Williams also told us that the security department was well trained and prepared for any incident that was to occur. All security officers were licensed to carry firearms and to use them if necessary. Furthermore, she stated that they hired Lee Valdez based off his respectable credentials and that he was a great officer to work with. During Valdez’s time, recent events involving police brutality raised some serious concerns amongst many of the students at CCU. Since then, the students have held two rallies on excessive use of force by law enforcement, and with this, the security department has noticed a change in the students’ attitudes towards authority. In response to this, Lou Williams conducted monthly training meetings with her staff on how to deescalate tense situations. Despite what defense may say otherwise, Campus Security did have a procedure that was followed on the night of the incident on May 15, 2014.

Ever since the Ferguson police shot and killed Michael Brown, the media constantly gives attention to this type of phenomenon. The use of deadly force or excessive force by an officer has always been challenged and will continue to be challenged if the media keeps feeding the people with these stories. The media always points the finger at officers but do not take in consideration the facts of the case. Therefore, I am going to look at the Plumhoff v. Rickard case and give the actual facts of this case.

FACTS: On October 3, 1974, two officers were dispatched to a burglary call. Upon arrival, one officer witnessed a person, Edward Garner, running from the scene. One officer concluded Garner was unarmed and ordered him to stop. Instead of stopping, Garner began climbing a fence. The officer fired shots at Garner, striking him in the back of the head. Garner was pronounced deceased at the hospital. The District Court held that the officer’s actions were in fact constitutional; however, the Court of Appeals reversed.

In this week’s scenario situation is a bit confusing with the actions of Officer Jones. There are the actions that he left a victim unattended while in an investigate state. It was later found that it was a domestic violence situation which could have ended with her husband returning to harm her. The actions of Officer Jones making contact with who he assumed were the actor was wrong. There are departmental policies as well as training in the proper manner to handle situations. His actions, in my view, if I was reviewing the use of force would not be justified. There are several procedure requirements that he violated that resulted in the use of deadly force.

I researched the case of Jonny Gammage. Johnny was the cousin of Pittsburgh Steeler’s Ray Seals and was pulled over on October 12, 1995 while driving his cousin’s Jaguar. Police state that Johnny Gammage “became uncontrollable following a low-speed chase that police said began after a Brentwood police lieutenant noticed Gammage driving erratically at about 1:45 a.m. (Lounsberry). Police “testified at the coroner's inquest that they used a wide range of force to restrain Gammage, who they said surprised them with unprovoked aggressiveness. (Lounsberry). One interesting thing I found in this case was one of the “Officer Vojtas's lawyers noted that Mr. Gammage had emerged from the Jaguar holding a cellular phone, and said the officers had

"The purpose of the police mission, goals, objectives, and other important values is to guide police officers in their operational duties as well as police executives in conducting their administrative duties (Cordner, 2016)." The most general statement of the purpose of a police organization is usually its mission. The mission statement typically expresses the most important values that guide the department and the overall philosophy of the agency.The mission statement that Chief Mangan used for the Spokane Police Department was to provide direction and purpose for the management of the patrol division (Cordner, 2016). This statement encouraged all personnel to take risk and innovative approaches to problem solving. Mangan's mission statement

the use of excessive force. Many people have witnessed or have become victims of police brutality. In their line of duty, police officers are sometimes faced with threatening circumstances that enable them to make haste decisions when expecting the worst at the same time hope for the best outcome. A police officer is given the power to maintain law and order as well as to take away any right of a citizen when a situation permits (Heydon, 2005). Thus, they have the responsibility to apply the forces in a recommended way. Therefore, police are trained to use the least amount of force necessary to make an arrest by using escalations of force. However, sometimes police exceed the minimum amount required to diffuse an incident or protect them, which leads to misconduct or undue violence when not warranted.

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.