The Seven Levels Of Use Of Force In Policing

Police Officers use of force has been an big issue for many decades, But has now made its way to mainstream. From news to social media there 's always a recent relevant story/ case on police officers use of force. In 2016 Baton Rouge man, Alton Sterling was killed do to Police officers use of excessive force. This sparked an outrage in the nation after Mr. Sterlings murder went viral through social media. The shooting led to protests in Baton Rouge and a request for a civil rights investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.

This can refer to grabbing or holding a suspect or more serious methods like using a less-than-lethal weapon. Lastly, deadly force, this level of force involves the use of lethal weapons, such as firearms, to stop an imminent threat of harm to the officer or others. The amount of control that can be used must be reasonable for the situation by a clear-minded officer. This is often hard in split-second decisions, but the use of multiple-man patrols and calling backup help combat those unsure times. Conclusion: Officers are affected in so many ways that are unseen by the

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)

Officers have specific training regarding use of force, for this purpose officer’s continuums were developed in the year 1960s. These continuums are based upon the resistance faced by the police officer and the amount of force that can be justified at that particular time. It can be said that he use of force should behave in a linear manner that means the rise should occur from the negligible resistance to increased aggression (Hess, 2009). Law enforcement agencies almost, at all places give policies according to which a police officer can utilize force by

There is no universally agreed upon definition for the use of force. The International Association of Chiefs of Police has described use of force as the "amount of effort required by police to compel compliance by an unwilling subject". (1) Officers receive training from their individual agencies. However, a universal set of rules pertaining to the deployment of the use of force has yet to be

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.

This use of force matrix utilizes a graded approach whereas an officer will use only the force necessary to exercise and arrest. Law enforcement officers may use that amount of force necessary to effect the lawful purpose intended, provided that no reasonably effective alternative to the use of force appears to exist at the time the force is used. The privilege to use force is not limited to the amount of force necessary to protect themselves or others, but extends to that amount reasonably necessary to enable officers to effect the arrest or otherwise neutralize the resistance of a subject. If a suspect refuses to be arrested the officer will have to utilize a higher level of force dependent upon the suspects actions. For example, if a suspect is resisting arrest, the officer may use a taser or other force methods to arrest the individual. An officer cannot simple resort to higher levels of force without proper justification. Officers must utilize only the force which is necessary and justified. There are times when an armed suspect may prompt an officer to use the highest level of force, deadly force, if he feels him or another person’s life is in jeopardy. The result of not going utilizing his weapon on this use of force scenario could mean death to the officer or the public.

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.

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.

The first major delimitation is that fact that excessive force by police officers is a relevant issue at present time. Furthermore, the questions administered in the survey where constructed for yes or no responses. This produced valid data from professionals within the field of study. Moreover, the research did not cross over into other areas of nonlethal training. The study was strictly about training efforts within the department and its record of

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.

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

There are differences in attitudes towards the use of force by police. There are some groups that support police and there use of force. There are also groups that find the use of force by police excessive and biased. Carter and Corra (2016) studied white peoples opinions of police use of force in association with their attitudes towards race. They found that ones opinions of race are related with their opinions of police use of force. Racial resentment as measured by two criteria developed by the researchers and three questions included negative affect and the belief that minorities are lazy and lack motivation. If a participant had high racial resentment they were more likely to support police use of force (Carter & Corra, 2016). However, in a study conducted by Green, Eva, Staerkle, and David in 2006 noted that support for use of force is also linked to political leanings such as liberal or conservative. Furthermore an individuals views regarding financial and economic issues also influences their beliefs about use of force (Green, Eva, Staerkle, & David, 2006). These studies suggest that racial attitudes and political leanings can influence how an individual views police use of force. Additionally, this could explain the differences in opinion about police use of force.

“The police must obey the law by enforcing the law” (Earl Warren). All police officers are given the authority to use force. When force may be applied and how much should be applied vary on the situation or circumstance. Force is defined as physical power or coercion used upon or directed toward another person (RioLearn, 2017). Force must be deemed reasonable and justified based on the circumstances than an officer must use it such as for self-defense, making arrests, preventing escape, or in protecting others. There are many cases when force has been used in a positive way for the police force and situations where officers abuse their power of force and take advantage of the law.