Using Tasers In Law Enforcement

Thinking back to what happened to Amadou Diallo or even Rodney King, how easily could the situation have been handled differently if a Taser gun or pepper spray was used in both incidents? To begin with, If Rodney King was acting unruly, the police could have used the Taser gun instead of four different officers beating him with four different batons then place Rodney in handcuffs since handcuffs are good with “subduing uncooperative and dangerous criminals” (). Along with Rodney King, if Amadou was the suspect the police were looking for and the wallet that they assumed was a weapon, how could they of handled this episode differently? Of course the police could have revealed their weapon to exhibit authority, but if the verbal commands were not being followed by Amadou then action by the police could have taken place.

Just this April, the city’s Police Accountability Task Force found that the Chicago Police Department has “no regard for the sanctity of life when it comes to people of color.” Chicago’s population is 31.7% white, 32.9% Black, 28.9% Latino, and 5.5% Asian. However, the Task Force reported that the city’s police officers shoot Black residents at significantly disproportionate rates. Between 2008 and 2015, of all people injured or killed in police-related shootings, 74% were Black, 14% were Hispanic, 8% were white and less than 1% were Asian. The report found almost identical numbers when it came to statistics regarding the use of Tasers. The report also analyzed all people stopped by police during the summer of 2014 and found they were 72% Black,

The purpose is to explain the necessity and the alternatives to deadly force. Necessity of deadly force will include laws that have been passed by the United States Supreme Court, training methods and policies of Federal, State and Local agencies Alternatives to deadly force are less-lethal weapons that are used by law enforcement today, TASERS, pepper spray, bean bag guns and batons. Does deadly force need to be used against violent suspects?

This proves that taser is an effective non-lethal weapon that can be used to subdue the criminals. Here are some possible advantages of taser guns, first, taser is a non-lethal weapon. As we may have already know, tasers are meant to take down the suspects without injuring or killing them. Also, it is safer to use in a situations where there are many bystanders in the scene, since tasers do not harm people around the intended suspects. This also leads to the second point of avoiding the usage of lethal weapons. So far, 1689 people have been killed by the police in a crime related actions (May, T. 2014). By promoting the usage of tasers, police officers around the world can lower the number of suspects being killed in the scene. Using the lethal weapon also dangers the suspects, police, and the bystanders, because firearms are a lethal weapon that can take away lives easily. Tasers also requires minimal training to use the functions, which also makes the officers and other security related people to easily use tasers in action. On the other hand, typical fire arms requires more training time to properly use them in order to avoid any accidents with it. Fourthly, by using taser, the injury rates dropped significantly. Taser have been used within law enforcement agencies from 1998, and from that time, according to the Taser International, taser helped lower injuries among officers and

Research Question #2: The best practices for police agencies to deal with the mentally ill Introduction 1.4 million mentally ill inmates were housed in American jails in 2006 (Fileccia,2008). Many inmates however are left without treatment or cannot afford the treatment. The lack of mental health treatment often results in mental and physical health dangers, suicides, and harm to their inmates and staff (Feleccia, 2008). Studies also suggest that inmates have a scientifically higher rate of infractions and disciplinary actions than other inmates. In my research, I will document the most effective practices for police agencies to deal with the mentally ill.

In our research study we hope to show that the goal to Tasers it to provide law enforcement with alternatives to deadly force in order to minimize harm to both community members and police. We also want to show that no use of devices or techniques may be safe to everyone, but that we can't look just

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.

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.

The use of the Conducted Energy Weapon (CEW) has been a subject under heavy debate throughout its history. A Conducted Energy Weapon is a device that works by “incapacitating volitional control of the body” (White & Ready, 2009), thus rendering the target unable to resist arrest. The TASER® in particular is the most widely used CEW. An article on the RCMP website states that CEW’s were adopted as another means to obtain compliance from resistant or harmful subjects when the police must arrest them. These tools allow police at these times to protect the public, and the subjects themselves from being harmed. Despite their effectiveness however, CEW’s have been under heavy scrutiny for a number of reasons. CEW’s have been known to cause

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.

6. Police use physical force to the extent necessary to secure observance of the law or to restore order only when the exercise of persuasion, advice and warning is found to be insufficient.

Use of fire arms as the choice weapon by police officers have been around since the late 1800s. Police departments started issuing firearms to police officers in a response to better-armed criminal populations, (Bulman, 2010). Recent studies have shown that less lethal weapons decrease the rate of police officers and suspect injuries. Because evidence supports less lethal weapons for police officer, many law enforcement agencies have agencies are stressing the use of less-lethal weapons. In the early 19th century, the less than lethal weapon of choice was the wooden club, (Bulman, 2010). Less than lethal weapons have evolved to technology such as conductive energy devices (CEDs), commonly known as the Taser.

In the early 1900 policing made up of two basic functions patrolling and investigating crimes. Patrol officers patrolled the areas mainly on foot requiring direct contact with the community they served. The detectives investigated illegal gambling operations and corruption. Looking into modern policing dangers in the job is a primary concern and how to improve measures for the safety of the officers. The taser is a less than lethal weapon used to stop individuals without fatally wounding them. The use of modern technology in today’s policing has become widespread

The police officers in law enforcement are not given enough time in training to understand the concept of dealing with the public and how they should act with their actions. Use of Force is the harsh