Police Use Of Force Essay

The use of force by law enforcement officers is only neccesåry in situations such as self-defense or in defense of another individual (Hickman, 2016). The use of force has been defined in many different ways by several different people, which could make it difficult to put into a solid definition (Hickman, 2016). According to a majority of police chiefs law enforcement officers should use only the amount of force necessary to handle an incident, make an arrest, or protect themselves or others from harm (Hickman, 2016). Recently, police agencies have also began to use body cameras in order to minimize police brutality and more clearly define the cause, process, and outcome of a situation. Aside from the already low amount of cases of police

In 2002 alone, large state and local law enforcement agencies, those with 100 or more officers, received more than 26,000 citizen complaints about officers’ use of force. Among those complaints only eight percent had sufficient evidence of the allegation to justify disciplinary action against the subject officer (U.S. Department of Justice). These incidents occur frequently but what truly happens is never very clear. Witness reports don’t hold up with evidence, the victim has their recollection of what happened and the police officer has another. There is no concrete way to hold police accountable for their actions unless there is hard evidence to prove them guilty. This allows officers to use excessive force and not face any penalization from their department or in court.

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?

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

Police brutality is a very real problem that many Americans face today. The police carry an enormous burden each day. Police work is very stressful and involves many violent and dangerous situations. In many confrontations the police are put in a position in which they may have to use force to control the situation. There are different levels of force and the situation dictates the level use most of the time. The police have very strict rules about police use force and the manner in which they use it. In this paper I will try to explain the many different reason the police cross the line, and the many different people that this type of behavior effects. There are thousands of reports each year of assaults and ill treatment against

Like other law enforcement agencies throughout the United States, New Jersey has a policy that addresses police use of force. The New Jersey Attorney General’s Use of Force Policy was first put into operation in April 1985. The purpose of the policy is to serve as a guide for police officers who are confronted with use of force situations during their duty to preserve the law and protect others. This essay will provide a summary of the policies and practices of New Jersey’s Use of Force Policy. An evaluation of these components will be presented with emphasis on the legal sufficiency of the policies and procedures. Policy strengths and weaknesses will be identified in addition to suggestions for improvement. This essay will conclude

Police departments have use-of-force policies that specify when force may be used and the proper level of force to be used under given circumstances. Most departments use a continuum-of-force approach that allows proportional force to the suspect’s resistance. The level of force by an officer increases in direct response to escalating resistance of the suspect. Policies such as this one have been put into place following many humiliating acts of excessive force. The policies are in place in an attempt to prevent future acts of excessive force (Pollock, 2010).

What is non-lethal force? Many scholars have defined it in various ways. For the purposes of this essay, use of force is defined as “acts that threaten or inflict physical harm on citizens, which includes forms of both verbal and physical force” (Terrill, 2005). There has been much debate as to whether or verbal commands should be deemed as force or not. Klinger (2005) found that verbal commands is the force that is most employed by police officers. These varying interpretations of what force is has an impact on the measurements that are used when researchers try to figure out how often non-lethal force is used when encountering a suspect. (Terrill, 2014).

At first glance, it might be compelling to correlate the cutback in use-of-force incidents and complaints adjacent to the police with the introduction of body cameras. Body-worn camera video provides quantitative data on rates and types of confrontation that may explain imbalances in use of force between individual officers. During these studies, the experimental period was approximately one year, which was held during 2012-2013. Table 3: use of force, citizens’ complaints, and police public raw figures exhibit group assignment experimental shifts or control shifts was the independent variable, while the number of use of force incidents and the number of citizens’ complaints was used as the dependent variable. The table provides information

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,

of police can be evaluated as a use of force (US Department of Justice, 2012). Some people may also argue that an internal investigation of an officer’s use of force lacks the independence necessary to achieve an unbiased assessment of the level of force used (US Department of Justice,

In parallel, with the same example above "inappropriate" use of force can be separated into two types; "excessive" and "unnecessary." The unnecessary use of force would be the presentation of force where there is no articulation for its use, while an excessive use of force could be the application of much more force than necessary. A 1999 BJS report evaluated and found that less than half of a percent on an estimated 44 million individuals who had interaction with a police officer face to face, and they were threatened with force. Similar studies have shown the same results. Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), in 2004 named the application of force "the single most volatile issue facing police departments." PERF noted that "just one use of force incident can dramatically alter the stability of a police department and its relationship with a community." Law enforcement agency’s policies can hold a substantial impression on how the application of force is used in street patrolling, says the Community Relations Services of the U.S. Department of Justice, Principles of Good Policing: Avoiding Violence between Police and Citizens in a study in 2003. The above study stresses the essential need for executives of law enforcement agencies to increase

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

Most police departments have a use-of-force matrix. The matrix system is a set of rules for officers go bye in the pursuit and capture of a suspect. The matrix is sort of a step-by-step blueprint that can guide officers when they should escalate. Each step shows the minimal amount of force that can be used to apprehend a suspect. The matrix starts with officer present. One or more officers arrive on scene depending on the totality of the circumstances. Additional officers may be request in order to gain better control of the situation and gain more safety for him. Next, verbal warnings followed by physically subduing the suspect. Physically subduing are empty-hand techniques and pressure point control tactics. The next, contains intermediate weapons. Intermediate weapons are pepper spray, taser, and baton. These weapons can be use at the officer disposal. Officers are usually carries at least one or more less-lethal weapons on their duty belt. Less-lethal weapons cause no real physical damage. Deadly force is the last on the matrix because it should always be considered the last

United States National Institute of Justice issued the article 'Understanding the use of force by and against the police' in November 1996 at its journal, 'Research in Brief'. Written by Garner, Buchanan, Schade and Hepburn, the article reported the result of a two week research on the officers of the Phoenix Police Department and the use of force involved during the period of time, both from the police officers or from the suspects. The study defined the use of force into five different areas, including voice, motion, restraints, weaponless tactics and weapon. Each first respond officer would fill out a use-of-force survey after their arrest report, in which they would address the action that being conducted by other officers as well.