Use of Deadly Force Use of deadly force has been utilized by police officers all over the United States, misconceptions from our society is that the use of deadly force automatically equates to excessive force. “The law does not require police officers to utilize the absolute minimum force necessary in a threat, only that the level of force be reasonable to control a deadly threat” (Miller, 2015). This in itself is very true, this kind of information needs to be conveyed to our communities as it could change the next encounter someone has with a police officer. Throughout the course of this paper I will be examining the April 30, 2007 Supreme Court of the United States No. 05-1631 Timothy Scott, v. Victor Harris, I will examine the elements of the case against Minnesota’s Statutes 609.066 authorized use of deadly force by peace officers under 609.066s1 and 609.066s2. Articulating the factual findings of this case will present my outcome of agreement or disagreement that can alter or shape the effects of the law enforcement community. Lastly I will relate the Fourth Amendment and its applicableness to the use of deadly force. In March 2001, a Georgia county deputy clocked Victor Harris’s vehicle traveling 73 miles per hour on a road …show more content…
By suspects fleeing from police during a traffic violation, it would not be an intrusion of an individual’s Fourth Amendment right, the fact that the self-propelled motor vehicle is an object that would constitute deadly force, all parties involved would have to understand that death or great bodily harm can be the ultimate outcome. While departments have different policies regarding pursuing fleeing motor vehicles, the mere termination of such cases does not constitute that the fleeing suspect will stop driving in a reckless and dangerous manner. The discretion of the officer is the ultimate weapon and decision with the use of deadly
608 F. 3D 614 (9th Cir. No. 08-55662, files 6/18/10, withdrawn and amended, 11/30/10) in a 42 U.S.C section 1983 action based on defendants-officer 's use of a taser on plaintiff at a traffic stop, denial of summary judgment based on qualified immunity is affirmed where, viewing the circumstances in the light most favorable to plaintiff, defendant 's use of the taser was unconstitutionally excessive force and a violation of plaintiff 's clearly established rights. Police must have reasonable grounds to use a taser. Officer Brian McPherson used excessive force when on July 24, 2005, he deployed his X26 taser in dart mode to apprehend Carl Bryan for a seatbelt infraction, where Bryan was obviously and noticeably unarmed (he was wearing
Stop and frisk has been a highly conversed topic within the general public within recent years. Many people think that these are just a way to profile possible offenders and treat them as guilty before they do anything wrong. Our book describes how that is not true because a stop and frisk must meet certain requirements in order to be valid. A major case that was held in regards to stop and frisk was Terry v. Ohio and this case determined that a police officer must meet two requirements in order for the stop to be valid. The first one is that either a crime has been committed or will be committed and the suspect is possibly armed and dangerous.
Summary In the journal article, “State-Created Danger” leading author Jeffrey J. Noble discusses the controversial issue of whether or not police officers should be held accountable for reckless actions. Noble begins his essay by explaining how police officers often encounter dangerous scenarios with “little or no warning, and no opportunity to develop a comprehensive plan. The police are expected to intervene quickly and make what are often citical decisions” (p. 481). Officers have such a challenging task when dealing with split-second decisions and the author points out that it is difficult to scrutnize the actions of an officer who is expected to produce nothing short of perfection in these kind of circumstances.
Issue at Stake: The direct legal issue at stake is whether or not a search for weapons without probable cause or a warrant is an unreasonable search and seizure under the 4th Amendment of the Constitution. While the CLSSA is concerned with the direct legal issue, we also are raising anxious about the much broader issues surrounding the disparate effects that could shape how certain groups of people interact with our law enforcement on a daily basis as a result of this case. The arguments below are designed to outline these broad and societal issues within the Terry case. First Argument: Court’s should not be making laws regarding public policy.
In today’s modern society, many feel that is okay for a police officer can kill a man armed with a harmful weapon at any cost. On many news channels, there are various amounts of articles and reports about a police officer committing this act. Even though a police officer has the right to take action against an armed man, this could be argued in many circumstances. In the 2013, Sammy Yatim was a young adult with a mental illness and was armed with a weapon on a streetcar in Toronto. Yatim was confronted by Const.
One common opinion is that officers should not use more force than is necessary or reasonable, and even then, that force should be used only as a last resort. “Police use force to affect civilians’ conduct. On a day-to-day basis, they do so most often by employing the least degree of force available to them, their mere presence. Cops wear uniforms and drive distinctly marked cars so that, without saying a word, they may have an effect on citizens’ behavior” (Fyfe, 38). When an officer’s presence fails to fulfill the desired conduct, the next course of action for said officer would be verbalization.
Training ranges from “firearms to physical defensive training” (ARCS Federal, 2015). Initially, police officers were using the Use of Force continuums to determine which level of force would be applied from the suspect’s actions (Johnston, 2015). However, the continuums caused problems for police officers in court because the court and police officers had different viewpoints about whether the Use of Force tactic used was reasonable. This specific pitfall, one of seven, led law enforcement agencies to analyze Use of Force situations from the FLETC approach. Also, the FLETC approach made sure police officers “based their decisions upon the same criteria that will be used by the courts to
Throughout the past decades, every time you turn on CNN or your local news channel, they’re talking about shootings involving police. Police use of deadly force is the amount of force that could cause injury or bodily harm to a person. Police use of deadly force is a controversial topic that has been towering over the news stations and radios lately with different shooting insistences. Many concerns have been brought up as to why this topic is controversial and problematic. In result, many court cases have addressed this issue.
Police Brutality and its Impact on the Criminal Justice System Police brutality is explained as officers applying more force than what is needed to control a situation. For example, police brutality is when too much physical force is used or pulling a weapon against a civilian. Police officers have weapons supplied to them like handguns, pepper spray, batons, and stun guns, but they can only be used to the extent that is necessary to control a situation. However, if an officer shot a jaywalker or used any force at all it would be unreasonable.
The fleeing felon rule is when the police are chasing a felony suspect and he or she is fleeing from the scene. The officers are allowed to use force to stop the fleeing suspect, that includes the use of deadly force. However, deadly force can only be used if the officer has probable cause to believe that suspect would be a threat to the community. Force can be used by the victim, bystanders, and officers, but, deadly force can only be used by the officers.
More than half of law enforcement agencies have policies and procedures that provide guidance on the use of force. According to the National Institute of Justice (NIJ, 2009), these policies and procedures provide a series of actions to de-escalate a situation when it is becoming out of control with a suspect. It is always difficult to outline the needed force one can use in restraining a suspect resisting arrest. This continuum provides numerous levels of force for an officer to respond to a suspect.
Garner and Graham vs. Conner are two other Supreme Court decisions to sanction racial profiling and gave leeway to the use of deadly force; notwithstanding, a cause to reconsider both of these rulings. The court has outlined a list of factors for balancing an individual's right versus a police officer's use of excessive force in the course of making arrests, stops or seizures: 1) the severity of the crime at issue; 2) whether the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others; and 3) if the suspect actively resists arrest or attempt to evade arrest by flight. Tennessee vs. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985) and Graham vs. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (1989). The names of unarmed African-American citizens killed by White police officers continue to grow and tensions between African-American communities and police departments are running high.
For decades now, the controversy over deadly force has continued to show up in the news when police officers have acted in a manner that some citizens find just while others deem completely unfair. Many lawsuits stemming from shootings and crimes have found their way to local courts or the Supreme Court to deal with this issue. A portion of the U.S. population finds deadly force unnecessary when non-lethal weapons such as pepper spray or batons just as easily subdue the criminal. In addition, these citizens argue that officers might be liable for cases filed against them if they use excess force on people that seem suspicious but have not actually committed a crime. On the other hand, the opposing argument in favor of deadly force states that
[ Imagine this scenario: you are complying with the police that are screaming at you, guns pointed at you, screaming “please don 't shoot” and trying your best to do what the police are asking. Daniel Shaver was an unarmed man fatally shot for no good reason. He was complying with the police officers orders and was begging for his life, screaming “please don’t shoot,” before he was fatally shot 5 times. Unfortunately, this is just one example of police brutality, an instance when police use unnecessary force when either they are unarmed or are complying with orders. Today I want to tell you of the injustice of police brutality, the people it affects, and how just asking the right questions could make sure that police are punished for their crimes.
Police Brutality is an ongoing problem and existent concern in the United States and should be resolved immediately. Law enforcement must function as an element that consists of organized and civilized officers. The presence of police brutality is becoming more of an issue as society grows. The problem posed by the illegal exercise of police power is an ongoing reality for individuals of a disfavored race, class, or sexual orientation. Police brutality must be stopped so that police do not forget who they are serving – not themselves, but the public.