Deadly Force

Matheson, Victor A., and Robert A. Baade. “Race and Riots: A Note on the Economic Impact of the Rodney King Riots.” Urban Studies, vol. 41, no. 13, 2004, pp. 2691–2696, Academic Search Premier, doi:10.1080/0042098042000294628.

Police officers have vowed their life to protect and serve. They risk their lives every day for their communities. As the last few years have sped past us, police officers have been very aggressive with the force they use when arresting a suspect, or even people in general. According to a Texas article on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights, “police officers typically use force offensively rather than defensively and do so with at least some degree of premeditation.” (Gross,2013, page 167). Many police officers get off easily because they call it as self-defense, but it’s not. People being brutally beaten or killed, riots breaking out, mourning of neighborhoods, lawsuits against police departments all can be at stake of police officers using excessive force. This is part of the reason our country has been in an uproar. In the last few years’ police brutality has been at an all-time high. Because of it, movements have been started and protests have broken out. As most should know there has been a split in the diversity of the nation because of it.

Buehler, J. W. (2017). Racial/ethnic disparities in the use of lethal force by US police, 2010-2014. American Journal of Public Health, 107 (2), 295-297.

There are numerous issues that deal with the American criminal justice system, but the two I found most prominant that occur on a daily basis is the abuse from police officers and clear racism shown by the American criminal justice system. To begin, racism as we know is a prejudice directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior. In the criminal justice system African Americans are directly targeted and punished in a higher more aggressive way, than say someone who is caucasian and committed the same exact crime. Racism is more often than not, the motive for official misconduct. There are examples of racism from every known region in the United States, spanning across centuries from slavery to

Cecily Strong is a comedian of the famous and popular show Saturday Night Live on NBC. She often works with her coworkers to made fun of what happening in the world. As a comedian, many of her jokes fall into the category of dry sarcasm. So, it is important to take that into consideration when watching the speeches she gives. In in April of 2015, she gave a speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner at the Washington Hilton.

There are many concerns for a working police officer in America. Officers can face several types of dangers while on duty. Most of the time when police officers sign up for their job they already have prior knowledge of the risk they may be taking. They represent the civil authority of the government. According to Rose Johnson, "The job of a police officer is risky, and officers incur a higher rate of illnesses and injury than the national average for other jobs. Officers spend a great deal of time working with criminals and dealing with threatening scenarios". Although officers in America face several types of dangers, it does not give the officer the right to engage in unlawful acts. Police officers who receive more education and training will more than likely interact with different minorities through his/her institution. Officers should be more diverse because they will not be very biased and it could help end the problem with racial profiling. Police officers should be randomly drug tested for the safety of the citizens.

Tamir Rice was a twelve-year-old boy playing in the snow at his local park, making the mistake of waving an air pellet gun at strangers- a mistake that would cost him his life. A bystander made a call to 911, and when the police arrived on the scene, within seconds of exiting the vehicle, Rice was shot. According to an article by the Pittsburgh Tribune, although police have been caught in the act, captured on camera committing a crime, they are not prosecuted 96 percent of the time.

In light of a recent police officer involved shooting in Chicago, a Chicago police officer (white officer), was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a black teenager. There has been numerous police involved shootings in the U.S. in this past year, and the Chicago incident is not the first or last. Race baiting has become a hot topic and has gone viral around the nation. It is evident that the practice of the use of force is widely talked about in social media, and law enforcement leaders are aware that they must educate and train their officers regarding such usage. Educating police officers regarding the use of force is one thing, but how much training is geared towards cultural/ethnic diversity and community mediation skills?

Police brutality remains a common yet controversial topic around the world. Police brutality is “the use of excessive and/or unnecessary force by police when dealing with civilians” (thelawdictionary.org). It’s a topic that segregates communities and makes each other their enemy. Specifically, a white officer has been the enemy of the black community. Unfortunately, the tension between police and blacks grew over the past few decades. As a result, there is a drastic increase of violent outburst between both sides. For the last years, it was reported that 51.5 percent of black were killed by police officers (ibtimes.com). On the other hand, there have been 51,548 assaults against law enforcement and it resulted in 14,453 injuries in 2015 alone (nleomf.org). In the United States, recently, police brutality has been a popular subject all over the news and social media.

Cops around the United States have been accused of racially profiling black people. This topic has been brought up by everyone around the U.S. and is very controversial. Studies have shown that the majority of deaths by police officers have been people of opposite color in America. Police brutality in America is a growing epidemic that has shown no signs of slowing down. Innocent men, women, and even children have been killed by police officers for no reason.

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.

Thorough studies examine that the distribution of less-lethal weapons have reduced issues such as assaults on specifically police officers, other studies examine that this is increasing the death and injuries of civilians rather than focusing primarily on the safety of officers employed for the police force. It is a growing problem in the United States with increasing health issues related to the cause of police use of force in incidents that occur regularly. It is important to consider whether these less-lethal weapons are associated with the like hood of injuries. The use of force can define a wide range of different variables of force; it is vital to assess the independent contribution of less-lethal weapons on the prevalence and incidence of injury to the suspects and officers involved. Less- lethal weapons have increased the odds of injury to suspects that may be life threatening, it is most likely essential for these officers to stick to less-lethal weapons which can be classified as OC sprays or CEDs. After carefully examining modules from states such as Orlando and Austin shows that injury had decreased after the distribution of less-lethal weapons. Other studies also state that these rates of injury were much lower rather than relying on physical injury and chemical

The sociological perspective encourages us to explore societies’ problems from a non-biased perspective. When investigating controversial issues it is quintessential to keep one’s opinion out of the equation. As C. Wright Mills stated in his 1959 essay “The Promise”, “Problems and their solutions don’t just involve individuals; they also have a great deal to do with the social structures in our society” (Leon-Guerrero, 2015). Eliminating personal experiences and self-perception creates an even playing field to determine fact from fiction.

Police brutality will be an issue until a solution is created. Many individuals are victims of this form of assault on daily basis. The liberties held by law enforcement are challenged each time they perform their duties. Police officers should abide by the same laws that each citizen is expected to abide by. Although police officers are granted with the right to determine laws as constitutional, civilians are sometimes treated in ways that are beyond unlawful.

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