Police and the excessive use of force have been going on for years and it is still prevalent in today’s world and seems fairly new to my generation. But if I ask my parents they tell me that it has been going since way before I was born. In fact that is true the case of Graham V. Connor dates all the way back to 1989. Graham was a diabetic who needed some orange juice to counteract the onset of an insulin reaction. He had a friend take him to the store but the line was too long so he left. An officer saw him and got suspicious and pulled him over for no reason. Graham had sustained multiple injuries and attempted to take things to court and win a case but that did not happen. I just used that as an example because you hear about those same …show more content…
There is blunt impact which an officer uses a baton or projectile to immobilize a combative person. Then you have chemical use is when an officer uses pepper spray to restrain a person. Then the officers also have the option to use Conducted Energy Devices (CEDs) those are used to immobilize an individual and they discharge a high voltage of electricity. The last step of the use of force continuum is lethal force and this step Officers use lethal weapons to gain control of a situation. Should only be used if a suspect poses a serious threat to the officer or another individual. Otherwise it shouldn’t be used. That is the use of force continuum that officers should follow but there is a lot of discretion when officers use force with an individual that is why there are many issues with officers and the excessive use of force in today’s …show more content…
There isn’t just one cause of the police excessive use of force it is a collective matter. Law enforcement agencies training plays a part in it and so does the supervision and discipline of the officers. The individual accountability plays a key role in the problem also and so does the courts, because there haven’t been any real problem solvers for officers who use unnecessary use of force. There needs to be multiple things done for there to be a true remedies to stop officers for using unnecessary use of force on civilians. We are supposed to trust law enforcement in all situations no matter what race you are. But I feel until there is a real deterrent effect put in place for officers we will continue to see a high volume of use of force in our country. Prosecutors and the courts would have to come together to help deter the amount of use of force because they untimely have the most power even more than the agency. If officers begin to feel that there is a high consequence for unnecessary use of force they will begin to think twice about how they go about encounters with civilians. Police agencies will also have to go more in depth with officers to inform them on use of force and that it will not be tolerated. I feel like that could be the easiest step to help to eliminate it. But until then I believe
When is it okay for an officer to use deadly force? In the case Tennessee v Garner the biggest issue among the courts was deadly force. Was the deadly force used by Officer Elton Hymon necessary against Edward Garner? An officer should only result to deadly force if a suspect is attempting to flee in order to escape custody or is armed and is threatening the officer’s
How do police decide how much force should be used in a situation and how has that changed throughout the year? Has Tennessee v. Garner been effective in protecting individuals against excessive force? Before the case Tennessee v Garner in 1985, how to police decided if they should use deadly force determined by one of four groups; these four groups were The Any-felon Rule; The defense-of-life Rule; The Forcible Felony Rule, and The Model Penal Code. The extreme one was the Any-Felony Rule which was “English common law authorized officers to use any means necessary to arrest felony suspects or prevent them from fleeing. In the United States, courts interpreted this rule as legal permission to shoot an unarmed felony suspect in flight” (Tennenbaum)
Officers are taught at the police academy to meet deadly force with deadly force. They are trained and given the techniques and skills to make sure they make it home at the end of their shift, and they spend extensive time training in the use of firearms. It's important to realize that, when discussing the use of deadly force by police officers, the expected result of a subject's actions don't have to be death. Instead, deadly force is described as actions that would likely cause death or bodily harm, which could include permanent disfigurement without necessarily causing death.
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.
While the term is typicall used to describe physical harm that, it can be applied to phssycholical harm such as the utilzaiton of intimidation tactics that go beyond the scope of official police proceedure. As far as physcological force goes, officers can utilzie, batons, pepper spray, guns and nerve gas to physicall traumatize or intentionally hurt vitivluans.
As defined by Egon Bittner, police use of force is the “distribution of non-negotiable coercive remedies.” Methods of force used by police officers must be non-negotiable, otherwise there would be no order in society when a suspect decide to resists. However, police officer do not have free reign to choose the level of force asserted to gain control of a resistive suspect. Force options listed in the use-of-force continuum of the Cobb County Police Department is broken down into 7 categories: officer presence, verbal command, soft empty hand control, Oleoresin Capsicum (OC)/Electronic Control Device (ECD), hard empty hand control, impact or other less-lethal weapon, and deadly force. When choosing a level of force, the following must be
The way officers use power should be used in certain situations but, all situations don’t need force. Police brutality is cruel; as the police are paid to protect people from danger, not bring on additional harm and stretch. Police should be prepared and trained the right way, so they don't use extra force. Police are put on a grid of power and so we expect. Over
If the use of force was considered necessary in the given situation, then that would be an example of when officers should use deadly force. If they abuse that force given their status or use it unnecessarily, they should have their status of a cop removed and forced to take classes on how to handle situations better, as well as be charged reasonably for the crime that they committed, even if it was an accident. If it
The rules of deadly force have continued to change since the inception of the Constitution. At one point, police were given the authority to fire on a fleeing felon even if they were not armed with a weapon. Today 's police officers receive significantly more training so that civil act violations and excessive uses of force may be prevented, but even with the extra training, police officers still act in this unruly manner. Every police department in America has experienced some type of misconduct, but not all have experienced a civil rights or police brutality violation. In my opinion, many of these incidents took place because of the lack of training that was provided to these officers.
Police brutality has been occurring since the idea of a police officer was first brought up. Officers have found many holes through the law enforcement system. This brings upon many types of misconduct and excessive force. Unfortunately, police officers are not usually held accountable for their brutality. “The Incentive Program, or the method of police chiefs using promises of contraband going to sub-departments that lack the money in the budget, gives officers more incentive to not only plant evidence to make an entire estate contraband, but it also lets them rationalize lining their own pockets” (White).
To begin with, excessive is the uncontested right of a police officer. The use of force to a police officer is necessary to apprehend or subdue a suspect of a committed crime. When a police officer use of force exceeds the necessary use of force of a particular situation to complete their lawful purpose. In particular, use force for self-defense, for example, a suspect tried to assault one of the police officers in a crime scene, so the other police officer teasers the suspect to protect his or her fellow officer. However, if the police officer uses his or her right to force for unlawful or self-defense purpose, it is then deemed unethical and illegal.
In some cases, police officers exert excessive force on individuals. The amount of force should be necessary for the situation. For example, a police officer should not use a weapon because a civilian will not obey an initial command. In the article, When Does Force Become Excessive?,
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
The public has a misconception that deadly force is the same thing as excessive force. They can be similar if the police use deadly force to a point where every officer discharges their entire magazine on person when the threat has been eliminated. Officers receive hours of training on how to shoot a gun, but sometime receive little instruction on how to determine when to use the gun. Training starts in the Police Academy, and continues throughout their careers. There are officers who teach and train the departments every month.
Law enforcement agents are should behave to a standard that is greater than the average civilian. Police brutality comes from an abuse of power granted to the police. Police brutality is often drawn on by overreaction in certain situations drawn on by panic. Police using excessive force in the United States is a crucial dilemma and must be stopped.