Opinions On The Use Of Discretionary Powers In Law Enforcement

He came back to the jail and gave himself up. At the time the wound did not appear serious but blood poisoning set in and death followed. Coseboom and Saunders told authorities Millard had fired recklessly and should be fired. A jury found the shot fired by the officer was in the line of duty and no blame

At the same time that I believe there are police officers who use excessive force, I believe there are people who are defying and undermining the officers. At the same time that the officers are protecting themselves, the innocent citizens should not be getting shot. Philando Castile’s gun was not even loaded, nor did he ever reach for the gun. This is one of the most asked topics that presidential candidates were asked during their election periods. It does not really seem like much can be done with the situation until the officer for this particular case goes on trial.

Oscar Grant III was a 22 year-old African American man who was fatally shot in the morning hours of New Years Day, 2009 by BART Police officer Johannes Mehserie in Oakland, California. Responding to reports of a fight on a crowded Bay Area Rapid Transit train returning from San Francisco, BART Police officers detained Grant and several other passengers on the platform at the Fruitvale BART Station. Officer Johannes Mehserle and another officer forced the unarmed, Oscar Grant to lie face down. Mehserle drew his pistol and shot Grant in the back. Several witnesses claim Mehserle said “Oh my God!”

On January 1st 2009 Officer Johannes Mehserle shot and killed an innocent man. Oscar Grant was just getting off of the train from a previous New Year's party with a group of his friends. While on the train, one rider had reported that a fight broke out onboard. When Grant and his friends made it to the station, they were taken custody. That is when Officer Mehserle intentionally shot and killed Oscar Grant.

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)

He first told the police that he fired the gun blindly while

I believe that there is often a lack of accountability, as well as superiors to believe officers rather than those who may accuse officers of acting. “When Walter Scott fled from the North Charleston police, he was not merely fleeing Michael Thomas Slager, he was attempting to flee incarceration.” (Paragraph 2) While more training and body cameras may decrease the number of violent and deadly situations between police and suspects and they are not the solution to the problem. This flaw in the criminal justice system, Coastes argues, ultimately comes down to how often minors view police as a power, rather than an authority meant to protect. Many believe that our justice system is a fair one, based on the idea that one is innocent until proven guilty that all deserve a fair trial etc.

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

Use of force is the amount of force used in a given situation during police work. The police are supposed to follow the continuum when it come to using force. This continuum is known as the “Use of Force Continuum”. Despite this, use of force is still a constant problem in policing. There are many cases where a cop are sued for using more force than necessary, sometimes on purpose and sometimes by accident.

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.

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 use of Police Force in the country is a growing concern. It may be exaggerated within the news however The United States Civil Rights Commission has brought up this issue. “Police officers are authorized by department policies to use force in certain situations: to protect themselves, to affect an arrest, to overcome resistance, and to bring a dangerous situation under control. The relevant question is, when is the use of force excessive and gone too far?” (Walker & Katz, 393, 2013).

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. November 22, 2014, twelve-year-old, Tamir Rice, was playing and posing with his air pellet gun when a man sitting in the park called 911 to report, “there’s a guy here with a pistol, pointing it at everybody… [The gun] is probably a fake, but you know what,

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.

There are many pros and cons when it comes to the use of police force. The use of force is strictly a part of the job requirement of protecting and serving our community. It is the everyday battles that force police to make decisions that may seem a bit harsh at times. The use of force is only acceptable under certain circumstances and should only be used when absolutely needed. There are cases when civilians are saved by the use of police force, and there are cases when innocent people are hurt or even killed by the use of police force.