Officer Use Of Force Essay
Emerging issue
Officer use of force is on the rise within the Delano Police Department (DPD). Within the last 12 months, the department has observed a total of 46 use of force incidents. In comparison, over the same previous 12 month period the department had 20 use of force incidents. This figure represents over a 120 % increase. In reviewing the use of force reports for these force incidents, in every incident officers either had to use physical force such as their hands, police batons, or brute force to control the suspect being taken into custody after providing clear directions to the uncooperative person. In the previously reported year, in 33 % of these incidents either an officer or suspect, or both, was injured during the arrest culmination. …show more content…
These devices have been successfully used by numerous law enforcement and civilian agencies since 1993 as another means to gain compliance, and oftentimes in civilian use, quell attacks by suspects attacking their victims.
According to Bleetman, Steyn, & Lee (2004), police are morally and legally obligated to use the lowest amount of force to affect an arrest (p. 136). In fact, Delano Police Department Policy 300.02, entitled Use of Force, states that officers shall only use that force which is reasonably necessary to effect an arrest (p. 42). According to the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ), a less-lethal weapon is a weapon, other than a firearm, that when deployed in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations by a trained officer, is less-likely to cause death or serious bodily harm (USDOJ, 2009, p. 1). Bleetman, Steyn, & Lee (2004) noted that the ideal less-lethal weapon is one that will subdue a suspect in order to make a safe arrest without causing injury to the officer, suspects, or those in the area of the arrest (p.
Officer use of force is on the rise within the Delano Police Department (DPD). Within the last 12 months, the department has observed a total of 46 use of force incidents. In comparison, over the same previous 12 month period the department had 20 use of force incidents. This figure represents over a 120 % increase. In reviewing the use of force reports for these force incidents, in every incident officers either had to use physical force such as their hands, police batons, or brute force to control the suspect being taken into custody after providing clear directions to the uncooperative person. In the previously reported year, in 33 % of these incidents either an officer or suspect, or both, was injured during the arrest culmination. …show more content…
These devices have been successfully used by numerous law enforcement and civilian agencies since 1993 as another means to gain compliance, and oftentimes in civilian use, quell attacks by suspects attacking their victims.
According to Bleetman, Steyn, & Lee (2004), police are morally and legally obligated to use the lowest amount of force to affect an arrest (p. 136). In fact, Delano Police Department Policy 300.02, entitled Use of Force, states that officers shall only use that force which is reasonably necessary to effect an arrest (p. 42). According to the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ), a less-lethal weapon is a weapon, other than a firearm, that when deployed in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations by a trained officer, is less-likely to cause death or serious bodily harm (USDOJ, 2009, p. 1). Bleetman, Steyn, & Lee (2004) noted that the ideal less-lethal weapon is one that will subdue a suspect in order to make a safe arrest without causing injury to the officer, suspects, or those in the area of the arrest (p.