Police Consensus Policy Analysis

Law enforcement officers have a duty to advance the law enforcement profession and the practice of policing, while upholding their commitment and duty to serve the public and preserve all human life. Police officers have guidelines for the use of de-escalation techniques, less-lethal force, and deadly force. This consensus policy takes into account and reflects the broad views and experience of the field - ranging from a line officer to an executive. The policy adopted by these organizations reflects the best thinking of all consensus organizations and is solely intended to serve as a template for law enforcement agencies to compare and enhance their existing policies (Leading Law Enforcement…, 2017).

The Policy states - It is the
However, a Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) analysis of national data on citizen complaints about use of force found that in large departments with 100 or more sworn officers, the complaint rate for police use of force was 6.6 complaints per 100 sworn officers. Of these complaints, 8 percent had sufficient evidence to take disciplinary action against the officer (Police Use of Force, n.d.). Moreover, there are two defining cases. In Tennessee vs. Garner in 1985, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an officer cannot use deadly force against a fleeing suspect unless the suspect is a significant threat to the officer or to others. Four years later, the Supreme Court ruled in Graham vs. Connor that officers who use force must be judged on the totality of circumstances and a standard of objective reasonableness. In this case, Dethorne Graham was a diabetic who was experiencing a blood-sugar episode. He asked a friend to drop him off at a store so he could get some orange juice. When Graham saw the long line, he left behind the juice, ran out of the store and rode away in a car. An officer saw Graham leave, became suspicious and pulled him over to investigate. Backup officers arrived and handcuffed Graham, ignoring his pleas that he was having a diabetic reaction. During the encounter he suffered multiple injuries. He was released after the initial officer determined nothing illegal had happened. Graham sued, claiming the police used excessive force. The court decided against him, saying Graham's erratic actions justified the officer's initial suspicion. I disagree with the use of force used in this case because the victim/potential suspect was ill and probably delusional because of his low blood sugar levels (When Are Police Justified…,