Police Use Of Force

Police use of force is something used by law enforcement to contain and control the situation. Use of force has been frowned upon throughout the history of the United States. There have been many situations that citizens think could have been handled differently and the use of force was to much or excessive. Throughout the history of the United States there have been a different take on the use of force by police. Many citizens think that it is nessasary for police to use their discretion when choosing how ruff they should be on the suspect. While others believe that it should be minimal depending on the situation, for example and if man has a weapon, deadly force may be needed to contain the situation and save the officers life but if they
do not have a weapon then they should be subdued by a non lethal force. There are many different types of force that may be used by police officers.
The first would be being vocal to the suspect that includes yelling and commanding the suspect to stop what they are doing. The second would be using only your body whether it's the officers physical strength or patting the suspect down with their hands. The third is the use of non lethal weapons, this includes everything from batons, tasers, or chemicals. Lastly is the use of deadly force, this is intended to cause death of injury to the suspect. The often problem when officers use deadly force, with the many cameras that are around now, cause a backlash from citizens claiming that a non lethal weapon could have been used to subdue the suspect. Police officers over the United States do not follow the same standard of the use of force. This has caused a lot of backlash throughout the United States and even calling for a national police force in some cases.After the death of Freddie Gray, Al Sharpton stated “There must be national policy and national law on policing, We can’t go from state to state, we’ve got to have national law to protect people against these continued
questions.” There have been many problems with the use of force by police officers in recent times. Freddie Gray, who is a 25 year old from Baltimore, Maryland, was killed in police custody with a spinal cord injury. Freddie Gray was walking when he made eye contact with two bike officers; which then turned into a foot chase. The police officers then saw a switchblade, an illegal weapon in Baltimore, in Grays pocket. Freddie Gray was then arrested where eye witnesses says he was folded over with a knee into his back and then dragged into the police van screaming in pain. Gray was then shackled while he was motionless and then continued to drive around with him in the back of the van. Many believe that the police officer driving the vehicle was being ruff with the van which may have caused more injuries. During this involvement with police officers, Freddie Gray suffered from three fractured vertebrae, a spinal injury at his neck and a coma. After the death of Freddie Gray the six police officers that were involved were then arrested and charged. The driver of the van was charged with second degree depraved heart murder, second-degree assault, and manslauter by vehicle. The two officers that caught Freddie Gray after he ran were both charged with second degree assault, false imprisionment, and misconduct in the office. The last three officers were charged with involuntary mansaulter, second degree assault and misconduct in the office. This is a clear example of excessive police use of force, since Freddie Gray was completely mishandled throughout the time he was in police custody. This unfortunate event caused riot which in turn caused many to question the use of force by police officers in a riot situation.

Ferguson, Missouri, 2014, became a place of unrest due to the murder of Michael Brown.
During this time the use of force by police officers during the riot came into question. The officers used tear gas and rubber bullets on citizens during while the protesters were slowly turning into rioters. The rioters soon turned into looters which in turn caused business to be ruined and started on fire. The used of forced needed by this time is indicated by the actions of the looters and whether they are causing harm to others or police officers. The officers intended to keep the it peaceful and non-violent until the safety of themselves and others were put at risk. The use of force by police officers during the riots has caused them be to sued by mulitple people. A 23 year old man who was a protester states that he was shoot many times with rubber bullets while filming the police.

Use of force within law enforcement is used to control and try to contain the suspect or situation. The United States have gone through many problems with trying to find a middle ground and the correct use of force. There have been problems with the correct use of force even when weapons are not used like the unfortuante death of Eric Garner who was killed by a illegal chock hold in New York. Although, this is an obvious problem within the law enforcement in the United States, there has been no clear solution to the problem. Many have
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