Police Use Of Force Essay
Every day police officers are granted a vast amount of authority including the right to use force to apprehend citizens who are not abiding by the law, police are also given the right to be able to defend them self when their life is in danger, just like any other human being. Police may have to use force in some given situations to stay safe. The citizens of the community in which the police officer works in must be able to trust that the officer will use the power they are granted in honorable and moral fashion. In recent times, the people of the news media and users of social media have displayed images and opinions of the police portraying them to be corrupt and they say tings like the police have not been trained and taught all of the
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elements of the use of force continuum. Many use of force complaints on an officer account for only things that the officer did, but the factors of the use of force continuum must account for escalation and de-escalation of force and the resistance of the suspect during an encounter where an officer must use force to apprehend a suspect (Hickman, Atherley, Lowery, & Alpert, 2015, p.373).
In almost any given situation the police have just split seconds to make the right decision on how to handle and properly de-escalate any given situation; some of the decisions that need to be made are easy for some officers and some decisions are going to be incredibly hard for an officer to make in such a short time frame that they may have. More experienced officers that have handled the same situation multiple times may be faster at making the same decision as a rookie officer in the same situation. No matter what the decision is the officer will always have the voice in the back of his or her head saying "will these actions be justified" but the officers do not have the time to sit back and think about their plan of action they must make their decision practically instantly and use the best judgment they have for the situation they are given. This research paper will explore what policies have changed over time with regards of the officer using force, and how much force they legally can use. It is important to explore this aspect of
everyday police work, because just one wrong decision made by a police officer while deciding on when to use force or what type of force to use could not only end their career as a police officer but it could also put a lot of emotional and physical stress on the officer and their family’s, it could also cost the department and city millions of dollars it there is any civil lawsuit against the officer or department. The officer could also spend the rest of their life in jail because an action they did was not legally justified. The researcher hypothesizes that police officers today are going to be healed to a higher standard when it comes to the use of force than they have in the past, the researcher also believes that more police officers will be indicted for their wrongful actions compared to the police officers of the past. The researcher believes this because the use of social media has sky rocked in recent years and the use of body worn cameras are starting to be implemented into all of the departments, more departments are purchasing them because they are becoming cheaper to buy and more accessible for smaller departments. Also everyone now days has a camera on their phone and it is incredibly easy to pull out your phone and record the police.
The Use of Force in Police Work
In police work, it is imposable to avoid any use of force. In numerous situations, the life of an officer or an innocent civilian can be lost by an officer not using the appropriate force when required or using force in an improper manner. Many different factors come into play when the police officer decides that force is necessary. These factors include but re not limited to: was the use of force justified? Was the officer trained in a proper manner on the use of force? And will the department or the individual be held liable for the actions of the officer if the force is used
elements of the use of force continuum. Many use of force complaints on an officer account for only things that the officer did, but the factors of the use of force continuum must account for escalation and de-escalation of force and the resistance of the suspect during an encounter where an officer must use force to apprehend a suspect (Hickman, Atherley, Lowery, & Alpert, 2015, p.373).
In almost any given situation the police have just split seconds to make the right decision on how to handle and properly de-escalate any given situation; some of the decisions that need to be made are easy for some officers and some decisions are going to be incredibly hard for an officer to make in such a short time frame that they may have. More experienced officers that have handled the same situation multiple times may be faster at making the same decision as a rookie officer in the same situation. No matter what the decision is the officer will always have the voice in the back of his or her head saying "will these actions be justified" but the officers do not have the time to sit back and think about their plan of action they must make their decision practically instantly and use the best judgment they have for the situation they are given. This research paper will explore what policies have changed over time with regards of the officer using force, and how much force they legally can use. It is important to explore this aspect of
everyday police work, because just one wrong decision made by a police officer while deciding on when to use force or what type of force to use could not only end their career as a police officer but it could also put a lot of emotional and physical stress on the officer and their family’s, it could also cost the department and city millions of dollars it there is any civil lawsuit against the officer or department. The officer could also spend the rest of their life in jail because an action they did was not legally justified. The researcher hypothesizes that police officers today are going to be healed to a higher standard when it comes to the use of force than they have in the past, the researcher also believes that more police officers will be indicted for their wrongful actions compared to the police officers of the past. The researcher believes this because the use of social media has sky rocked in recent years and the use of body worn cameras are starting to be implemented into all of the departments, more departments are purchasing them because they are becoming cheaper to buy and more accessible for smaller departments. Also everyone now days has a camera on their phone and it is incredibly easy to pull out your phone and record the police.
The Use of Force in Police Work
In police work, it is imposable to avoid any use of force. In numerous situations, the life of an officer or an innocent civilian can be lost by an officer not using the appropriate force when required or using force in an improper manner. Many different factors come into play when the police officer decides that force is necessary. These factors include but re not limited to: was the use of force justified? Was the officer trained in a proper manner on the use of force? And will the department or the individual be held liable for the actions of the officer if the force is used