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¶ … Deadly Force by Police
Top Ten Ways to Reduce the Use of Deadly Force by Law Enforcement Officers
While the media tends to portray law enforcement's use of lethal force as excessive and widespread, the empirical data shows a very different picture. According to research by the FBI, officers exercised restraint "…in deadly force in 93% of the situations where they legally could have fired their weapons" (Pinizzotto, et al., 2012). Still, progress can be made to reduce the use of lethal force by police officers. This paper offers ten ways to decrease police officers' use of deadly force -- or at least, provide the skills and training to help the office cope with danger.
Today many officers wear bullet-proof vests, but in the future engineers will be able to design bullet-proof clothing, including head gear and face masks that totally protect the officer from being harmed by a suspect's gunfire. Hence, the officer won't have to feel that he must shoot first if there is a confrontation; he or she will have flexibility in the use of lethal force.
TWO: Concentrated training through the Force Science Institute (FSI): this training is "cutting edge" into the dynamics of human behavior "…during life-threatening encounters"; FSI uses "sophisticated time-and-motion measurements"...
The question is how to equip the officer with this technology on his person to be able to use it rather than a weapon given that the suspect is not carrying a weapon but needs to be disabled because he is dangerous.
FOUR: Lasers: It is well-known that directing a laser into the eyes causes temporary blindness; why not equip officers with laser technology for use as an alternative to lethal force.
FIVE: Less-lethal technologies: Lasers are among other technologies like "electro-muscular disruption technology" and non-lethal chemical agents that disable the suspect (Schultz, 2008).
SIX: The Conciliation Approach: The strategy of "conciliation" brings members of the minority community together with law enforcement in order to create better police-minority relations. "An effective police-minority relationship can contribute to the reduction in incidents of excessive police force" (Frazier, 2002).
SEVEN: Better and more frequent handgun training: one in five small…
Works Cited
Frazier, Thomas C. "Police Use of Excessive Force: A Conciliation Handbook for the Police and The Community." Community Relations Service / U.S. Department of Justice. Retrieved February 11, 2013, from http://justice.gov/archive/crs/pubs/pdexcess.pdf. 2002.
Pinizzotto, Anthony J. Davis, Edward F. Bohrer, Shannon B., and Infanti, Benjamin J. "Restraint
In the Use of Deadly Force." FBI. Retrieved February 11, 2013, from http://www.fbi.gov.
2012.
Retrieved February 11, 2013, from http://www.policechiefmagazine.org. 2008.
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