Assessing the Use of Deadly Force by Police Officers

¶ … 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" to present "hidden truths" about the mental and physical dynamics of life-threatening events during intensive officer training programs.

THREE: Disabling / tranquilizing darts: Given that tranquilizing darts can put a bear down, certainly it could put a suspect down who is threatening an officer. 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 police departments have no annual handgun training; training should embrace how to remain calm in tense, stressful situations. Should officers shoot to kill? Or shoot to disable? These are strategic issues that need to be reviewed and practiced more than once a year; better if it is done quarterly.

EIGHT: Reality Base Training (RBT): this is a training that nearly all cadets go through when they are in police academies. Coupled with RBT training should be "stress management" and "performance enhancement" -- and this should be ongoing through the officer's career. Every officer on the street or in a patrol car will eventually encounter a stressfully dangerous situation where a weapon may be needed; but resisting the next step toward the use of lethal force requires a high quality of training including "stress management" with psychological trainers in a concentrated setting away from the job site.

NINE: psychological / stress management in day-to-day functioning situations: In addition to training that prepares the officer for a high-stress, extremely dangerous confrontation in the field, officers should also be provided psychological care in order to avoid depression, anxiety; this should be done on a routine basis at least twice a year.