Excessive use of force by police officers in law enforcement

Excessive Use of Force by Police

The excessive use of force in the police force has been the subject of debate for many decades. The problem relates to the fact that the police is often obliged to use some extent of force to ensure the safety of the public. Being involved in a highly stressful job situation however means that judgment may be impaired in terms of what type of force is appropriate for the particular situation faced at the time. Police officers could also make errors in judgment, for example mistaking a gesture of surrender for the intention of force. Tragedy could then result. When investigating the various types of force generally used by police officers, trends can be established and the excess of force mitigated to ensure better policing for the future. The public should be the primary concern of police officers; research on the use of force is therefore important to ensure that public safety is not endangered by officers who are overly exerted or suffering from stress. On the other hand, it is also important for the public to realize that the police force has the task to ensure safety and order, from which all will benefit.

TYPES of FORCE

According to David Mangan (2008), there are various stages of severity for police violence. Various legal and other documents, such as the one by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2002), stipulate that police officers are to never use more force than necessary and suitable to specific situations. Mangan then identifies the stages to be followed as beginning with verbal persuasion, unarmed physical force, force using non-lethal weapons, force using impact weapons, and deadly force. Non-deadly weapons include instruments such as mace and teargas, while impact weapons are mostly police batons. The officer is then to proceed through the stages as necessitated by the resist level of the offender, and to stop once the desired effect is achieved. According to the author, human rights across the United States are being violated by the police force and by the excess of force that they have been documented to be involved in.

According to Net Industries (2009), another factor in police violence and its severity is race. The over-representation of blacks and people of races other than white has been well documented. The authors cite the Department of Justice as providing a definition of force as pushing, gripping firmly, using chemical agents, a baton or a revolver. With the increasing severity of force, the possibility of injury by weapons also increases.

According to Jacquie Charlton (1997), pepper spray, one of the means of force, is used in virtually every modern police district. It originated as an agent created to repel bears. The U.S. Post Office then began to supply their mailmen with it to use against dogs at the homes they were required to serve. By the late 1980s, law enforcement officials saw the potential of the agent as an alternative to the more dangerous baton and firearm. It then came to serve as a transition step between unarmed physical force and impact arms.

The active ingredient in pepper spray is derived from cayenne pepper; hence its name. Contact causes the respiratory tract to constrict. Fighting for breath, the victim would then be rendered less able to fight and easier to subdue. A study by Thomas Ward, an FBI agent, from 1987 to 1989 popularized pepper spay by declaring it safe. The study was later proved to be highly questionable, however. Not only did Ward receive bribery money from a pepper spray manufacturer, but also compromised his testing sample by only using physically fit specimens.

Other studies have found that pepper spray holds serious health risks for victims, particularly those with asthma or cardiovascular disease. Other danger factors include the influence of substances such as drugs or alcohol, as well as mental illness. According to the author, the true effects of peppers spray are highly contested and subject to considerable debate.

Verbal persuasion, as the first step of force, is the least violent of the five types of force that an officer can use. It is the initial point of contact between the officer and the perpetrator. In the middle of the sequence is chemical agents such as mace or pepper spray. This is more severe than verbal persuasion, but less so than impact weapons. Such methods should remain under investigation to ensure that they do not in fact pose greater danger than at first believed. The most severe form of force use within the police that including firearms. In some situations, the police have no choice but to use this final stage of force. This should however only be done once all other options are exhausted, and certainly also in self-defense. According to Hall (2008), many police officers die in confrontations, where they are murdered with their own weapons. This should be mitigated by proper training.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, there are many encouraging signs that the problem of police brutality is being addressed via the research. Legal and social circumstances have changed, necessitating a new paradigm of police work. For the future, the greatest challenge lies within research and development. Academic and policing institutions need to collaborate in finding ways to curb the excess of violence that departments appear prone to.

The police force is an extremely important part of an ordered and peaceful society. It should therefore not perpetuate violence, but rather curb it. Police officers should therefore be thoroughly schooled in the acceptable use of force, and in the types of force that are acceptable for certain situations. Furthermore, research should also be conducted into the psychological traits that encourage and perpetuate violence. These issues should be handled in a targeted manner within police departments, possibly by means of councilors. In this way, the police can once again become part of the problem, as intended in the first place.