Using Force in Policing

¶ … police management affect the way police officers use force?

The Force Continuum

Style of Leadership and Management

Proper Management of Police Resources

Innovations in Excessive Force Training

Protection of its citizens is the fundamental mission of any government. And on the forefront of this mission are the law enforcement officers who are in fact the most visible arm that the government utilizes to protect the citizens and also to preserve public order ("Police Use of Excessive Force: A Case Study of Lethal (Deadly) Force," 2016).

And to achieve these missions, the police are given authorities that are unique in civil governments as well as granted by the society - authority to control the behaviors of the citizens with the ultimate aim of protecting them from harm. Hence in a manner that is most direct, the behavior of the members of the society are controlled and managed by the police personnel and the officers on a daily basis (Murphy, 2014).

This brings us to the undeniable fact that it is inevitable that police would use force to a certain degree to implement the public order and protect citizens. There have been instances when the lives of officers or that of civilians have been put in danger by the police not taking prompt action and using force to control a situation.

However, there have also been many instances and allegations where police have used more than necessary force on civilians or have used force when not necessary or used it improperly. This brings us to the question of how to manage the use of force by police so that it does not exceed its limit and yet the law protection forces manage to uphold public order and continue on the mission of protection of citizens (Murphy, 2014). One answer to this that many experts have debated and advocated over the years is that proper management of the police should be undertaken in order to prevent incidents of excessive use of force and train the police to use force when necessary and to the extent necessary (Atherley & Hickman, 2014).

Thesis Statement: Proper police management can affect the way police officers use force

I. The Force Continuum

Individuals, especially in arrest situations, have always and at all levels challenged police officers and resisted law enforcement efforts. To supplement any threat that they encounter, law enforcement officers are trained to a specific form of the use-of-force continuum (PoliceOne, 2016). In many cases, the use of force has been used by officer and police in responses done in a split second. While their actions were unintentional and not part of a plan, it is also considered to be necessary (Petrowski, 2002). It is therefore expected that police officers always need to be in control of an event that they encounter while they use force (Cronin & Reicher, 2006).

Data got during observations of police forces in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Indianapolis, Indiana, as a part of a study titled Project on Policing Neighborhoods or POPN, helped in the developed of a specific coding scheme as formulated by researchers where the resistance that was offered to the police officers by the offenders did not necessarily match the level of force that was used (Terrill & Mastrofski, 2002). The research helped to determine what influenced decision making by officers that were within the levels as developed by the force continuum got from using the POPN data (Terrill, 2005).

While this use of force continuum is no longer widely used in the police force in the U.S. today after successful implementation and use for over 25 years, it forms the threshold that helps define the levels of resistance by offenders and the level of force that is to be used. The training of officers and the department policies regarding officer behaviors in crisis situations are based on the force continuum models which have got refined over the last 25 years (Gallo, Collyer, & Gallagher, 2008).

This essentially codifies the level of force that should be used by police officers in cases and situations where they face resistance from the offender (Terrill, 2005). There are clear instructions about responding with a certain level of force that can be appropriate to a given situation of resistance and an officer can shift from one section or level of the continuum to another one depending on the level of resistance offered (Dorriety, 2005).

According to the force continuum, there are six levels of use-of-force:

1. Officer Presence -- no force to no resistance

2. Verbal Compliance -- only verbal force but nothing physical

3. Passive Resistance -- officers to use body and empty hands only to gain control over resistance.

4. Active Resistance -- can be controlled by the use of intermediate weapons such as the baton, Taser, and some physical strikes.

5. Aggressive resistance -- police office can use intermediate weapons like "flash-bang" or rubber bullets along with intensified self-defense techniques but should not use non-deadly force.

6. Deadly-force resistance -- officers are entitled to use deadly force (Terrill & Paoline, 2012).

The above force continuum is essentially a part of the police management curriculum and is imparted to every police officer and which specifies the degree of force to be used to a particular level of resistance (Crow & Adrion, 2011). Hence, if this continuum is adequately applied and adhered to it can be possible to affect the use of force by police officers.

II. Style of Leadership and Management

The style of leadership of a police force is also an important consideration in the process of application of the appropriate degree of force in situations faced by the law enforcement officers. It is assumed that law enforcement officers are formally trained in the use force against offenders. This training also details or the difference between what constitutes unnecessary and necessary use of force. Until the force used becomes excessive or unnecessary, the use of force by law enforcement officers is not a problem as it is expected that police officers would use force during their tactical duties.

The primary issue in the use of force by police is the acceptable degree of force in relation to the level of noncooperation of the offender. While the use of force continuum can be an effective guide, it is necessary that the leader on duty is diligent enough to decide on the appropriate use of force and manages to persuade the other officers to the same (Flemming, 2015).

Hence from the police management perspective, it is important that good leadership skills be imparted to the leaders in the police force so that the instructions and the directions are followed even in a critical situation where split second decisions become necessary (Masal & Vogel, 2016).

It is here that the management of the police force or a police team and especially by a police officer on duty becomes critical. Experts have suggested that the right kind of leadership, according to principles of management, can help or have a positive effect on the use of force by police and law enforcement agencies.

There has been some research done in this aspect and the manner in which the use of force is related to the style and type of leadership that is followed within a particular police force of a particular city or state. Such research has suggested that patrol officers' behavior can be influenced by the supervisors and thus has been able to manage the influence together with responsibility (Schwarzwald, Koslowsky & Agassi, 2001).

Studies have also indicated that in many law enforcement agencies and police jurisdictions in various states and cities, there is very little knowledge about the relationship between an efficient leadership style and appropriate use of force. Researchers are also of the view that in some police agencies there is also no knowledge of what kind of leadership best suits the force in a particular city or county and even how supervisory leadership is comparable to similar law enforcement agencies (Banker, Chang & Pizzini, 2004).

In a quantitative study that was conducted by the officers who worked at the Floyd County Sheriff's Department that was located in New Albany, Indiana, significant extrapolation of on the field data and surveys were done along with an experiment in a field scenario. The study as carried out on more than 90 deputies and jail officers in 15 different scenarios.

The study concluded that less force was used when officers followed the transactional style of leadership. This style of leadership entails that the leaders do not pay attention to the personal goals or agenda of the followers or subordinates but they are only concerned about the giving away rewards or punishments to the subordinates of the good or bad work done by them. This form of leadership directly kinks the results of a subordinate's actions to the expectations of the leader and awards or punishments are given accordingly.

The study also noted that that the laissez-faire leadership style, where the leader has confidence in the subordinates and followers and on the leaves decision making to the followers, resulted in greater use of force. However, the study concluded that the transformational leaders, those who inspire their followers and subordinates to achieve their personal goals and workplace objectives, were able to influence the subordinates the most and resulted in the least use of force to douse situations or to bring situations under control (Kirkbride, 2006).

This study added to the previous studies in this aspect and indicated the role and the importance of an appropriate style of leadership in the police forces to have an effect on the use of force by the police deputies and officers. While any particular style of leadership may not be universally applicable, the studies have been able to establish a direct link between leadership style and the use of force by police officers. Therefore, while leadership is a subject matter of management research, police management also need sort incorporate this aspect in order to affect the use of force by police officers.

The studies have also been able to identify that the police forces stand to gain and achieve a lot in terms of use of force by the use of knowledge-based leadership styles (Van Wart, 2003) and the importance of the role of leadership style in improved policing and use of force be recognized.

III. Proper Management of Police Resources

One aspect that is recognized by experts and researchers as having an influence on the use of force by police is the resources that are available to the police. In the modern age where terrorism is a global phenomenon and sophisticated arms possession is common place, police forces are getting more skeptical of the arms and ammunition that are possessed by an offender. While they compare such possible arms in the hands of the offender with those in their own possession, proper allocation of resources is necessary to make the police officers feel more secure about their weapons and refrain from using lethal or deadly force.

This requires that the police force examines the allocation and utilization of personnel as happens with departments in business organizations. With the basic principles that make good management, it is important, according to experts and researches, that a fresh look is taken about how business can be done by a department. Significant room for improvement can be achieved by management reviews that can be performed internally or through professional consultants. One of the aspects of this management of resources is the development of the police administration philosophy and it is often debated that the police forces need to reduce the paramilitary command-and-control style approach of management. This would give rise to organizational flexibility, innovation, and responsiveness which can, in turn, be effective in impacting the use of force by police officers.

IV. Innovations in Excessive Force Training

Innovation in training and administration is important and in this aspect, many experts have stressed on the importance of properly managed psychological training of police officers about the use of force. this aspect has been stressed in his article titled "Controlling Police Use of Excessive Force: The Role of the Police Psychologist" that was published in the journal of National Institute of Justice by EBen M. Scrivner. The researchers, like many predecessors before him, stressed on the use of psychologists to study and develop training models which include the manner in which people function when placed under adverse conditions and in situations that are highly charged. The training module, according to Scrivner should include among other thing, aspects of management training like cultural sensitivity and diversity, interactions and perception of threat and their assessment and decision-making process in charged conditions or situations.