How Police Management Affects Officer Use of Force
This paper examines how police management practices influence the way law enforcement officers use force. It analyzes four interconnected dimensions: the use-of-force continuum as a codified policy tool, leadership styles (transactional, laissez-faire, and transformational) and their measurable effects on force outcomes, the allocation and administration of police resources, and innovations in psychological and cultural training for excessive force prevention. Drawing on quantitative field studies, policing research, and management theory, the paper argues that proper police management — encompassing policy, leadership, resource management, and training — can meaningfully reduce excessive force while preserving officers' ability to maintain public order and protect citizens.
- Introduction: Police Authority and the Use of Force: Police role, authority, and the force management problem
- The Force Continuum: Six-level codified framework guiding officer force decisions
- Style of Leadership and Management: Leadership styles and their effect on force outcomes
- Proper Management of Police Resources: Resource allocation and organizational flexibility in policing
- Innovations in Excessive Force Training: Psychological and cultural training modules for force reduction
- Conclusion: Synthesis of management pillars affecting police force use
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper organizes a multifaceted management question into four distinct, logically sequenced dimensions, making a complex topic navigable and easy to follow.
- It grounds abstract management concepts (transactional vs. transformational leadership) in concrete field research, including a quantitative sheriff's department study with 90 deputies across 15 scenarios.
- The conclusion effectively synthesizes each section's finding into a coherent policy argument rather than merely restating points, reinforcing the thesis with cumulative evidence.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied synthesis: it imports established management theory (leadership style frameworks, resource allocation principles) into a law enforcement context and tests those frameworks against empirical policing research. This cross-disciplinary move strengthens the central argument by showing that management variables demonstrably affect officer behavior in measurable ways.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a contextual introduction establishing the government's duty to protect citizens and the inevitability of some police force, then narrows to a clear thesis. Four body sections follow — force continuum policy, leadership style, resource management, and training innovation — each building on the previous. The conclusion recaps each pillar and reinforces the thesis that proper management is the lever for improving force outcomes.
Introduction: Police Authority and the Use of Force
Protection of its citizens is the fundamental mission of any government. At the forefront of this mission are law enforcement officers, who represent the most visible arm the government utilizes to protect citizens and preserve public order ("Police Use of Excessive Force: A Case Study of Lethal (Deadly) Force," 2016).
To achieve these missions, the police are granted authorities that are unique in civil government and conferred by society — the authority to control the behaviors of citizens with the ultimate aim of protecting them from harm. In the most direct sense, the behavior of members of society is controlled and managed by police personnel and officers on a daily basis (Murphy, 2014).
This reality brings us to the undeniable fact that police will inevitably use force to some degree in order to implement public order and protect citizens. There have been instances in which the lives of officers or civilians were endangered because police failed to take prompt action and use force to control a situation.
However, there have also been many instances and allegations in which police used more force than necessary, used force when it was not warranted, or applied it improperly. This raises the question of how to manage police use of force so that it does not exceed necessary limits while still enabling law enforcement to uphold public order and fulfill its protective mission (Murphy, 2014). One answer that many experts have debated and advocated over the years is that proper police management must be undertaken in order to prevent incidents of excessive force and to train officers to use force when necessary and only to the extent necessary (Atherley & Hickman, 2014).
Thesis: Proper police management can meaningfully affect the way police officers use force.
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