Police and the Use of Excessive Force Essay

The procedure of undue military posture by faithfulness of nature organizations around the world as a crime control mechanism has been widely criticized and pass ond for many years. Many ask, what on the just nowton is prodigal aim? What ca wonts an ships mop upicer to exercising exuberant perpetrate and is it justified? there is much ambiguity when it comes to answering such(prenominal) inquirys. Your perception will undoubtedly make up your expectation and alike many eons ones failure to acknowledge, the separate side of the story, ca lend oneselfs a misperception. How big of a role do the media play in portraying natural law use of inordinate core as fair or unnecessary? These argon all effectual oral sexs that will be addressed in this analysis as thoroughly as what is being done to address the emplacement. We take off with the definition of excessive force as provided by the International Association of Chiefs of law, excessive force is the amou nt of effort needed by police to compel shape by an unwilling suspect (Police use of Force, 2009). That is, police will turn to excessive force when an single has been uncooperative. Some implore that the polices most delineate feature is their capacity to use despotic force (Katz & Walker, 2008).Police use of force may include physical force as easily as the cause to oblige, scarce most importantly the originator to use deadly force. It is important to take in mind that there ar laws set in place to snare the amount of force an officer uses, including excessive force. Such laws have allowed for better policing practices and an improve police/community relationship. Although police use of excessive force still arises from judgment of conviction to time, the number of incidents has dropped dramatically over the years. agree to a study done in the years 1999 and 2000 of calls for service, force was used by police in less than one percent of the calls (Police use of Fo rce, 2009). In actuality, the police spend most of their shift overhaul their community as peacekeepers asfountainhead as helping others. So what drives a sworn police officer to use excessive force? The answer to this question is not a simple one, and rightfully so. Some argue that discrimination, stereotyping and the environment in which an officer may patrol tolerate contribute to the use of excessive force. sight call the police because they want an officer to settle a bother to arrest someone, to get someone to calm down, or to have someone removed from the class (Katz & Walker, 2008).In other words, police are constantly put in mercurial situations where the people they are traffic with atomic number 50 become a danger to the officer who is responding to a call and there is no telling what someone might do at any given moment. a good deal times when an officer has been dispatched to a scene, oddly an altercation, huskinesss are already flaring and what would normall y be a situation avocation for a simple mediation performed by the officer can easily step to the fore to the citizen resisting arrest for fear of going to jail, not knowing that the police is just laborious to calm down the individual in order to assist with the situation more(prenominal) accurately. Situations like these are all too common and police can tone of voice very much unappreciated and a sense of disrespect on behalf of those they serve. This licking often times lead to a small number of officers easily losing their temper when confronting citizens in future instances. It must be pointed out that such instances are rare, but still do arise from time to time. As a retired police lieutenant reflecting on his career put it, The bulk of cops were good, hardworking, conscientious individuals.They cared, and they wanted to do a good job. But there were adequate copsnot one rotten apple, but several rotten applesto give law enforcement the taint it had received ((Retire d), 2000). The media, which include movies, tv shows, and news organizations, have a propagate of power when it comes to portraying the police as good or evil. Given the goodly ambiguity that surrounds the issue, whether police use of force is presented as police savageness and whether brutality is understood as a problem depend greatly upon which voices and views the media emphasize (Lawrence, 2000). It is the media who localise what the general human race learns round driveway cops daily experience with criminals and the underclass, as well as what the middle-class public learns about other groups experiences with police (Lawrence, 2000). A perfective tense example is the famous reality idiot box program, Cops, where camera crewsparticipate in ride-along assignments and fetch real life drama from the police officers viewpoint. News headlines are one of the most, if not the most, influential media forms influencing public opinion and attitude towards law enforcement.As t he lawyer for a Miami policeman label in the shooting death of a black motorcyclistan acquittal that touched off days of riotingindignantly told reporters, If the headlines read, Twice-convicted drug dealer shot while nerve-racking to run over officer, there wouldnt have been any riots (Lawrence, 2000). So the question arises, what is being done to address the situation with police use of excessive force? History has shown that policing systems and strategies can and do change. ace way the situation has been dealt with in novel years is with the creation of local citizen trouble groups where complaints by citizens are reviewed to determine whether the feat taken by the officer towards the individual filing the complaint was caused by a lack of policy, or a pestilential policy, on behalf of the police department in which case a recommendation for a new policy is sent to the department. other way that police departments are dealing with the situation is by mounting painting r ecorders on patrol cars as well as working with the local media and utilise them as a way of checks and balances. at that place is also the case for higher(prenominal) gentility for police officers. The subject matter of higher statement as a prerequisite for police officers is a hot debate topic today. Study has shown that higher meliorate cops receive fewer complaints than those with less education (Victor E. Kappeler, 1992).Works Cited(Retired), L. A. (2000). From the Inside Looking Out. In J. Nelson, Police Brutality (p. 265). New York Norton. Katz, C. M., & Walker, S. (2008). The Police In America. New York McGraw-Hill. Lawrence, R. G. (2000). The Politics of Force. Los Angeles University of atomic number 20 Press. Police use of Force. (2009, August 04). Retrieved abut 19, 2010, from National Institute of Justice web site http//www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/topics/law-enforcement/use-of-force/welcome.htmnote1 Victor E. Kappeler, D. C. (1992). Police officer Higher Education, Citizen Complaints, and Departmental Rule Violation. American Journal of Police , 37-54.