The Difference Between Violence And Force In The Police And The Community

The public’s perception of how necessary police actions are varies. In the book, The Police and the Community (2002) the author discusses the difference between violence and force. When hearing the word force people often think violence, but this is not always the case. Force usually pertains to enforcement of the law; so for example pulling a gun out to show enforcement. Violence is might, and force is having power. Force is pulling out a gun, and the violent part of this scenario would be using the gun to kill someone. Determining whether using deadly physical force is done justifiably has been an ongoing endemic in this country for many decades, and today it is still an unresolved issue. Officers usually make the decision

According to an article in the New York Times, “What Happened in Ferguson,” Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson were both at the Ferguson Market and Liquor. Mr. Brown was caught on surveillance stealing cigarillos from the liquor store. Officer Darren Wilson arrived at the liquor store and saw that Mr. Brown had fit the description of a suspect the police were looking for. There was a situation outside the police car between the officer and Mr. Brown that caused the officer to fire shots. The suspect runs, and the officer fires more shots, and Mr. Brown is fatally wounded. In the article on Washington Post, “Current Law Gives Police Wide Latitude to Use Deadly Force,” (2014) is about how the city of St. Louis and the nation are having trouble deciding if the police officer that shot Michael Brown should be charged. The author, Carl D. Leonnig says, “The law that determines when police can use deadly force generally gives officers considerable leeway in making a split-second decision about whether they need to kill to save themselves or others.” Officer Darren Wilson said that he shot to defend his life. He only needed to believe that he was in danger for his actions to be justified whether danger really existed or not. Officer Darren Wilson also said that Mr. Brown was trying to grab his gun when he approached him in his police car. In this case, other factors besides threat from a weapon were looked at like the size of this suspect. To some people, the size of a person could pose a threat especially if they weren’t complying with the law. The actions of Officer Wilson were deemed justifiable because he felt like he was in danger, and that is one of the main reasons why deadly physical force is