Police Use Of Force Essay

The officer has been trained in the appropriate use of force. The officer may have felt that use of force was warranted and used with discretion. The bystanders often don’t understand the complex situation that is unfolding before them and are quick to assume the officer has crossed the line. If you peruse through the internet you will see a myriad of reports covering police brutality that range from racial profiling to murder. Every time an officer uses force during an incident involving a minority group there is public outcry for justice and reform.

These individuals could be harassing other individuals or acting belligerent in public. There are a variety of offenses that an officer could possibly prevent, perhaps, not as many serious crimes, but I believe that they can prevent many demeanor crimes from

The importance of understanding racism in the context of police brutality cannot be underestimated. Many police officials automatically regard racial minority group members as potentially dangerous regardless of their particular activities, gestures, or attire. This perception of racial minority citizens as “trouble” sometimes translates into racially discriminatory police behavior. Most police officers expect citizens to always surrender to police authority. When citizens challenge it instead, some officers view such behavior as the unofficial crime of disobeying a police officer and use physical force to gain compliance.

There are various situations where one or many people are accused of committing a certain crime. Ideally, the crime is then reported to the officer who proceeds to arrest the accused. However, sometimes different scenarios play out and one who may think they are in the right may be wrong. Because of these different instances, police officers should wear body cameras in order to capture what happens when he or she makes an arrest. This is due are recent events where criminals and police officers have been accused of something by the other party that they may have not actually done.

A big argument against police discretion is that it allows officers to abuse it which can lead to a greater threat in police corrupt. Some people say that cops don’t have the slightest idea what could be ... ... middle of paper ... ...d to do something about the consistency and teaching how far to take it and in certain situations. Also, help officers during training with situations dealing with different ethnicity, social class, and race, because this is where police discretion is used a lot. Watching the video in class we learned that police officers are more likely to arrest someone or charge someone with a crime if they have a different race or if they think the area they are in is a high crime area, some automatically assume that they are doing something they are not supposed to be doing or committing a crime. The zero tolerance policy that was stated above shows that with that it is making progress, I believe that should be used more an With better training and good and better department policies I think that the problem on police discrimination can be better handled and better achieved.

In regard to police abuse, there will be many officers who feel that their job of fighting escalating street crime, gangs, narcotics violations, and other violent crimes is difficult already, and that worrying about excessive policy for abusive behavior will only further decrease their ability to fight crime effectively, efficiently, and safely. Citizens, however, have been caught up in this gung-ho attitude, and police are more and more often crossing the line of investigation and interrogation with abusive behavior. This abuse must be monitored so that police do not forget who they are serving--not themselves, but the public. This means that even the criminals, who are a part of the public, have certain rights, particularly, civil rights. All citizens must be aware of these rights to protect themselves against over-aggressive officers who take advantage of their position as badge and gun holders to intimidate and abuse civilians for personal or departmental goals.

The police would only react to a perp violently and with force if they felt threatened and when this happens local news and internet makes it look as if police are the bad guys which in some situations they are, but others they aren 't they are just doing their job as officers to serve and protect. T​hree possible solutions to this problem would be firing the officer, giving them jail time, or even treating them as they treated the victim for reasons that did not require brutal force, but in other cases the perp should be the one in trouble and the police officer is the one who

Why do police officers be brutal to people they want to protect? The reason is that some officers can suffer from personality disorders, previous traumatic job-related experience, inexperience or aggressiveness; inappropriate patrol styles, and personal problems. These problems can cause officers to use excessive force against civilians. There is times where officers either feel panic and do impulsive actions of when officers feel too excited after pursuits and attack suspects after they stopped. This is called High Speed Pursuit Syndrome.

In some of these harsh situations police officers tend to use brutal force which can ironically lead to the criminal to becoming the victim. Police brutality is the wanton use of excessive force, usually physical, but also common in forms of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation. There are two main common factors that cause police officers to engage in brutality towards an innocent person or a suspected criminal. An officer can either be taking advantage of their authority or be discriminant against a certain ethnicity/racial profiling. Police brutality is a very controversial topic.

Manning (1997:295) argues that it is generally accepted that police should be allowed to use force. He also explains that there is an uncertainty among people as to what constitutes excessive force. The line between what is necessary and what is extreme is very thin. Use of force is no doubt one important aspect in policing; however, force should also be used with great discretion. If officers do not use force on every suspect they encounter they may be creating a negative environment for the community.