Excessive Use Of Force Essay

There are many different ethical situations that a person can face in the criminal justice field. Being able to have strong ethical values is extremely important. A person must know which decision to make when put into that situation. This paper will research a major that occurs a lot in the criminal justice field. The topic that will be discussed is the excessive use of force. Excessive use of force happens too much and it should never be tolerated.

Explanation

There has been several cases where excessive use of force has been used. The use of force sometimes has to be used in order to take down a suspect. If a suspect is about to harm the law enforcement officer or another person, the officer can use force to prevent that from happening.

Law enforcement officers should use only the amount of force necessary to diminish an event, make an arrest, or protect themselves or others from harm. The occurrence of police use-of-force actions that may be defined as necessary or too much is tough to guess. The level of force that an officer may use depends on the situation at that time. The guidelines for the use of force are based on different things. The officer’s level of training or experience is one thing that the guidelines include. The goal of the officer is to recover control as soon as possible while protecting the community. The use of force is always the last option and should only be used when it is necessary.
Law enforcement officers are supposed to use a continuum of force meaning that they should only use the amount of force that is reasonable in the situation and that is essential to stop a suspect from escaping or to stop people from being hurt or murdered.

If a law enforcement officer uses excessive force that is not necessary to get custody of a suspect or to prevent injuries or murders then that officer may be found guilty of using excessive force. There are three different examples that can explain when excessive use of force comes in to play. The first example is when physical force is used against a person who is already in the police custody and is not resisting at all. The second example is when a law enforcement officer is using a weapon against a person who does not have a weapon or a person whom a police officer should reasonably assume does not have a weapon. The third example is when law enforcement use force to intimidate a suspicious person or a witness into giving a statement. The excessive use of force by law enforcement can include unjustified shootings, severe beatings, fatal chokings, and rough treatment. Excessive use of force continues because of overwhelming barriers to accountability make it possible for officers to not get the punishment that they deserve and often they tend to repeat their

offenses.
Police throughout the United States are legally allowed to use the force necessary to control whatever situation in which they are faced with. The idea is that the police should use the lowest level of force possible to gain and maintain control of that situation at that time. All law enforcement officers are trained to follow a basic use of force range. The range starts with verbal commands, then moves to physical restraint, increases to less-than-lethal force, and ends with the use of deadly force. The training commands that a law enforcement officer should start at the level of force that is just above the situation that he is trying to control.
Discrimination
Anyone can become the victim of excessive use of force from the police. However, the Department of Justice statistics show that excessive use of force is a higher problem for minority people and that police officers need to have more training in this area. There have been several different cases that have involved excessive use of force on minority person. The biggest case that sparked the most controversy was the Rodney King case. In the Rodney King case, several law enforcement officers were caught hitting and kicking him. This case caused events that changed how law enforcement and government officers handle complaints of excessive force and police brutality. This case caused many days of riots. The use of force also tends to be more common in high crime areas, and younger males are more likely to be on the receiving end of police force. The use of force can get out of hand and it can become excessive use of force. The use of force is usually used against males (83%), between their late 20s or early 30’s. Justice Department statistics show that fewer than 8 percent of complaints of excessive force are upheld against police by their departments. In 2002, there were 26,000 complaints documented, but only 2,000 of those were agreed upon to be excessive use of force. The Rodney King case supports the argument presented by many researchers, stating that minorities are often targeted more by the police. Race, according to the Criminal Justice Institute report, continues to be an overwhelming factor defining the nature of the relationship between law enforcement and minorities. This relationship is often characterized by an endless pattern of verbal abuse and harassment, which often escalates to physical abuse.