Force Vs Deadly Force Essay

For this paper there are many current events in the united states and across the world that directly correlate with my literature I am reviewing. What I was chosen to research, or what my research question ended up being was. In what situation can a police officer use lethal or deadly force. There are many variables and situational characteristics that play into how police officers handle high risk violent encounters. for instance, some variables could be how the police officer was trained, public attitudes towards police officers, psychological makeup of the police officer, previous or current behaviors of the police officer, the police officer current mental state, also previous incidents with police officers having to use lethal or deadly force. This topic is very challenging because there is not as much

data as one would hope for, because a lot of police officers don't like to talk about their past incidents when they had to use deadly or lethal force.
This review of the literature that I am doing is important because it gives us a direct link of factors related injuries that may occur citizens and police officers during use of force events.

With the articles and past research that I have collected, studies tell us that less than 3 percent of police-citizen contacts involve the threat of physical force by the police. The percentages are higher when the level of force is below lethal force, for instance 20 percent of arrests may involve some type of special or needed force to obtain and control the suspect in able to put him in custody. In the academy, police officers are taught to use equal or greater force to subdue the suspect and do what is necessary to protect the public and also look out for officer safety. Most incidents of force are low level applications such as using the arms, hands, legs, or their bodies to gain control of the suspect. Every police officer is supposed to be trained to a certain standard, and should be able to use the correct amount of force for the situation at hand. Police officers have situational training in the academy on what level of force to use if necessary. All police officers are equipped to handle most if not all situations or levels of force that is need to

overcome resistance. The different levels of force can be measured by a police officer's utility belt. On his or her belt most if not all police officers carry batons, tasers, pepper spray, or some type of firearm. These are not his or her only tools to combat certain levels of force, most police officers have partners, some are k9 units, and most have backup only minutes away. In the academy police officers are also trained in hand to hand combat situations, most police officers receive training on how to use equal or greater force to incapacitate the suspect. With the current world being so advanced in technology, police officers are always under watch and being recorded. So recently police agencies have began to implement stricter and more harsh policies over the conditions officers can use lethal force. Despite recent events, serious situations that involve high levels of force are investigated thoroughly by upper supervisory personnel or internal affairs.