Police Use Of Deadly Force Essay

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Briefing Paper # 2
Use of Force

Police officers may feel the necessity of using deadly force at some point of their careers. Even though law enforcement officers are allowed to use deadly force and they are fully trained to do so, under certain circumstances the use of the aforementioned method may not be reasonable or necessary. Particularly, the use of deadly force against unarmed suspects has been the basis for controversy and debate among citizens across our nation. Deadly force occurs when an officer intentionally shoots a firearm at a suspect with the risk or purpose of causing a serious injury or death (Attorney General's Use of Force Policy, 2000). In the last years, media coverage of any event related to this topic is immediately transmitted thanks to the advancement in technology. In light of all the events related to the use of deadly force in policing, it is important to look back into history to have a better understanding and keep an objective view of this matter. In 1983, the “Tennessee v. Garner” case in the US Supreme Court determined that the police use of …show more content…

In the first place, it must be taken into consideration that when the police officer encounters a confrontation with a person, armed or unarmed, decisions have to be made immediately. As an illustration, the well-known Amadou Diallo case in New York City during 1999, in which his untypical behavior and his disobedience to police commands caused an officer to shoot and kill him. Obviously, the officer’s approach was to claim that when Diallo tried to escape and they saw him reaching into his pockets the wallet was mistaken by a pistol. However, evidence was never found to prove that the four officers in this case acted by means of racism which unquestionably cannot be the excuse to inappropriately use of lethal force under any circumstances (Sharps & Hess,

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