Police Use Of Force Essay

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When we think of the use of force by police officers we usually think of officers using their weapons, wrestling someone to the ground, or even beating someone up. Then we start to ask what is the proper use of force is. Police officers undergo a lot of training so they know what they can and cannot do when making an arrest. During this training they learn when it is acceptable to use force and how much force they can use before it becomes illegal.
In most cases the police officers are legally allowed to use of force when necessary. The police officers and the public expect these officers to do what is required within the means of the law due to the nature of their duties. In order to deal with the misconducts of the society in which we live, people who work in the law enforcement agencies may gradually develop the attitude or the sense that they are above society, this is very clear in the traditional reaction-based policing models; in most cases the police hold the belief that they are supposed to be above the law and can sometimes allow themselves to break a few rules.
Often through internal sources the police are often the cause of misconduct as result of the systematic factors that originates from within the police force. These factors are as follows; the officers are pressured to conform to the aspects of the police duties which are designed to sustain a substantial resistance to the criminal subculture while protecting the members within the police force, this goes to the extent of violating the law while at the same time the criminals are viewed in a suspicious perspective and with a lot of distrust. Then there is the command and the control structures that have a very firm hierarchical structure, with law enforce...

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...the use of force so that they do not break any laws when force is required. Officers that use excessive force should be punished. Often times when force is used it usually is within the rights of the officer to use the force to bring the criminal behavior to a halt.
The Police have the right to use force in protecting themselves. They do not have the right to retrain a suspect and continue to use force. Good utilization of the interdisciplinary police units, the justice system, and the police officer trainers can work together to deter the police from using excessive force. The justice system needs to actively pursue and punish the offenders within the system. Police must also do their part to change the structure of the police force in order to bring forth the officers who abuse their power and allowing incoming officers to learn the correct use of force.

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