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Lethal Force: A Necessary Analysis

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The use of lethal force by police is subject to societal, strategic and tactical considerations that inform choices in the field. While many factors are the same for all force options, the tactical purpose in the use of lethal force is distinct. A key question is not whether a killing was justified but if it was avoidable. In deciding to use lethal force, expectations that police are able to make nuanced choices are questionable.
It is necessary to distinguish excessive from lethal force. The question appears to conflate the two but they are distinct. Excessive force is force that is unwarranted, unreasonable, disproportionate or avoidable to achieve a lawful objective (Pinizzotto et al., 2012). Any exercise of force, lethal or otherwise, can …show more content…

The models include psychological techniques such as communication and presence that span all force options, disengagement techniques such as withdrawal, situational containment and negotiation, as well as the use of a range of weapons, a combination of psychology, tactics and technology. All the weapons currently available to police, including hand to hand techniques, are best classified as lethal or less lethal, not non-lethal (UK Defence Scientific Advisory Council, 2008). In this view, while often popularly described as an alternative to lethal force (The Australian Newspaper, 2010), less lethal techniques are better thought of as tactical options (UK Defence Scientific Advisory Council, 2008) along a force …show more content…

Police are taught to shoot for the body’s centre mass and this brings a high likelihood that the person will be killed. A ‘shoot to disable’ doctrine is technically impracticable (Force Science Institute, 2010). So the use of firearms must always be considered as the application of lethal force. Police are also taught a continuous, rapid shooting technique rather than shoot once and observe, because a large percentage of people with life-threatening chest, abdomen and head wounds from a single round are “able to perform strenuous activity and to continue to physically fight” (Lewinski & Hudson, 2014, p. 1), including to kill or wound police officers and others (Lewinski & Hudson, 2014). This is especially the case with persons affected by excitatory substances who exhibit “great strength and resistance to pain” (Dolinak, Lew & Matshes, 2005, p. 307), combined with a propensity to extreme violence (American Council for Drug Education, 1999).
The result is that the use of lethal force has only one tactical purpose, to attempt to immediately stop the person from being a threat and, in all likelihood, kill them in the process. A firearm is the only weapon available to police that can achieve that purpose in a wide range of situations, including where it is tactically important to avoid close contact (McKetin et al.,

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Stand Your Ground laws reduce the cost of using lethal force to stop crime. As a result, a shooter [person defending themselves] “need not be correct in his perception of danger,” and can lead to them being wrong and “a victim’s life is lost needlessly” (Lawson, 300), thus leading to an increase in homicide rates under the Stand Your Ground law. With the Stand Your Ground law an unarmed man can be shot by “armed citizens who claimed a right of self defense due to perceived threatening behaviors” (Gius, 329). Looking specifically at homicides and using a larger data set, US Vital Statistics, a study by McClellan and Tekin (2012) also found that “Stand Your Ground law resulted in an increase in homicides” (Guis,

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In today’s modern society, many feel that is okay for a police officer can kill a man armed with a harmful weapon at any cost. On many news channels, there are various amounts of articles and reports about a police officer committing this act. Even though a police officer has the right to take action against an armed man, this could be argued in many circumstances. In the 2013, Sammy Yatim was a young adult with a mental illness and was armed with a weapon on a streetcar in Toronto. Yatim was confronted by Const.

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One common opinion is that officers should not use more force than is necessary or reasonable, and even then, that force should be used only as a last resort. “Police use force to affect civilians’ conduct. On a day-to-day basis, they do so most often by employing the least degree of force available to them, their mere presence. Cops wear uniforms and drive distinctly marked cars so that, without saying a word, they may have an effect on citizens’ behavior” (Fyfe, 38). When an officer’s presence fails to fulfill the desired conduct, the next course of action for said officer would be verbalization.

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Some people argue that the tactics used by the police

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Thorough studies examine that the distribution of less-lethal weapons have reduced issues such as assaults on specifically police officers, other studies examine that this is increasing the death and injuries of civilians rather than focusing primarily on the safety of officers employed for the police force. It is a growing problem in the United States with increasing health issues related to the cause of police use of force in incidents that occur regularly. It is important to consider whether these less-lethal weapons are associated with the like hood of injuries. The use of force can define a wide range of different variables of force; it is vital to assess the independent contribution of less-lethal weapons on the prevalence and incidence of injury to the suspects and officers involved. Less- lethal weapons have increased the odds of injury to suspects that may be life threatening, it is most likely essential for these officers to stick to less-lethal weapons which can be classified as OC sprays or CEDs.

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Which then makes it harder for the officer to gain control. If the officer cannot gain control of the problem, then either the officer will be injured or the suspect will get away. According to Ken Wallentine, police rarely use force; so why would you take away and reduce their ability to use force, when it 's rarely used. Most often individuals who say police use too much are often talking about officers who lack the necessary education. So under those circumstances simply provide more training instead of wanted the law enforcement to reduce the amount of force can they use.

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