Police Brutality Case Study

In the early 1960s numerous inner-city riots occurred within the United States. These riots were triggered by law enforcement officers, the police, murdering multiple citizens. Police use of deadly or lethal force was not publicized until the 1960s following these events. Since the 1960s, any level of force exchanged between police officers and citizens must have probable cause (Scharf & Binder, 1983). Various scholars have attempted to study the use of deadly force amongst officer-citizen interactions. Physical force used by police, specifically deadly force, has negatively impacted society’s views on the criminal justice system. Subsequently, police practitioners have made substantial improvements in their guidelines and police procedures

The use of deadly, or lethal, force is an unwarranted part of society. Deadly force is not always needed to subdue or incapacitate a specific suspect. The use of deadly force has become the foundation for largely publicized police brutality case. An example would be the case involving Eric Garner. Eric Garner was a victim of excessive force used by police. The circumstances surrounding this particular case did not merit lethal force- the use of power the police had in such a situation were not used properly. In cases where the public argued that excessive police force was not required and the death of the individual (victim) could have been avoided if the situation was approached and handled differently (Scharf & Binder,

The police officer(s) must feel their life or the life of the public is in imminent danger before firing a firearm; with the intention to subdue the suspect. When deadly force is used improperly, the family of the victim may bring a case against the officer or officers. In this situation, the family may argue bias, racism, medical conditions, improper police training or mental incompetence (National Institute of Justice, 2015).

The amount of force a law enforcement officer (the police) uses depends on the circumstances and severity of the threat- on the public or the officer. When a situation requires deadly force, the police officer is more than likely acting in self-defense and in the defense of another person or group of people. According to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the use of physical force is defined as “the amount of effort required by police to compel compliance by an unwilling subject”. Police officers use the force that is necessary to placate or incapacitate the ‘subject’ and eliminate the threat (National Institute of Justice,