We found a federally-sponsored ‘gun show’ that never ends: small town police are armed with M16 and M14 rifles, night-vision googles, bayonets and armored trucks; junior colleges and county sheriffs procured mine-resistant vehicles (MRVs); even local park districts and forest preserves stocked up on military-style
Aggressive police culture will not change unless officers hold their colleagues accountable. It is important to check in with one another, to recognize the humanity within us. It is okay to become jaded sometimes, but there must be an awareness of how we treat one another, our motives, and particularly an officer’s duty to protect all American citizens. In addition to officers allowing other officers too much discretion, there needs to be a change in the amount of discretion given to police departments as a whole. The political climate of today’s tension has shifted public trust in the police.
Tyler Dobbs Adrian Berry English 1301 12-6-14 Proposal To: CCPD board of directors and Chief of Police David Brown, Problem It seems in that in today’s society officers all over the world are thought of as lacking in moral judgment, and often too quick to pull the trigger that can fire the city into anarchy and pandemonium. Officers of the law are sworn to protect it’s citizens .and some calls must be made in a single instance. Those calls could determine life or death for the suspects and all people involved.
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.
Training ranges from “firearms to physical defensive training” (ARCS Federal, 2015). Initially, police officers were using the Use of Force continuums to determine which level of force would be applied from the suspect’s actions (Johnston, 2015). However, the continuums caused problems for police officers in court because the court and police officers had different viewpoints about whether the Use of Force tactic used was reasonable. This specific pitfall, one of seven, led law enforcement agencies to analyze Use of Force situations from the FLETC approach. Also, the FLETC approach made sure police officers “based their decisions upon the same criteria that will be used by the courts to
Punished Consistent, negative encounters with the police lead young people to become adversal on the legal system are the words of Victor M. Rios who studied 40 boys for three years. A combination of black and Latino youth in Oakland, California. The minority youth stopped depending on the authorities for help once they see no progress. Under-policing is a term used to define when Police deny equal protection to racial and ethnic minorities in the united states by failing to protect us. Over policing is when the police are more focused on punishment tactics rather than preventative or ethical proper procedures.
Being an officer of the law is a challenging, unique job in which most of its true challenges are largely unknown, such as police deviance and the rotten apple theory, namely noble-cause corruption. Along with this, some under-recognized challenges are “suicide by cop” and the accurate representation of the force continuum, as well as its ties to the Graham v. Connor case and the use of non-lethal force when dealing with suspects. These challenges add a lot to the true narrative of what it takes to be an officer of the law and not only make the job more dangerous but also more stressful for officers – especially when law enforcement takes the blame for things like “suicide by cop” instances. Deviance Within Law Enforcement Police Deviance
Police officers have vowed their life to protect and serve. They risk their lives every day for their communities. As the last few years have sped past us, police officers have been very aggressive with the force they use when arresting a suspect, or even people in general. According to a Texas article on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights, “police officers typically use force offensively rather than defensively and do so with at least some degree of premeditation.” (Gross,2013, page 167).
Would defunding actually work? In recent years, the concept of defunding the police has become a major point of contention in the United States. The idea - to reallocate funds from police departments and invest in other community-based services, Has sparked debates about the impact of defunding the police on communities. The alternatives to police funding, and the pros and cons of defunding the police.
The Political Era The police reform movement occurred in New York City in the 1840s which entailed efforts to improve policing. Although previous efforts to improve policing were made, none had such an effective impact as the murder of Mary Cecilia Rogers who disappeared for three days; her body was found in the Hudson River. The murder received a huge amount of publicity including demands for the police to solve the crime; however the police seemed unwilling to investigate the case until they were offered a substantial reward. There after the old policing system was transformed based on Peel’s model which entailed the development of an ethical police force. Some of the changes included hiring 800 officers, better hiring selections,
Police officers use the amount of force necessary to ease the situation, arrest an individual, or protect themselves and others from harm. A certain amount of people understand that excessive force is required in different situations. There are moments when police officers will be obligated to use excessive force to calm the situation. For example; Rahtz said, “Then you have others who understand that in some situations, force is not only necessary but is required, if serious, injury or death is avoided” (Rahtz, 2007). Force can be necessary and understood
This term paper will focus on the escalation of force used by law enforcement officers and the less lethal alternatives currently available to them. Use of Force
Police reform has become an increasingly critical issue in the United States over the last few years, particularly following several high-profile incidents of police brutality and excessive use of force against minorities. The police's use of force is a significant issue in many police departments, leading to serious injuries or death and undermining public trust in the police. Scholars and experts have called for comprehensive police reform measures to address systemic issues in law enforcement agencies and rebuild public trust in the police. One of the key issues in police reform is the excessive use of force by law enforcement officers.
For decades now, the controversy over deadly force has continued to show up in the news when police officers have acted in a manner that some citizens find just while others deem completely unfair. Many lawsuits stemming from shootings and crimes have found their way to local courts or the Supreme Court to deal with this issue. A portion of the U.S. population finds deadly force unnecessary when non-lethal weapons such as pepper spray or batons just as easily subdue the criminal. In addition, these citizens argue that officers might be liable for cases filed against them if they use excess force on people that seem suspicious but have not actually committed a crime. On the other hand, the opposing argument in favor of deadly force states that
The public has a misconception that deadly force is the same thing as excessive force. They can be similar if the police use deadly force to a point where every officer discharges their entire magazine on person when the threat has been eliminated. Officers receive hours of training on how to shoot a gun, but sometime receive little instruction on how to determine when to use the gun. Training starts in the Police Academy, and continues throughout their careers. There are officers who teach and train the departments every month.
