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Use Of Force Continuum Essay

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Force is sometimes required to seize a criminal or deescalate a situation. The question is not whether force is required, but whether it is regarded appropriate vs excessive. Many police departments have regulations in place that govern the use of force. The procedures in place outline a set of steps that a police officer should take in order to deescalate a situation or detain a suspect. These policies/guidelines are referred to as the use-of-force continuum by the National Institute of Justice. The force continuum comprises several levels that law enforcement must follow in order to respond with the appropriate amount of force (National Institute of Justice, 2009). The National Institute of Justice has developed a continuum of officer presence, …show more content…

For whatever reason, police agencies around the country fail to sanction officers for misbehavior. This year, the NYPD failed to sanction 25% of its officers who were found guilty of wrongdoing by its Civilian Review Board" (Ramsey, 2015). Statistics recently disclosed by the Chicago Police Department, America's second biggest, reveal that last year "there was no discipline in more than 99 percent of the thousands of misconduct accusations against Chicago police personnel" (Williams, 2015). Jerome Finnigan, a Chicago police officer, worked 18 years without being reprimanded despite receiving more than 65 citizen complaints, including allegations of using excessive force and conducting unlawful searches on a daily basis (Williams, …show more content…

Officer training and supervision are highlighted in a report created by a working group of mayors and police chiefs from the United States Conference of Mayors under improving police department procedures. This paper includes a set of ideas for bettering community policing. According to the paper, "training should encompass more than policing methods" (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2015). The paper emphasizes the significance of police personnel knowing their position in society and emphasizing community participation. "Training must focus on reducing unjustified use of force, and officers should be given alternatives to the use of deadly firearms" (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2015). Instead of military bootcamp-style training emphasizing the use of fists and weapons, officers must be taught how to remain cool and de-escalate

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