Police and the Use of Force
● Over the past several years there have been a number of high-profile deaths of African
American citizens at the hands of police officers.
● Keep in mind:
○ The fatal use of force by police occurs relatively infrequently.
○ These represent a small sample of the cases where the police use deadly force.
○ The use of body cameras, dash camera videos and cell phone videos have made
the issue of police deadly force a very visible and public policy issue.
Background
● The police occasionally are required to use force
● The police are given authority that no one else in society possesses: the power to
lawfully control the behavior of other citizens
● This includes the potential to administer a whole range of force against other individuals
Use of Force
● Shouting, cursing, threatening force, push or grab, hit or kick, pepper spray or taser, gun,
dogs, handcuffs
Defining the terms
● Concerned not only with the concept but also the related issues of abuse of power,
excessive force and brutality
○ Abuse of force
○ Misuse of authority (extortion, bribery, kickbacks)
○ Misuse of authority (accepting gratuities, receiving discounts)
● Practically every form of police misconduct is abuse of authority
● Excessive force would be application of more force that is required or necessary
● Police brutality is excessive force that is deliberately designed to degrade or injure
Police and Citizen Interactions
● Traffic stops or traffic accidents
● Reporting a crime or requesting police assistance
Use of Force
● Relatively rare
● Targets of the force often precipitate the response
○ Arguing, cursing, insulting, threatening, disobeying, interfering
○ Resisting arrest, handcuffing, being searched
Influences on the Use of Force
● Five factors influence officer use of force
○ 1. Local, state and federal laws
○ 2. Departmental policies
○ 3. Training
○ 4. Police practices (departmental culture)
○ 5. Individual characteristics
● Laws
○ Criminal, civil and constitutional law
○ Can be subject to criminal law through use of force
○ May also face state or federal (civil rights) charges
● Policies (pg 77)
○ Covers many situations
○ Administrative regulations that are written by ranking officials
○ Distributed to the employees on a regular basis
○ Published as general orders or in an administrative policies manual
○ Widely disseminated to officers during basic academy training
● Training
○ Police academies offer training in defensive tactics, restraint techniques, use of
the baton, conducted energy devices, use of mechanical restraints
■ Use of pressure points, fighting techniques, speed cuffing,
○ Police recruits receive extensive firearms training
● Departmental Practice or Police Culture
○ In practice, it is departmental culture primarily influences officers
○ The culture of a given agency can foster deviant behavior or it can socialize new
officers into a strict rule-abiding orientation
○ Organized culture makes it difficult to enact meaningful changes
● Characteristics of Individual Officers
○ Influenced by personal values and characteristics
○ A great deal of research has focused on predicting or explaining which officers
are most likely to use excessive force
○ Documentations can determine whether an officers’ actions are aberrations or
part of an ongoing pattern
Less than Lethal Force
● There is always a possibility that a suspect could die as a result of unforeseen
circumstances
● Suspects have died in CED-related incidents
● The lower courts have declared that the use of a taser to subdue a suspect violates the
fourth amendment when there is no threat of violence
Remedies for Unauthorized Use of Force
● During training, there should be a greater focus on the service duties and responsibilities
actually carried out by police officers
● There should be an easy mechanism for citizens to file complaints against the police
officers and they need to be taken seriously and investigated fully
Conclusions
● Every year, many citizens will encounter police in a variety of circumstances
