Criminology Theory: Why Deadly Force Can Be a Crime
The use of deadly force on the part of police officers has been highlighted in recent news reports. Given less attention are the police officers who could have used deadly force but managed the situation without doing so. Specifically reported in the work of Pinzzotto, Davis, Bohrer, and Infanti (2012) is that "a large number of officers have been in multiple situations in which they could have used deadly force, but resolved the incident without doing so and while avoiding serious injury." (p.1)
Examination of the Use of Deadly Force
Alpert and Smith (1994) report that the United States Civil Rights Commission in the 1980s reviewed police use of force and stated as follows:
"Police officers possess awesome powers. They perform their duties under hazardous conditions and with the vigilant public eye upon them. Police officers are permitted only a margin of error in judgment under conditions that impose high degrees of physical and mental stress. Their general responsibility to preserve peace and enforce the law carries with it the power to arrest and to use force-even deadly force." (U.S. Civil Rights Commission in: Alpert and Smith, 1994)
McCauley et al. (2008) reports that examples of non-deadly police force include "physical contact, holding, hitting: use of pepper spray or mace- chemical weapons; the use of a baton-impact weapon; the use of a Taser or stun gun -- electronic weapon; and the use of 'bean bag impact projectile'...
367 Although the incidence of deadly force use has likely remained steady in the first five categories, Russell and Beigel emphasize that based on the increased attention being directed at the "stake-out and drugs" category, these rates are likely much higher today. What quickly emerges from these foregoing trends, though, is just how quickly even innocuous encounters such as stops for traffic offenses with ordinary citizens can escalate to the
Deadly Force by Police Top Ten Ways to Reduce the Use of Deadly Force by Law Enforcement Officers While the media tends to portray law enforcement's use of lethal force as excessive and widespread, the empirical data shows a very different picture. According to research by the FBI, officers exercised restraint "…in deadly force in 93% of the situations where they legally could have fired their weapons" (Pinizzotto, et al., 2012).
Law Enforcement The use of deadly force by the officer raises issues of reasonableness and due process under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments, respectively, as discussed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Tennessee v. Garner (1985, 471). The use of deadly force is a seizure and thus protected by the Fourth Amendment. Its use during policing activities must therefore be balanced against the rights of the suspect, by remaining within
Discovery: In what ways would discovery alter an investigator's methods of investigating? Discovery that can be submitted into the law must be commensurate with discovery laws regarding dispositions, spontaneous admissions, and investigative questioning. When collecting data, the investigator must be careful not to leave him or herself open to charges of tainting witness testimony, and must share all potentially relevant testimony with opposing counsel. Are there any exceptions to this rule? In the
During the 1960's and 1970's, violent contact with the police, resulting in force occurred during anti-war, labor and civil rights demonstrations, during a politically tumultuous time. It is safe to conclude that excessive force was used during these clashes. Deaths and injuries were the results of political clashes at the Republican Convention in Chicago, during campus riots held at several universities, during political demonstrations held in public places and in
One of the authors in the review, in fact details a reporting system that effectively makes the use of force scene an investigated crime scene, where forensic and other evidence, physical and testimonial, is collected to develop a clear understanding of the events as they unfolded. (2005) Some would argue that this sort of method smacks of the police policing the police, and yet the OSCE Guidebook and many
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