Running Head: POLICE USE OF FORCE 1

Police Use of Force

Name

Institution

Professor

Course

Date
POLICE USE OF FORCE 2

The use of force in the police department is very inevitable. In many occasions the lives

of many civilians and officers have been taken away due to lack of necessary use of police force

or improperly using it. There are so many factors which come along when an officer decides to

use some force. For instance; is the use of force justified? , is the officer fully trained to use the

force? , and if the force is used improperly will the department be held liable? (Wittie, 2011).

The justified use of force is the most significant determination an officer must make

before deciding to use on a suspect. In other words the use of force is only justified when it is a

must to make an arrest, to protect an officer or a third party or to detain a suspect (Wittie, 2011).

Officers are taught when it is the right time to use force and the right options best suited for

different occasions. The training of force must be accompanied by very concise and clear

department policy and this policy must show when the use of force is allowed, the kind of tools

to be used, and the training methods to be used for an officer to be sure what is expected of him.

The officer must be fully trained on how to access a threat and also on how to encounter

the threat this is achieved by classroom setting and this training in an environment that gives

officers to become comfortable with the technique of using force. There are situations which

require the of deadly force and this involves excessive use of weapons. These weapons expose

the officer to what is like to get injured or killed and exposes the suspect to the same more so to a

situation where both parties are equipped with deadly weapons (Wittie, 2011).

Respondents were asked questions if they have ever been abused or treated badly by

police 9% of the total minorities have been mistreated and abused by police, 20% gave

information about someone who had been physically abused by police (Wittie, 2011). This

shows the shocking trend of police abuse and mistreatment and the excessive application of force
POLICE USE OF FORCE 3

during their contact with civilians. There are policies which often include common-sense limits

on the use of force by police to mention; where possible officers to de-escalate situations by

communicating with their subject also maintaining distance and eliminating the need of using

force in many cases less lethal force can be applied instead of unnecessary deaths or serious

injuries of civilians and there should be limits of the types of force or weapons that are used to

respond to given types of resistance. The officers should report any time they use force or

threaten to use force against the civilians (Wittie, 2011).

Sometimes it is not the fault of the police to force when but the civilians expose

themselves to this for instance a civilians may choose to resist an arrest and this force the police

to apply force on them in order to accomplish their mission. During demonstrations citizens can

become so disorganized and can injure other innocent civilians and these forces the police to

apply force to protect others and their property. There is also a situation whereby the suspect has

an intention of injuring or killing the officers to get away with the crime in this situation police

are forced to use force to stop the suspect. To the police officers the use of force is necessary as a

part of the job. An officer has no idea when the use of force must be applied until a situation

comes.
POLICE USE OF FORCE 4

Reference

Wittie, M. C. (2011). Police Use of Force. Politics, Bureaucracy and Justice (PBandJ), 2(2), 17-
21.