Excessive Force In Law Enforcement Essay

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According to everyday society, people expect law enforcement officials to perform their duties in a manner that serves and protects the community in a way that uses the least amount of force. There are guidelines that are taught to law enforcement officials that are expected to be followed when responding to any situation, on a daily basis. In addition to procedures that are set forth and should be exercised to prevent any type of excessive use of force. Police force is a legal duty that, unfortunately can be easily abused or misused by a law enforcement official that cannot draw a line between using force and excessive force. It is nearly impossible to turn on the television at any given time and not hear about at least one incident of a shooting …show more content…
(Collins) "Brutality can be curbed only by holding police leaders to account," she retorts "that with the billions of dollars the federal government makes they should out forth a monitoring system that identifies police officers who have had complaints against them for using excessive force." (19) In addition, repeat offenders, policies must be set in place to properly handle and discipline these law enforcement officers to avoid recurrences. Along with anger management classes for high temperament individuals, besides extensive training for alternative options other than the use of force.For many years, law enforcement and the community were able to work together to police the neighborhoods to alleviate crime, disorder, and decay. Many people did not fear authority, even more were never afraid if their hands were in their pockets, which is often mistaken to be a concealment of a weapon. Police have been placed in tough position in were they have to act fast and make even faster decision when dealing with the public or on a domestic or traffic call. Even in a stressful situation police officials need to avoid the use of lethal force. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid overreacting to an uncertain circumstance and verifying whether the individual indeed has a weapon or poses a threat to their safety prior to taking any forceful

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