Has Police Use of Force Become too Excessive
According to the National Institute of Justice, police enforce social order through the legitimized use of force. Use of force describes the “amount of effort required by police to compel compliance by an unwilling subject (http://www.theiacp.org)”. The levels, or continuum, of force police use include basic verbal and physical restraint, less-lethal force and lethal force (http://www.nij.gov). With that being said, an officer’s goal in apprehending a suspect should be to use only the degree of force required to take command of the scene, make an arrest, or safeguard themselves and others from injury or loss of life. But at what point does this use of force become too much that an unarmed offender …show more content…
Does the officer take into consideration the racial/ethnic background of the subject, what type of community the subject resides in, or is the officer following leadership protocol? Consequently, does the officers’ age, race, gender, educational level and experience in policing effect their decision to use excessive force? In a research study by Smith and Holmes (2014) they came up with three hypotheses regarding police use of excessive force: the minority threat hypothesis-maintains that if there are large numbers of minorities living in the area, then police will use more force to control the residents; the place hypothesis-argues that spatially segregated minority populations are the primary targets of coercive controls; and the community accountability hypothesis-maintains that organizational characteristics of police departments promote the use of excessive force against minorities (Smith and Holmes, 2014). They found that both the minority threat hypothesis and the place hypothesis view police use of force as a consequence of communal disparity that is severely ingrained in the social organization of society, that these two perspectives exemplify the interest of the affluent class and the police not that of the minority community. Similarly, Chapman (2012) added that groups with greater power, status, and advantages, including Whites, males and the better educated and those with higher income, were more likely to favor police use of force than less privileged groups. However, with the community accountability hypothesis, they found that the police administrators within the police department are the ones who either forms an alliance or encourage the use of force by any means necessary between police and minority
According to the National Institute of Justice, police enforce social order through the legitimized use of force. Use of force describes the “amount of effort required by police to compel compliance by an unwilling subject (http://www.theiacp.org)”. The levels, or continuum, of force police use include basic verbal and physical restraint, less-lethal force and lethal force (http://www.nij.gov). With that being said, an officer’s goal in apprehending a suspect should be to use only the degree of force required to take command of the scene, make an arrest, or safeguard themselves and others from injury or loss of life. But at what point does this use of force become too much that an unarmed offender …show more content…
Does the officer take into consideration the racial/ethnic background of the subject, what type of community the subject resides in, or is the officer following leadership protocol? Consequently, does the officers’ age, race, gender, educational level and experience in policing effect their decision to use excessive force? In a research study by Smith and Holmes (2014) they came up with three hypotheses regarding police use of excessive force: the minority threat hypothesis-maintains that if there are large numbers of minorities living in the area, then police will use more force to control the residents; the place hypothesis-argues that spatially segregated minority populations are the primary targets of coercive controls; and the community accountability hypothesis-maintains that organizational characteristics of police departments promote the use of excessive force against minorities (Smith and Holmes, 2014). They found that both the minority threat hypothesis and the place hypothesis view police use of force as a consequence of communal disparity that is severely ingrained in the social organization of society, that these two perspectives exemplify the interest of the affluent class and the police not that of the minority community. Similarly, Chapman (2012) added that groups with greater power, status, and advantages, including Whites, males and the better educated and those with higher income, were more likely to favor police use of force than less privileged groups. However, with the community accountability hypothesis, they found that the police administrators within the police department are the ones who either forms an alliance or encourage the use of force by any means necessary between police and minority