Use of Excessive Force by Police :: Police Law Legal Force Essays

Use of Excessive drag by Police IntroductionPolice officers atomic number 18 given a significant amount of discretion simply due to the nature of the job. Officers are faced with many threatening situations forcing them to react quickly yet appropriately. They live with the power to infringe upon any citizens rights to freedom and at that placefore they must expenditure this power effectively. One major concern with the amount of discretion officers guard is their power to decide when to apply force or when to use lethal force. Manning (1997295) argues that it is generally accepted that police should be allowed to use force. He too explains that there is an uncertainty among people as to what constitutes excessive force. The line amongst what is necessary and what is extreme is very thin. Use of force is no dubiousness one important aspect in policing however, force should also be used with great discretion. If officers do not use force on every suspect they encounte r they may be creating a ostracise environment for the community. The community policing style is defined by David M. Allender as (200418-19), ? alliance policing is a philosophy of full-service, personalized policing where the same officer patrols and works in the same area on a permanent basis, from a alter place, working in a proactive partnership with citizens to identify and work problems.?The most important factors to community policing include personalization, partnership and problem-solving (Allender, 200419). The idea is to become a relationship with citizens that is trustworthy and honest. When officers begin to use force to prevail the community, citizens began to view officers as authority figures instead of service officers that are there to protect and serve. This results in a break down of the relationship betwixt officers and the community. In community policing force should only be used if former(a) efforts are deemed ineffective.The use of force can pertai n many unalike actions a police officer participates in. Force can range from simply verbal commands to the dangerous use of lethal force. Police no disbelieve need to have discretion to use force to protect themselves as well as community. Guidelines need to be set so that officers stretch out to incorporate and maintain the concept of community policing. The purpose of this article is to asseverate readers that police discretion not only encompasses use of police profiling, responses to interior(prenominal) violence, or choices in acceptance of gratuities but discretionary decision to use force.