Exploring Excessive Force in Law Enforcement

The interaction policing now has with the public is different then more traditional styles. Community policing, a newer policing style, centers around the interaction law enforcement has with the community. However, this shift in policing has failed to determine what excessive force is. This is largely because what the public determines to be excessive may be different then what law enforcement defines. Further, studies briefly touch on what causes excessive force and how individuals can manage it.

DEFINING EXCESSIVE FORCE

In general, excessive force is when an individual uses an unreasonable amount of force to diffuse a situation or protect themselves from harm. A problem found with this brief definition is that it does not also define what is reasonable for each situation a law enforcement worker might find themselves in. The stresses of each call are not definable and how an individual will react to these are not measurable. For a set definition to be plausible, each situation an officer occurs will need a set standard of reaction techniques. Because every situation is unique, and every customer has a different personality and character; this presents a challenge. Further, the public’s view on what is excessive versus reasonable is different then a law enforcement worker. In recent studies, situations law enforcement officials have considered reasonable, the public did not. This is a problem with setting a definition to excessive force. Excessive force is different in the publics eye and law enforcement. In addition to this, what one law enforcement workers sees as reasonable may be unreasonable to another. The definition of excessive force is determined by the acting officer based on how much force he considers necessarily to control the situation. Based on the law enforcers morals values, ethics, and character this will be different for two individuals.

BEING REASONABLE

Reasonable judgement is a fair and proper model for what is right for that specific situation. However, it is difficult to determine what individual will be reasonable when put under the stress and responsibility of policing or other law enforcement jobs. For an officer to be reasonable about the choices made; the worker must determine if a threat exists and the seriousness of it. After this, the officer must determine the best was to control and remove the threat. This needs both communication and physical skills. Defining a reasonable officer goes together with determining excessive force. These two definitions primarily go together because a reasonable officer will not use an overwhelming amount of force to control a situation. A reasonable officer must be prepared to communicate, make quick decisions, and make fair choices for the scenario. One way to form reasonable responses from law enforcement officers is to enforce recurrent training as a norm. Although training cannot change a person character it can influence how they think every day; this training would also be able to provide officers with necessary communication tactics that would diffuse situations before they became violent. The reasonableness of an action is primarily associated with the necessity to do that. If a simple solution is not possible and force was necessary, then the choice is reasonable.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAINING

Education requirements in law enforcement have become increasingly regulated. A higher level of education is meant to equip law enforcement workers with a sense of responsibility. Supplying officers with training on a regular basis would have a similar effect. Training is furthering the education of law enforcement workers. Areas of ethics, moral values and communication are crucial for law enforcement workers to control situations without the use of force. This can also aid workers with skills that stop the escalation of events that would cause the overuse of force. One of the most crucial factors of policing are communication skills needed between the community and law workers. Therefore, it is necessary for the training of officers to be recurrent. Small tactics, ones that can be the difference between talking and using force, can quickly lose relevance to the officer. Training would reinforce the importance of different tactics that lead to a more reasonable and responsible choices on calls. This is an important aspect of community policing due to the enormous amount of time officers are in contact with civilians. This also keeps law enforcers up to date on how to fight offenders off, protect themselves, and control the direction of the struggle. Using force to aid in protection of self is justifiable, but there is a fine line between this force and causing trauma. This is where recurrent training steps in and allows officers to think quick and make these reasonable choices. These reasonable choices are what enable an officer to determine if their actions are reflecting that of ethics. Further, training develops situational awareness. Training will be able to offer law enforcement workers with background into situations, their outcomes, and how a reasonable outcome became. This is important when dealing with the definition of excessive force because it does not have a formal definition by law enforcement. Providing officers with unique situations and steps to get to a safe outcome is a form of educational training. Training is not only about tactics. The most important part is the moral and ethical aspect. While the training can help a law enforcement officer in the field, it will not prepare the officer for all situations. An officer needs to be prepared for surprises, both mentally and physically; therefore, training must occur each year.

ETHICS AND MORAL VALUES

The ethical values of individuals mirror where and how said person is born and believes; this is like personal moral values. While education and training can waiver these, it does not necessarily change anything. The character of a person hides beneath their personality. Because of this, it is difficult to judge how they will react to different situations under stress. Ethics and moral values may cause personal bias in certain situations; this is something that is not reasonable. Studies show that these beliefs connect to how likely a person is to use force while under stress. This is due to the persons character, character mirrors the persons personal belief system. Ethical choices are not the same for all individuals. Each person may determine if a choice is right or wrong depending on their outlook or earlier interactions with similar situations. Ethical choices of police officers are a fundamental duty, while personal ethics may be different, the choices made by officers should reflect that of a clear mind. Therefore, training is such an important aspect of policing in community settings. Training law enforcement to make the ethical choices when put into different situations will influence them to do so. An officer will make choices quicker based on their instincts, if their beliefs are guiding these instincts, it can quickly turn to a display of excessive force.

UNDERSTANDING EXCESSIVE FORCE

Although excessive force does not have a set definition it can be actions that go beyond necessary to control a situation. Any weapon, tactical hold, or even verbal assault can be excessive under certain circumstances. Deciding what is excessive is at the discretion of the officer and his unit. The influencing factor of how much force an officer used is a mixture of character, training and ethical feelings or personal beliefs. Justified force is not simple but occurs daily. It is a common misconception that all areas of force are excessive; however, a suspects’ resistance to officers will increase the likelihood of force used on them. This is a concept overlooked by the public. According to studies, police using force will more likely have recordings and have a report against them, even if it is a justified amount. This is because the public has a different attitude towards force then police officers. Officers are concerned about their wellbeing and getting home at the end of the night, but the public is focusing on their peers. This reflects an important result when deciding what is excessive to a person versus what is necessary. Shifting policing in a direction that allows for recurrent training for ethical behavior, moral values, and communication skills are important for these occurrences to lessen.

CONCLUSION

Using excessive force is not a reasonable tactic, especially in law enforcement. However, until a set standard for what should occur in both physical and psychological situations, it is difficult to determine what excessive is. Recurrent training, especially surrounding communication and ethics is a step towards lowering occurrences of excessive force. Although it is not reasonable to assume training will cut excessive force, it can lower it in the community. Further, research suggests harsher punishments should occur for law enforcement workers that refuse to train, educate, and enforce reasonable tactics. The major problem with excessive force is that when it occurs, action against it is not great enough to discourage future events. For officers to understand the importance of not using excessive force, these harsher punishments, such as the firing of individuals may occur in future years. Community style of policing suffers when the public does not return communication in a positive manner. Because of this, excessive force cannot continue.