Use of Force - Research Paper Example

?Use of Force Force is a means to combat rebel activities in the It is the tool in the hands of the to counter any sort of illegal protest which may arise from the people as well as criminals and conspirators. The State deploys certain bodies which are solely responsible for managing the situation of law and order within the State, and these bodies consists of police and military forces. This paper shall analyse the duties and the power of the police in combating outrage from the people in the society and understand how they manage to protect law and order. The paper shall also look at the limit to which the police can go and areas where the police has gone beyond its boundaries in order to do its duty. Use of force is described as the power which the agents of administration in the State apple to curb down the revolt from the people, as well as marinating law and order in the society for the effective functioning of the society. “Governments and law enforcement agencies shall adopt and implement rules and regulations on the use of force and firearms against persons by law enforcement officials. In developing such rules and regulations, Governments and law enforcement agencies shall keep the ethical issues associated with the use of force and firearms constantly under review.” (Crimes Act 1914 - SECT 3ZQA, CommonWealth Consolidated Acts ) The Government uses force as a means to prevent crime in the society. In the developed and the developing nations, the State allows the police, which is the body responsible for controlling law and order, to use force as a means for the prevention of crime or for the deterrence of the same. One of the examples of such move would be when the police is deployed to manage riots which have broken in out in a number of States throughout the world. The state uses the tools to manage the situation in the society. The use of force may also be used by the executive branch when it deploys the military for the safety of the society and the maintenance of law and order. The system is managed in a way that the State uses force only when it is required in extreme circumstances. Governments and law enforcement agencies should develop a range of means as broad as possible and equip law enforcement officials with various types of weapons and ammunition that would allow for a differentiated use of force and firearms. These should include the development of non-lethal incapacitating weapons for use in appropriate situations, with a view to increasingly restraining the application of means capable of causing death or injury to persons. For the same purpose, it should also be possible for law enforcement officials to be equipped with self-defensive equipment such as shields, helmets, bullet-proof vests and bullet-proof means of transportation, in order to decrease the need to use weapons of any kind. Force can be divided into two segments: 1. Verbal Force 2. Non-Verbal Force Verbal force is the force which is applied to the people where the Administration tries to settle and solve the matter through the use of the words. It tries to pacify the crowd with the intension of not hurting anyone in the gathering. Verbal use of force can be accompanied by tear gas shells as well as other means of retaliation by the police and the armed forces to avoid any kind of violence in public. The main idea with this regard is to make sure that no one gets hurt and the people are able to salvage their life without injuring their fellow beings in a mass protest or a riot. It should be applied in those cases where the police and the Para-military force feels that the tension has not gone out of hands and there is scope for the police to be able to control the crowd with the use of the word and not weapons. However, there is a very thin line of difference with respect to the force deployed by the plice and it should avoid in every circumstances to use non-verbal force. Non-Verbal Force: Non-verbal force is used in extreme circumstances. It is the last resort which is deployed by the agencies in cases where it is not feasible for the police to attain peace without using armed weapons .The ultimate aim of using force by the police is to reach out to people and make them understand that what they are doing is out of the ambit of law and that they are going beyond their rights as the citizens of the country in the process of harming one and another. The task of the police is to minimise the damage arising out of the use of force, and that includes any kind of attack on the people who have been protesting as a result of some or the other reason in the society. The police has the right to search through the houses of the accused, however, they should not go beyond their limits as there are times when the police has used unidentified people as the masterminds of crimes when the real picture says something else. Police has often gone beyond the ambit of power assigned to it. It has used its power in a negative way more than once in various circumstances and this act by the police of different countries has been critics worldwide by the people. Misuse of Force: This section of the paper discusses circumstances where the police has misused its position and power with respect to the application of force. In 1986 the Los Angeles police obtained a warrant that authorised them to search the Larez home for a gun. The judge who issued the warrant had not included it in a “no-knock” authorization that would have allowed the police to make an unannounced forcible entry. Instead, the Larez warrant allowed the police to knock and announce their presence and presumably, prohibited them from forcing their way unless they were denied admission or waited fruitlessly at the door for a response of any kind. However, unlike what was given and mentioned in the warrant, the police force entered the house of Larez in a very brutal manner which can be classified as a forceful entry and on the basis of the entry they check the house for the gun. This was reported in the news and was condemned by a lot of individuals in the Los Angeles police state department. (Above the Law: Police and the Excessive Use of Force (1993), Skolnick, Jerome H., and James J. Fyfe) There have been many more examples where the police have misused its power with respect to search and seizure operations. However, there is a very fine line of difference between use and misuse and it needs to be understood carefully. Law enforcement officials shall not use firearms against persons except in self-defence or defence of others against the imminent threat of death or serious injury, to prevent the perpetration of a particularly serious crime involving grave threat to life, to arrest a person presenting such a danger and resisting their authority, or to prevent his or her escape, and only when less extreme means are insufficient to achieve these objectives. In any event, intentional lethal use of firearms may only be made when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life. (Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Havana, 27 August to 7 September 1990, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.144/28/Rev.1 at 112 (1990)Above the Law: Police and the Excessive Use of Force (1993), Skolnick, Jerome H., and James J. Fyfe) The above text has been taken from a code which defines the power of the police and how the policed should go about doing its duty in the best harmonious way possible. The police has certain rules and regulations which it should follow and in the course of doing the duties it should abide by the procedure given to it with respect to doing the search and seizure operations. Police Conditions: The conditions in which the police perform its duties are extremely volatile and dangerous. It is through these conditions that it enables itself to keep performing at a certain level without any lapse whatsoever in the entire process. The job of a police man is very dangerous and there have been cases where a police man has been working right before he is supposed to retire, and right before the pension period started he was killed. Such incidents have been a demotivater for the police officers but they get through it all the time. Conclusion: Force should never be used on any mob or a group of people who have committed an offence, or during search and seizure operations. It must be the last and the final resort for the police when it has understood that by no other means can the situation be resolved. The police and the military forces have to live by certain guidelines and they should adhere to such guidelines to not violate the basic human rights of the citizens and the individuals of the State. At the end of the day the State is responsible for the actions of the polie, and therefore it should regulate the functioning of the police to make sure that the entire process is peaceful and under control. References Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Havana, 27 August to 7 September 1990, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.144/28/Rev.1 at 112 (1990)Above the Law: Police and the Excessive Use of Force (1993), Skolnick, Jerome H., and James J. Fyfe: Retrieved from: http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/i2bpuff.htm McShane, Marilyn, and Frank P. Williams III, Law Enforcement Operations and Management (1997) Gardner, Thomas, and Terry M. Anderson, Criminal Law: Priciples and Cases (2009), 11th edition Crimes Act 1914 - SECT 3ZQA, Commonwealth Consolidated Acts: Retrieved from: (http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ca191482/s3zqa.html#prescribed_procedure) Read More