Police Excessive Use of Force - Essay Example

Police Excessive Use of Force Table of Contents Section Page Number Introduction 1 What is Police Excessive Use of Force? 1 Police Excessive Use of Force –History 2 What Police Say? 3 Legal Issues 5 Gender Issues 6 Racial Issues 7 Prevention is better than Cure 8 Conclusion 9 Bibliography 10 Introduction Excessive use of powers invested by means of law by police, and the resulting complexities become a major problem in many US States. When a conflict occurs between the society and the police, it will badly affect the enforcement of law. Police officers assert that the use of force is an essential evil in policing. They believe that police have the right authority to use force to maintain order, carry out an arrest, or to have obedience. In some occasions, even deadly force is used by the police to maintain law and order. An approximate estimate of various agencies in US tells that around 13,000 people have been killed by the police actions from 1949 to 1990. It is a fact that police are trained to use force, which may differ from mere presence or verbal commands to deadly assault. They are also trained to use firearms, pepper sprays or canines. It doesn’t mean that all the use of force is proper or legal. There are some excessive cases of police brutality and force. This paper deals in detail with various aspects of discussion on the excessive use of force by police. I will focus my discussion in US police and US legal and social issues rising as a result of the use of force by police. What is Police Excessive Use of Force? Police brutality can be defines as “the excessive use of physical force, assault, verbal attacks, and threats by police officers and other law enforcement officers” (Police brutality. 2007). Police using force includes pushing, grabbing, kicking, or hitting a citizen. Hitting may be striking with the hand or with an object held in police officers hand. Police dogs biting a person, spraying with pepper spray or chemical, and pointing a firearm to a citizen also will come under police using force. The threat to use any of these forces will also be counted as using force. Whether the force used by the officer is “excessive” or not is defined according to the account of the victims. For female victims, any of the above mentioned forces, even they are in small range, will be termed as “excessive’. On the other hand, male victims will have another scale for measuring the amount of force used by the police. This difference will occur in the case of race also. Excessive Use of Force -History Cops enforcing law can be seen throughout the history. In the earlier times police forces have created an atmosphere of fear among the members of the society, and for subjugation and control, rough treatment was a regular occurrence. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament cite many examples of Egyptian, Roman and Israeli guards, who were an equivalent of policemen, inflicting violence mercilessly on the community. Things were not different in the nineteenth century America when Police forces were introduced for the first time there. Marilynn S. Johnson, in her book, Street Justice: A History of Police Violence in New York City, speaks about “the routine bludgeoning of citizens by patrolmen armed with nightsticks or blackjacks” (Johnson 2004). With the increase of police forces and population, cases of police enforcement have increased tremendously by the end of the twentieth century. A survey conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in US in 2001, Contacts between police and Public, came out with the finding that “during 1999 approximately 422,000 persons age 16 or older were estimated to have had a contact in which police used or threatened to use force against them.” (Contact between police and public. 2001). Even though this much police brutality is taking place in the country, most of the cases do not sustain. A report issued by another Department of Justice shows that in 2006, only 2000 out of 26,556 complaints sustained in the court. It is also found that many of the cases go unreported. A Police Service Study funded by the federal government reported that only 30 percent of the police force victims dare to file the complaint against police. This happens largely because the public fear to complaint against the police, or they find the whole process of filing complaint is “unnecessarily difficult and often intimidating.” (Shielded from justice. 1998). Only in very rare occasions, authorities have taken stern actions against such cases. Such an instance was seen in the use of excessive force and ill-treatment of protestors in Miami by the cops. There, police fired rubber bullets and used batons, pepper spray, tear gas and grenades. Amnesty International has called for an inquiry into that incident. Later, Amnesty International has reported that prison guards use force and brutality to the prisoners in various ways. Many prisons in America allow the use of dogs to terrify and even assault the prisoners. What Police Say? Although the history of police enforcing law do not favor the police-side, written manuals of the department never advocates for force. Some believe that frictions can be minimized when police and the community develop healthy relations. When people perceive the police as professional and fair, it will increase their respect towards police. This gives a greater confidence for the officers that eventually will lead them to higher performance. Such groups in police believe that a good police-community relationship will reduce the number of crimes in the society. Many police officers do not tolerate inflicting force against the public. They point out two advantages of reducing force. Firstly, this can ensure the safety of both the officers and the community that they serve. Secondly, it will enhance the cooperation and mutual respect between community and the police department. Thomas C. Frazier, President of Police Executive Research Forum says: Law enforcement and community leaders agree that simply reducing the nation's crime rate cannot be the only barometer of police success. The means used to accomplish crime reduction must be as important as the results themselves. The success of crime reduction is diminished if community trust declines as well. Crime reduction strategies must be consistent with democratic principles. The two are not mutually exclusive. The end does not justify the means. As community leaders and law enforcement professionals, we will not tolerate inequity in our departments, or in the treatment of our citizens. We will not tolerate the use of excessive force or discrimination in any form. (Police use of excessive force. 2002). On the other hand, some police officers believe that the need of force is very essential while discharging the duties as the protectors of law. They think that a wild mob can be controlled only with force. Excessive force may be used to protect more lives. Sometimes police use force for self-protection also. Janet Reno, Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice says that “police officers have one of the hardest jobs there is. A police officer is charged with ensuring public safety, but she or he is also empowered to use force and, if necessary, to take a life to protect others from death or great bodily harm.” (Police use of excessive force. 2002). Even with the same community of policemen there are many variables that determine the officer’s discretion to use force. First are departmental variables, which will be different to each department. Then comes neighbourhood variables and situational variables such as race, gender, seriousness of the crime, and age. The officer’s own variables also count in this regard. They are the age, experience, gender and race of the officer. Some of these variables will be discussed in detail later in this essay. Legal Issues When we cross examine the legal system in the States, it is evident that a change happened in the way the courts looked at enforcing law has been changed since 1985. Before 1985, around 50 states in the US had followed the ‘any-felony’ policy. This law asserted that the police could use excessive force or fire arms to arrest a person who had committees any felony. Some states went to the extend of giving the police the freedom to shoot the fleeing prisoners, even if they are convicted for civil offences such as check forgery and auto theft. Other states alleviated the law by giving permission for the officers to use deadly force only to those who are involved in severe felonies such as robbery. During this time, about 12 states did not have any particular policies on the police using excessive force. The Supreme Court’s verdict in Tennessee v. Garner (471 U.S. 1) in 1985 has given a uniform policy on police use of excessive and deadly force in US. The ruling in this case was “deadly force… may not be used unless it is necessary to prevent the escape and the officer has probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat of death or serious physical injury to the officer or others.” (U.S Supreme court opinion. 2007). This case led the way to establish a base for the general conduct of police in the police-community contacts. But this will not resolve all the issues concerning the topic. Each police departments has to make their own policies based on the above ruling. They should also give adequate training for their men to handle the situations calmly based on these policies. The departments also should set a monitoring system to check the observance of their policies. Edward A. Flynn, Chief of Police, Virginia recognises that “the police must respond to citizen perceptions regarding the police use of force. Although our data tell us its actual use is quite low, we must recognize that citizen fears and perceptions of the police must be taken seriously and dealt with on their own terms, lest they undermine trust and confidence in the police.” (Police use of excessive force. 2002). Gender Issues In recent years the US police has spent so much money to give civil liability to the victims of excessive police force. An interesting study tells that women officers cost less amount than male officers in this regard. Compared to their male counterparts women officers face lesser citizen complaints and allegations of excessive force. A study conducted on Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) revealed that “$63.4 million was paid out during the ten-year period from 1990 to 1999 for judgements or settlements in civil liability lawsuits involving excessive force by a male officer on the LAPD. In contrast, only $2.8 million was paid out for excessive force by a female officer on the LAPD” (Men, women and police excessive force. 2002). It will be inappropriate to use Law sit payments to measure the excessive force used by an officer since all the cases may not end in law suits. But even when we take the excessive force allegations against women officers, we can find that male officers had eight and half times more represented themselves in such allegations. When we analyse the use of force against women, we can see that police using force against women are lesser in number than with males. This might have happened because of the less number of cases charges against women. But some brutalities against women deserve special attention. Recently, in the case of Cindy Grippi, six-months pregnant women lost her baby while she was shot with a taser, the court ordered the authorities to pay $675,000 to settle the case. Some rape cases also have been reported against police officers. The difference in the cases of excessive use of force against women is that the punishment or the civil liability will be bigger compared to other cases. Racial Issues As I mentioned earlier race also plays a vital role in the measurement and evaluation of force used by police. All the studies conducted in the US reveal a greater number of police brutality against blacks than against whites. The act of white police officers using excessive force against black males is a common everyday occurrence in America. Christopher Commission studied the racial discrimination among white police officers and observed that “white officers often used excessive force, especially with African Americans.” (Independent commission of the Los Angels police department. 2002). On the other hand, Kenneth Adams points out that “the available data on the question of whether the rate of excessive force is higher among minorities is far from determinative.” (Adams 1996). This observation comes as lack of a comprehensive systematic data concerning the subject. The lack of such a national database has helped the authorities and policy makers of the law department to negate such allegations. The main reason for the lack of a clear data is that many of the cases will go unreported for the reasons that are again racial. Recently a study conducted on white officers in Illinois and in Ohio revealed that many of them “had observed an officer harassing a citizen “most likely” because of his or her race.” (Jeffries 2002). In many cases of the police use of excessive force towards black citizens, the police department hurries to conclude that it is an isolated incident. If an incident of murder or torture of black citizen occurs, the higher authority will condemn the officers involved and thus he will rule out all the possibility of building up a negative theory against white officers on racial discrimination. Kweisi Mfume, the president of NAACP says that “the fact of the matter is, if you are a person of colour living in the United States, the police often look at you differently and with a greater level of suspicion. They always have, and until something is done to raise the level of accountability, they will continue to do so.” (A time for thoughtful action. 2000). The reaction of whites to such atrocities will be varying in degrees. Some believe that it is unethical, but they still do not admit that this is happening regularly. Some others condemn the blacks for receiving such brutalities. They think that the blacks get beating or shooting because they try to resist or disrespect the officer. Still others in the white community depict black males as born criminals. When we analyse black’s reaction to such incidents, it is found that some blacks are not shocked by the incidents since they are aware that these occurrences are common in America. A small group of blacks will be shocked by the incidents. A third group will agree with the whites in their theory about black criminality. The brutality against the blacks is not reported or punished due to various reasons. The white dominated police department, the legal system and even the media consider such occurrences as common or insignificant. In courts also they go unpunished due to the discrimination of the judges against blacks, and due to the financial inability of the victims to go for higher legal options. Prevention is better than Cure Ellen M. Scrivner, in his psychological study on the regular practitioner of excessive force finds out five different profiles. First, officers having some personality disorders like narcissism, paranoia, or abusive tendencies. Second, officers having some previous job related experiences such as shooting or use of violence. Third are the inexperienced beginners with highly impressionable and impulsive nature with low tolerance. Fourth is the kind of officers having some wrong patrolling systems, which are very sensitive to provocation and challenge. The fifth and last group contains officers having their own personal problems such as divorce, separation or loss of status. These personality traits are only one aspect of their problem and they will be increased with further experiences. A careful psychological intervention from the department level can resolve many of the problems that underlie excessive use of force due to personality problems of the officers. The first step should be taken at the time of selection itself. Those who are having personality disorders should be screened out in the preliminary stage of the selection itself. Another method suggested by various police psychologists is a frequent testing of the psychological consistency of all the officers. Some departmental experts suggest regular monitoring of the behaviour of the officers. They also advocate for giving psychological training for the officers to deal with the resisting, challenging, or provoking men. Conclusion All the studies prove alike that excessive use of force destroys many lives and create a sense of insecurity among the citizens. When the incidents give way to unnecessary violence, both the cops and the citizens are likely to be injured. When police officers depend upon brutal actions, many policemen and the public get injury or lose lives. It has some other dimensions also. When series of allegations rise against police officers, it will widen the gap between police and the public, and a sense of mistrust will grow up between the two. This is lead to non-cooperation from the part of the public. The non-cooperation of the public will definitely affect the confidence and performance of the police. The authorities should understand these dynamics of excessive force. So it is high time in this modern world for the police to resort to some other advanced strategies that reduce the excessive use of force. Works Cited Police brutality. History. 2007. 13 Nov. 2007 . Johnson, Marilynn S. In Johnson: Street Justice. A History of Police Violence in New York City. Beacon Press. 365. 2004. 13 Nov. 2007 . Contacts between Police and the Public. Findings from the 1999 National Survey. Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2001. 13 Nov. 2007 . Shielded from Justice. Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States. Human Rights Watch. 1998. Police use of excessive force. U.S. department of justice. Community relation service. 2002. 13 Nov. 2007 . U.S. Supreme court opinion. Find law. 2007. 13 Nov. 2007 . Men, women and police excessive force. A tale of two genders. National Center for Women & Policing, a division of the Feminist Majority Foundation. 2002. 13 Nov. 2007 . Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department. Report of the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department. Los Angeles: International Creative Management. 1991. Adams, Kenneth. "Measuring the Prevalence of Police Abuse of Force in Police Violence" in Understanding and Controlling Police Abuse of Force, ed. William A. Geller and Hans Toch, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 1996. Jeffries, Judson L. Journal of Mundane Behavior. Police use of excessive force against black males: aberrations or every day occurrence. 2002. 13 Nov. 2007 . A Time for Thoughtful Action. Police shootings, racial profiling, attacks on Affirmative Action and increasing economic insecurity are the problems of the day for the black masses. About. Time. P.8-9. 2000. 13 Nov. 2007 . Read More