use of force

Increasingly , the use of force by Police Officers has come under scrutiny not just from within the police community and those it deals with , but from the public at large . Whether it comes in the form of the use of lethal and non-lethal weapons , car chases or methods and tools used to restrain suspects , force is a daily part of the Police Officer 's life and , in fact , is a mandated element of their job . Force , then being a required and inevitable part of the occupation , cannot be excised . But , through legislation to

increase penalties for those who flee an officer in a vehicle (AB 2066 , 1998 , shifts in public opinion and internal pressures , the situational use , intensity , and tools brought to bear in the use of force have become a very difficult terrain to navigate . The problem is not simple , and the solution is not either There are two primary realities and responsibilities in relation to the use of force : on one hand , there is the absolute necessity of force inherent in the job on the other , there is the concern that such force be wielded judiciously in as often a non-lethal manner as is possible Both of these responsibilities are indeed two sides of the same coin - that of a core responsibility to protect the public from the behaviors of individuals and groups that can harm lives or property . One of the most significant issues officers currently face is how to determine the level of force to use when in pursuit of a suspect in a vehicle . This issue is one that leaves many police departments with exceptionally difficult choices to make : at what point does a car-chase cause more danger or damage than the catching of the suspect will prevent or remedy ? It is this question , and its ramifications , that will be addressed in this exploration of force used by Police Officers

We are all aware of the necessity of force applied by Police Officers in the course of doing their job . Basing that awareness off of Hollywood , all Officers are in multiple car chases and shootouts on a daily basis . But , reality is that most officers in North American police departments spend their entire careers having never fired their guns in the pursuit of a criminal or have had to engage in a high-speed vehicular pursuit of a criminal the likes of which appear in movies and television shows (Alpert , Kenney Dunham , 1997 . However , when force is necessary , it can result not only in harm done to the suspect (s ) and or officer (s ) but also bystanders and uninvolved property . Because of the increasing number of instances in which a high-speed vehicular pursuit has resulted in significant damage , injury , or even death either caused by the fleeing suspects or by the pursuing officers , what was once a decision left exclusively to the officer in the situation , is increasingly becoming regulated

A quarter century ago , the trend in police departments across the country was to generally defer...