Police tactics are methods used to apprehend, target harden, or to suppress. The apprehension tactic is utilized when a person or “subject is being identified or captured. Generally identifying or capturing factors are dependent on geographical location, or temporal characteristics (Bruce, 2008). The target hardening tactic is used to the pattern of a perpetrator or the role that victim plays in a particular crime. Examples of target hardening tactics are clued surveillance cameras, alarms, etc. The last type of police tactic is suppression. Suppression tactics are predominantly used to elicit fear into the subject without the intention of capturing him or her. Examples are a guard dog, or checkpoints. For the sake of this paper, the main focus will be on apprehensive police tactics. Historically, there have been several controversial issues in which police have been known to use excessive force or abuse their law enforcement authority, which can also be classified as militarization. Militarization is the use of military equipment and tactics to apprehend subjects of interest, criminal behavior, etc. Though local law enforcement agencies have used military tactics to apprehend criminals since the beginning of its operation; recently, police have been scrutinized and more closely monitored for abusing these militant practices. Several theories and causal factors have been presented to articulate why the outcome of abuse of people from law enforcement officers occur, but there is no one correlation between two factors that have been evaluated that can provide rationale behind abusive police tactics. In this paper, a working rationale behind why and how police that are working with government agents may engage in abusive police tactics, and methods of controlling abusive tactics.
Why and How Police that are working with Government Agents May Engage in Abusive Police Tactics
Recently the militarization of police agencies has been highlighted and the response to several acts of abusive police tactics. The rationale behind the police abuse have been attributed to alleged threats of police safety, and perpetrators action towards the police. “The types of conduct covered by this law can include, among other things, excessive force, discriminatory harassment, false arrests, coercive sexual conduct, and unlawful stops, searches or arrests”(Justice, 2015). The aforementioned types of conduct have been the catalyst to many acts of abusive police tactics that have been used when officers are attempting to identify and catch suspects and criminals that are related to various crimes. In underprivileged communities that are plagued by drugs, and crime the likelihood of abusive police tactics are increased due to the heightened atmosphere and unsafe work conditions. Though, these two factors do not justify police abuse, they identified as being two of the most common reasons for police response. “Recent events such as the kidnapping/bunker standoff in Alabama, and cop-killer Dorner, provide apt examples. Police never know what to expect”(Simpson, 2013). The fear of not knowing what will transpire in stressful and dangerous situations are two reasons why officers engage in police tactics whose intentions may not be to respond in a malicious manner, but out of fear, or threat to personal safety. On the other hand, in cases like Mike Brown in Ferguson, police tactics are often deemed as unnecessary and abusive because there was no immediate threat that was present. Hence, rationale for how and why police engage in abusive police tactics lies within current events that are transpiring in society and are accompanied by a sense of fear and response of that fear of the unknown.
Methods of Controlling Abusive Tactics
Leadership, and annual training are two methods that can be used to help to control their use of abusive tactics in police organizations. Law Enforcement leaders lead by example to minimize and/or diminish the occurrence of abusive practices have a positive influence oer the actons of officers that he or she supervises. Secondly, changing models and trainings in ethical behavior and policies are significant to discouraging abusive police tactics. “The good news is that police officers who have received training in ethics, in interpersonal skills, and in cultural sensitivity report that such specialized training can play a role in controlling abuses of police authority ‘(Weisburd, Greenspan, Hamilton, Bryant, & Williams, 2001 p 35). Experience of a strong leader, and trainings compliment one another and encourage behavior that is in complacency with acceptable police tactics. Hence, leadership and training influence positive officer behavior and reduce abusive police tactics.
Conclusion
Police tactics are methods used to apprehend, target harden, or to suppress. Historically and currently police tactics have been scrutinized as being abusive and detrimental to the operation of society. Militarization in local law enforcement agencies has shown to be harmful to the quality life of society and the creation of several political and social uproars in the last decade. Recently the militarization of police agencies has been highlighted and the response to several acts of abusive police tactics. Police safety and unknown threats are two of the identified causes of abusive police tactics. Leadership, and annual training, gives officers the opportunities to help to control their use of abusive tactics in police organizations. The police chief, the supervisors, and upper level management play a critical role in setting the tone and expectations for subordinate officers. Without this structure, officer’s chances of engaging in abusive police tactics are increased. Hence, it is significant for law enforcement agencies to be structured around leadership and training opportunities to reduce if not reduce abusive police tactics from being used by officers.
References
Bruce, C. W. (2008, July 31). Police Strategies and Tactics. International Association of Crime Anaysts , 1-11.
Justice, T. U. (2015, August 5). ADDRESSING POLICE MISCONDUCT LAWS ENFORCED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. Retrieved March 1, 2016, from The United States Department of Justice: https://www.justice.gov/crt/addressing-police-misconduct-laws-enforced-department-justice
Simpson, J. (2013, April 3). Police Militarization, Abuses of Power, and the Road to Impeachment. Retrieved March 2, 2016, from Accuracy in Media: http://www.aim.org/special-report/police-militarization-abuses-of-power-and-the-road-to-impeachment/
Weisburd, D., Greenspan, R., Hamilton, H. H., Bryant, K., & Williams, H. (2001). THE ABUSE OF POLICE AUTHORITY. Washinton DC: The Police Foundation.
