Part 1---The Issue
The action of police officers has often raised concerns of “excessive force.” It is common to see video reports and news showing the police beating and kicking a suspect. There are no clear lines defined as to where to limit the start and use of excessive force. This is because the term ‘excessive’ will tend to have different meanings in different jurisdictions. The police departments continue to make headlines due to the allegations of excessive force, drawing public attention to the issue of law enforcement reforms.
The power and authority are central concepts of political order, and police, work as the agents of political power. They are allowed to use force as a means to control any behavior that are detrimental to society. Although the use of force is often considered neutral morally, it can lead to abuse of power at times. There are cases of brutality, like that of Rodney King in 1991 (Elliott p.231-253). However, the use of excessive force by police offices is not that common. Nonetheless, even if these cases are sporadic, they can destroy the relationship between the citizens and the police. Any use of power or force by the police distorts the perception of law. The incidents can lead to violence through rioting, costly litigation and loss of trust at the same time. Moreover, it impacts the psyche of the society, in a negative way, and how the citizens think about instances of abuse by the police.
As there are no standards for measuring excessive force, the statistical data is lacking. However, one single incident of excessive or unreasonable force can dramatically influence the psyche of the citizens. Despite the negative implications associated with force, officers carry their right to apply necessary force in self-defense, for the protection of others, overcoming resistance in case of unlawful processions, and preventing escape of an offender. Unfortunately, identifying and measuring excessive force is not as easy as defining excessive force. One can segregate police actions as excessive force, excessive use of force, illegal force, police brutality, abusive force, or unnecessary force.
We could look at two different policies if implemented could result in a more just world that was comparatively free of use of force by police. One policy could be the status quo or doing nothing. Many people tend to think that changing the status quo would only make the conditions worse. The common citizen lives under the fear that resisting the force by the police can only lead to more harm. The officer’s use of force often goes as justified, and even if it leads to an unjustifiable bodily harm. He can get away scot-free under the garb of law and with the political agents in his favor (Taub). This is because of the fact that police misconduct investigations are different from civilian crimes, and the prosecution standards being different; the likely outcomes are different.
The other policy could be to strengthen the role of police psychologists in identifying the police officers at risk of using excessive force. New screening technologies could help the psychologists to study the officer’s problem-solving abilities, and the capacity to take right decisions under stress without using excessive force. Studies show that there is not enough psychological support provide for the police officers (Scrivner). There are two essential parts of this policy here, one is to efficiently screen the offices for their tendency to use excessive force when handling prisoners or making arrests, and the next part is to provide adequate psychological support services.Part 2---The Political Cultures
Given the 8 culture “paradigm analysis” of the injustice, based on Anarchist, Tory corporatist, Oligarchy, Classical liberal, Radical liberal, Democratic socialist, Leninist socialist, Racist corporatist, it would be interesting to see how each of these cultures would deal with the injustice of excessive police force.
Anarchist believes that offering a solution to the problem is no solutions as the society tends to liberates itself and will change organically. There can be no blueprint for changing the scenario. And by imposing a solution from outside would mean oppressing the society and its inhabitants. Under such a political culture, the police force will not be too bothered about their actions and will keep on following their own set of interests.
The corporatist political culture under Tory corporatist relies on current shared values of its society members, and therefore does not feature a dictatorship through force. Tory corporatism believes in tradition to be the rightful basis of society and for it hierarchy is necessary for the functioning of the society. The police force will behave traditionally and will be self-governing. The issues of use of force buy police will be decided by the leaders of the group.
Oligarchs can operate as a coordinated and familial group that exploit all people outside the family for the benefit of the family. They do this while lying about what they are doing since it is easier to rip people off when others don’t suspect that they are being ripped off. Here, the police force will naturally behave as the ruling class and will be concerned for only its own interests, and not be too concerned about the non-rulers or a society.
Classical liberal philosophy believes in securing the freedom of the citizen by controlling the power of the government. The political culture is also known as liberalism with Universalist claims. Classical liberal political culture will encourage rationality among the police force, but there would be little regulation by the management.
Radical liberalism in non-revolutionary and will not stand for social revolution. They advocate reforms that give a percentage of the producer back to the society. However, they will not
advocate a change in the style of production and exchange. This means there would be little support for any changes suggested for the use of force by police officers under this political culture.
Democratic socialist believes in progressive social change in communities and politics. There is a deep commitment to democracy at the root of our socialism. Democratic socialists encourage the democratic nature of both the economy and society and discourage the need to make profits, advocating the decrease the influence of money in politics. This political culture can bring out the best suggestions for coming out with solutions for the issue of use of violence by the police in the society.
Leninist socialist advocates political and socialist economic theories that fight for the political independence of the working class. The goal of socialism for a Leninist socialist is communism, but a single authoritative power limits the possibilities of getting to the solution of the problem.
Fascist corporatism believes in controlling a state or organization by tradition, and the group is self-sufficing. There is a limited degree of worker control, and the social and economic goals are centrist. Thus, there is little scope for the improvement of the problems related to use of force by police under this political culture.
Part 3---The Impartial Spectator Comparison 1500 39365_9
Nothing draws the attention of the public more than the use of excessive force by police. American are still not able to forget the incidents of Abner Louima case in New York City or the Rodney King incident in Los Angeles. The violent use of force and power is still fresh in their mind. There is a need to look at the proportions of these forceful tactics and if they are commonplace. One relevant study shows that more than half of the complaints were focused on the overall demeanor of the police officers. Another quarter involved a wide variety of the illegal demeanor by officers, both on and off duty, while the rest of the complaints dealt with excessive force issues (Police Misconduct). The data reveals the presence of excessive force by police officers but do not indicate it to be as widespread as portrayed by the media.
The analyzes gathered reflect that physical force was used less than 20% of the time, and the police typically used force when the suspect resisted arrest. There were less than 2”% cases where the police used weapons and chemical agents. Whatever physical injuries occurred, they have been minor. The age, gender, and ethnicity of the officers have little to do with their forceful behavior. Police often use forceful behaviors for emotionally disturbed persons and those who are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. No matter what the highlights of the data, it is not to say that police brutality is limited or should be ignored.
The police in modern democracies enjoy the monopoly on the legitimate use of force over citizens. It is common to see the use of baton, mace, and sidearm by the police in case an encounter should turn nasty. It is, therefore, not surprising to see the issues and concerns of the police force arising in the society or making headlines. We should also accept the fact that we are already living in a society ridden with violent, both at home and outside on the roads. The drug-related street violence, child abuse, and spouse abuse are not uncommon. And, the police are commonly involved with the dealing of such cases (Police Misconduct).
The citizens view themselves to be victims of harassment on behalf of the police, and this leads to hostility and resentment. The police, on the other hand, are the ones who garner the maximum amount of criticism by certain segments of the population. They too get harassed and challenged, in spite of the majority of their encounters being without physical brutality or use of excessive force. However, the police should be concerned of the possibility of encounters resulting in physical violence occasionally, and these incidents followed by suspicion, fear, and resentment against them. And, the possibility of physical violence is always higher when they deal whit cases of bar fights, robberies, domestic disputes, bomb threats, street protests, and drug trafficking. There are higher chances of the police using deadly force (Police Misconduct).
The structural explanations of use of coercive control by police use have been based on conventional assumptions regarding community violence or racism. The use of force by police is of great debate among criminologists and what factors affect police use of force. It is seen that political or racial threat explanations have often been ignored. Several studies in the past have looked into the connection between race and policing, and many significant differences have been found in the attitudes toward police. It is essential to note here that minorities, males and citizens from lower socioeconomic status carry a more negative attitude toward the police. A handful of recent studies have found the race and demeanor to be an influential factor behind the officer’s decision to use force (Parker et a 2005 p. 53-79). For example, the police officers were more likely to use force police in neighborhoods with higher levels of concentrated disadvantage.
It is true that the incidents of use of force are quite minimal, but the occurrence of injury to civilians and officers is high in these situations. Police departments are providing their officers with less-lethal weapons to control the situation and the suspects. The research on the risk factors associated with the use of canines, impact weapons, pepper spray or any other physical force suggests that suspects carry a greater probability of getting an injury. The less-lethal weapons have been blamed of causing needless injuries to and deaths of civilians. More than 7000 law enforcement agencies in US allow their police officers to use chemical irritants like oleoresin capsicum (OC) or conducted energy devices (CEDs)(MacDonald et al. 2009p. 2268-74).
When a study was done based on electronically available records from 12 police departments where use-of-force incidents were registered, the records varied between departments regarding the types of physical force used from punches, elbow strikes, grips, takedowns, use of weapons like batons and flashlights. The data collected showed that about 39% of all use-of-force cases resulted in an injury to the suspect, and about 14% of cases resulted in an injury to a police officer. Clearly, the data shows that the use of physical force by police increased the chances of injury to suspects and officers. At the same time, the use of less-lethal weapons lowered the odds of injury to suspects.
Police officers often enter the law enforcement often carrying little or no experience. They are given vast discretionary powers, as well as power to use force when needed. Most of the officers are deeply influenced by normative subculture values and their behaviors are reinforced by peer pressure. The police often justify their actions and use of force in the good of the society. This may hold true for the offenders who harm officers. However, the lines are crossed when the police use force when not needed (Elliott p. 231-253).
The status quo policy can lead the society in meaningless directions if things are left as they are, and the society is allowed to correct itself. These incidents may rise or, the conditions may remain as they are. There may be some changes made by the government from time to time, regarding the use of force by the police. Only time will be able to tell the consequences of these changes or self-corrections by the society. They could be for the better or worse.
The other policy that advocates the stronger role of police psychologists in police and develop training models can take into account as to how the police officers are likely to behave under adverse conditions. Although the police departments have used psychologists in their services for more than two decade, they can still play a bigger role in controlling the use of excessive force by police. This remains a major challenge for the training and monitoring of police behavior. Counseling is more likely to curb those excessive force incidents. Issues like cultural sensitivity and diversity, human perception, threat assessment, making decisions under highly charged conditions need to be looked into by the psychologists. New screening technologies can be used to identify the police officers at risk of using excessive force (Scrivner). Studies show that the police officers are still not getting the adequate psychological support. There are two vital parts of this policy here; one is to screen the officers efficiently for their propensity to use excessive force when handling suspects. The other is to offer them the right psychological support when they need it.
The use of lethal force is a major concern as shootings buy police have often led to traumatic incidents. Strong emotional reactions are seen among the officers who did the shooting. On the other hand, the same level of concern was not seen in case of nonlethal excessive force. Based on psychological reports and the past studies, it is seen that police officers with personality disorders carry a higher tendency to use force. Inexperienced officers at an early stages in their police careers needing strong supervision regarding the use of force. Officers with personal problems and previous job-related experience places them at risk. Officers who develop inappropriate patrol styles and command a dominant presence too are particularly sensitive to provocation.
Based on the profiles and psychological support, the police department can monitor their officers at different phases of their careers. There is a need for remedial intervention, rather than completely blaming the police force. Steps like pre- employment screening with the help of psychologists can help make right decisions about the candidates for police officers. New screening procedures that may be better able to predict how the prospective police officers are likely to deal with people under stressful conditions and what kind of decisions will they make to solve the problems. The psychologists are still divided over the use of psychological tests to be fairly conclusive in identifying all officers at risk for excessive force. The human behavior is a complex one and can easily deter the accuracy of scientific predictions.
Part 4---of the Impartial Spectator Analysis Essay 500
There is no denying that the law gives the police officers possess significant amounts of power and authority. The use of force by them is a mean to control divergent behavior in the society. However, the right to use force and to what degrees is based on a number of myriad sources and reasons. There are different situational variables that can affect an officer’s decision to apply force at a certain moment, such as training, situational, department policies, individual variables, etc. Nevertheless, each decision to use force has a significant impact on the society as well as holds the ethical implications for the officer and his agency. A moral clarity is essential for the police officer, so that only necessary force occurs as injudicious force only leads to physical and emotional injuries (Elliott p. 231-253). Even when the application of deadly force is justified ethically, the communities stand polarized over such incidents. It damages the reputation of the police and destroys the trust of the public. Thus, it is important that every police officer understands the ethical, practical and legal implication of force.
Many departments have set up well-defined guidelines and policies to direct the actions of officers. In order to increase the professionalism, proper screening and training is recommended. An inexperienced officer will follow his superiors and senior department members, and can learn to be both lawful and ethical, or unlawful and unethical. Leadership from the top demands involvement and attention to the new officers, who should be given the right guidance as well as encouraged for working collectively so as to create better communities. Supervisors should routinely monitor officers, the cognitive and emotional changes they undergo when faced with a stressful condition. This will train the officers to think rationally regardless of the circumstances and realize the importance of improving the safety of both officer and citizens during such incidents. By educating officers on decision making, critical thinking, and ethics, the officers will understand the wider consequence of force for the officer, his department, and society.
Police departments do not seem to psychological services consistently. There should be a greater stress on involving the police psychologist in a proactive approach to helping manage human resources. Screening out potential violators, as well as counseling problem officers, can help in timely intervention.t. A more balanced approach with the right selection, regular monitoring and training, timely support and supervision can help mitigate the problem (Scrivner).
The culture paradigm analysis of the policy suggested in this paper fits best with the Democratic socialist political culture that is very distant from the anarchist. The Democratic socialists emphasize their overall commitment for a peaceful change for the society. They condemn unnecessary use of force and other political violence. Socialists also encourage the principles of legal equality and distance themselves from emotionalism and rashness in behavior. As there is democracy at the root, the political culture will encourage the atmosphere to find solutions to issues like use of excessive force by the police force.
References
Elliott, Kevin A., and Joycelyn M. Pollock. "The Ethics of Force Duty, Principle, and Morality." Ethics of Force . Print.231-253
MacDonald, John M., Robert J. Kaminski, and Michael R. Smith. "The Effect of Less-Lethal Weapons on Injuries in Police use-of-Force Events." American Journal of Public Health 99.12 (2009): 2268-74.
Parker, Karen F., John M. MacDonald, Wesley G. Jennings, and Geoffrey P. Alpert. "Racial Threat, Urban Conditions and Police Use of Force: Assessing the Direct and Indirect Linkages Across Multiple Urban Areas." Justice Research and Policy 7.1 (2005): 53-79. Print.
"Police Misconduct." Introduction To Policing: 247-85. Web.
Scrivner, EBen M. "Controlling Police Use of Excessive Force: The Role of the Police Psychologist." U.S. Department of Justice (1994). Print.
Taub, Amanda. "Why Police Officers Who Shoot Civilians Almost Never Go to Jail." Vox.com. 1 Dec. 2014. Web. <http://www.vox.com/2014/11/25/7173695/ferguson-police-officer-
