Law enforcement officers are given the leeway to apply reasonable force in the execution of their duties. This is often premised on the fact that law enforcement at times involves interaction with difficult and dangerous criminals. However, it has been observed that male police officers abuse this discretion and apply what in many cases is considered unreasonable and excessive force. This has eventually led to the excessive force lawsuits. This paper attempts to provide options that may reduce the excessive force lawsuits. It has been observed across board that generally female police officers employ lesser force and use less confrontational means in discharging their responsibility. It is that approach that is recommended for their male counterparts to employ so as to reduce the number of excessive force lawsuits.
This paper postulates that a less confrontational trajectory would see to it that the number of excessive lawsuits reduces. In order to achieve these objectives, it is crucial to train the male police officers on the approaches their female counterparts employ. It is necessary to discuss with the officers the parameters of reasonability. This is because while it may appear obvious, different persons may interpret reasonable force in different ways hence making the law enforcement officers vulnerable to law suits based on application of excessive force.
However, this is not to mean that the police officers are not allowed to apply reasonable force. It is critical that in the discharge of their duties, the officers must not lose sight of the need to meet the ends of justice. In the event the criminals apply force, the officers remain within their legal obligations to apply a reasonable counteracting force.
In conclusion, this paper postulates that the application of the female police officers approach to the discharge of law enforcement duties shall lead to the reduction of law suits on the use of excessive force.
References
Scheb, J. (2010). Criminal Law and Procedure. New York: Cengage Learning.
Siegel, L. (2009). Introduction to Criminal Justice. New York: Cengage Learning.
