Ethical Issues and Strategies to Curb Police Use of Excessive Force
topic: excessive force Does it help or hinder the police
ETHICAL ISSUES/CURRENT POLICIES within excessive force
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Ethical Issues and Strategies to Curb Police Use of Excessive Force
Excessive use force defines the use of forces that exceeds the minimum amount necessary to protect oneself or other people from any potential harm. According to National Paralegal College, Police officers, are among the government officials allowed to use force in their line of duty. However, in recent years, many high-profile police shootings have spurred national debates on the excessive use of force by the police (Marshall, 2018). As has been the case on multiple occasions, police brutality has been on the rise of racial, gender and age profiling. Thus, they defy their roles of protecting the civilian in the process of enforcing law and order. This discourse seeks to expound on the ethical issues revolving around the excessive use of force by police while highlighting strategies to curb these issues.
Law enforcement officers are required by the law to adhere to the law enforcement ethics according to the provisions by the international association of chiefs of police. This governs their use of force under necessary circumstances such as self-defense or protecting another individual or group. However, many ethical dilemmas in the law enforcement department regarding upholding citizens’ rights, use of force, racial profiling, and impartiality. Herein are the issues contributing to the excessive use of force by police (Miller, 2017). Herein are the ethical issues that have contributed to the use of excessive force
Discrimination and profiling
Police profiling is one of the major components in policing in the contemporary world today. Law enforcement officers are required to use their discretion to determine the course of action; however, modern society is rife with stereotypes and ethical profiling based on assumptions inclined to a particular race. Racial discrimination has been on the rise when police profiling is concerned. Biasness within the police force is evident through the way they treat marginalized and minorities differently. They often opt for the use of excessive force, even in circumstances that would otherwise not be applied (Legewie, 2016). Adopting excessive force based on one’s skin color from the police is discriminatory and unethical.
Fear or security
In most cases, law enforcement officers may be justifiably in fear of the suspect they are handling. This fear might trigger the need to attack. The use of excessive force to apprehend, however, does not justify the need to use the force. On the contrary, adopting de-escalation techniques may diffuse the situation and make the arrest process less tedious and violence-free (Worden, 2015).
Necessary force
The recent emergence of moments highlights the use of excessive force by police officers’ attempts to hold police accountable for cases of unnecessary force. While all law enforcement officers have the right to use force to uphold the law, some extreme cases are unjustified. There are cases where they are dealing with non-compliant individuals. Thus necessary force is necessary. However, according to Stanley Milgram’s research, he claims that an individual’s perception of losing their freedom, for essence due to arrest will provoke them to react forcing the officers to use unnecessary force that could result in or death of either the victim or the police officer or both (Abanonu, 2018). The delineation between the use of excessive force and the necessary force usually puts their ethics in question. Police officers face ethical dilemmas daily as they strive to uphold the oaths they swore to abide by.
Strategies to address excessive use of force by police
To curb police use of excessive force, the law enforcement departments and the community need to collaborate to improve the training practices and policies to reduce the use of force and enhance transparency and accountability. Herein are a few strategies that, if implement, can help the curb in excessive police use of force.
Specialized training of the police and the community
To mitigate the excessive use of force, police training should be designed to minimize the use of excessive, unnecessary force. For instance, adopting guardian policing rather than warrior policing. This includes incorporating problem-solving techniques with community policing to enlighten them on the appropriate modes of force, addressing stereotypes and dealing with power imbalances (Hassell, 2016). Notably, a follow up to address new changes and developments in policing. Additionally, enlightening the public on the extents and circumstances for the necessary force to reduce public uproar.
Restrictive laws governing the use of force
Despite the provisions for police officers whereby there are legally in a position to use force, the amount of force should be reasonable. The use of force should only be limited to use on unwilling subjects, with the implementation of more policies against the use of force methods that will not harm people. Additionally, adopting a de-escalation strategy to slow down incidents providing more time to amicably resolve a conflict, making the use of force as a last resort (Abanonu, 2018).
Enhancing police accountability
Following the enactment of union contracts and police bill of rights, these policies and provisions protect the police hence limiting their accountability. According to the provisions of the police union contract, it barred investigations of certain police complaints, police investigation restrictions, support police appeal and immediate reinstatements and access to privileges during investigations. These provisions have given the police a sense of security hence increased brutality by eliminating these contracts with enhancing more accountability for their actions (Hassell, 2016). Additionally, law enforcement departments should ensure that rogue police officers face strict disciplinary panels, reduce the appeal process’s flexibility, and hold fully accountable. Moreover, allowing the investigations of officer-involved shootings and other forms of violence presided over by non-bias department to uphold sufficient integrity and independence.
Demilitarization
A lot of cases of protests theses are based on the police use of military-grade equipment apprehend unarmed civilians. The pentagon program initiated the supply of police officers with surplus military equipment, which should not own the local law enforcement agencies. Equipping them with this equipment’s they are more likely to put them to use. Which could subsequently lead to excessive use of force on civilians. To curb this, reinstating limits on the nature of gears supplied to law enforcement officers to mitigate police inflicted injuries and death (Worden, 2015).
Conclusion
As a result of the numerous deaths on civilians, many of them being unarmed, at the hands of brutal police officers, intervention strategies are imperative to protect the public. These incidences of police brutality, racial profiling and impartiality resulting in the inappropriate use of excessive force need to be stopped. It is essential that law enforcement treat all communities equally in the process of upholding law and order, exercise restraint on police power to mitigate police brutality. The provisions of law enforcement ethics should encourage officers to hold their lives to a higher standard than most by treating the citizens with utmost respect and dignity to maintain public trust in law enforcement. Additionally, the public should call out on police officers that breach the law enforcement ethics so they are held accountable for their actions. This collective responsibility will push for future free of police brutality and profiling.
References
Abanonu, R. (2018). De-Escalating Police-Citizen Encounters. S. Cal. Rev. L. & Soc. Just., 27, 239.
Has sell, K. D. (2016). 13 Reducing police misconduct. Stress in Policing: Sources, consequences and interventions, 220
Legewie, J. (2016). Racial profiling and use of force in police stop: How local events trigger periods of increased discrimination. American journal of sociology, 122(2), 379-424.
Marshall, L. (2018). An examination of police brutality in the United States: living and working in a state of fear.
Miller, S., & Blackler, J. (2017). Ethical issues in policing. Routledge
Worden, R. E. (2015). The causes of police brutality: Theory and evidence on police use of force (Vol. 2, pp. 149-204). Routledge, New York, NY, ed.
Statistics Research Department https://www.statista.com/statistics/585152/people-shot-to-death-by-us-police-by-race/ (Retrieved July 4, 2020)
