Abstract
According to the federal standard, deadly force is applicable when there is assault related to death. However, there are incidences in which the federal standards are violated. The paper has three occurrences associated with the federal standard including Deadly Force by April Witt , FLETC-Use of Force (1993), and New Mexico State Police Traffic Stop and Ensuing Chase. The paper analyses the police actions in the incidences, which are appropriate, as well as those that were morally and ethically wrong. Moreover, an opinion on how the issues could have been handled as well as the suggestions on policy changes regarding Federal Standard. Furthermore, the compliance and non-compliance of the incidences to the federal standard are analyzed. It is found out that, all occurrences have morally and ethically wrong actions and appropriate actions by the police. Besides, the FLETC-Use of Force (1993), highly complies with federal standard compared to the incidences. On the contrary, Deadly Force by April Witt has a lot of brutality and inhuman actions. It is my recommendation that the deadly force is eliminated from the federal standard to avoid injustices against humanity.
Keywords: Federal standard, Deadly force, Compliance
Police Actions Which Were Morally or Ethically Wrong
In both videos and the deadly force document, there are actions by the police which were morally and ethically wrong. All actions which may have reasonable harm or are inhuman are both unethical and immoral. The standards for the federal police provide the police with ways to handle situations with reasonable physical and verbal means. In the video, FLETC-Use of Force (1993), some demonstrators alight at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centre with placards showing their grievances. However, to some extent, the situation is not contained until they call some more police officers. There is one man among those demonstrating who wanted to gain entrance into the station; instead, he is arrested for no reason. Moreover, another man who becomes furious is pushed away by an officer. A brother to one of those arrested also arrives furious, and a police officer takes out his gun attempting to shoot him. The acts are unethical and wrong as the rights of the demonstrators to express themselves are not respected.
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In the video, New Mexico State Police Traffic Stop and Ensuing Chase, the police break the windows of a vehicle after becoming furious for disturbance by the lady and a young boy. Moreover, they threaten by pointing a gun at them. Besides, they attempt shouting at the vehicle as the lady drives off. When they catch the victims for the second time, they tell them to lie on the floor with their heads down. Furthermore, they violently take up the boy who had assaulted a police officer. The actions demonstrated by the police were wrong and unethical. It is because they subjected the victims to harassment, and the shooting also endangered their lives.
In the document, Deadly Force by April Witt , police officers demonstrated inhuman, unethical, and wrong actions towards the suspects and dogs. First, they shot the dogs belonging to the mayor to death, which was not necessary. Furthermore, they invaded the homestead where Trinity and the boys were with violence. Gunshots were heard everywhere with a severe search. They did not introduce themselves as the police, but they ordered everyone to lie on the ground and pointed guns on their heads. Cheye was bound half-naked after he had surrendered to the police (Witt, 2009). Payton was lying in a pool of blood, which indicated that the police had shot him.
Moreover, the mayor's door was broken violently, and his dogs shot dead with no apparent reason. Besides, Chase was shot dead as there was a pool of blood inside the house. The SWAT team was also responsible for the confiscation of marijuana without a search warrant. They caused fear for Trinity and the boys since they suspected that it was a home invasion. Later, they noticed that they were police from the County Sheriff’s Office and the Prince George’s County Police. They were the SWAT under drug search operation. The acts by the SWAT were wrong and unethical. They caused trauma among the members who survived since they watched their friends die. Nevertheless, police work is dangerous, and most police officers oppose that they require more freedom to employ deadly force because of the rise in heavily armed drug gangs (American Civil Liberties Union, 2019). Therefore, they feared for their lives for them to react in this manner.
Besides, the loud gunshots caused fear among those who were not used to such incidences. The inhuman acts of killing were inappropriate because the judicial system is responsible for giving suspects a chance to be tried in order to be found guilty. Therefore, it was unethical to bind Cheye half-naked for dignity purposes. The shooting of the dogs was also wrong as the police had nothing to do with the case under investigation. Deadly force is only justified where the police or other people’s lives are perceived to be in danger (Ronkowski, 2015). It is not on the basis that the victim posed a threat. In the Deadly force, the shooting was not justified because the lives of the police were not in danger. Moreover, the victims were caught unawares and did not resist. The actions by SWAT were not reasonable and should be held accountable for attacking unarmed individuals with guns.
Appropriate Police Actions
In both videos and the deadly force document, there are actions by the police which were suitable. In all materials, there are incidences which appeared to be human, and the rights of the offenders are respected. The acts demonstrated by the police are appropriate as they did not infringe the offenders’. In the video, FLETC-Use of Force (1993), the first female police officer who approached the demonstrators wanted to inquire from them regarding their grievances. When she was unable, she called another officer to help intervene in the situation. Moreover, a police officer ordered one of the demonstrators who had armed himself with a knife to put it down, hold his hands on the head and turn, and was later arrested (Mccall, 2017). Besides, the other protesters were peacefully arrested. As such, these actions were appropriate because they did not cause any harm to those demonstrating.
In the video, New Mexico State Police Traffic Stop and Ensuing Chase, the police traffic stopped the car of a lady for violating traffic rules for speeding violation ( The Santa Fe New Mexican, 2013). The officer explains to the lady her mistake and gives her options for the course of actions. He explains to her that she should be charged a fine or appears before the court. However, the lady drives from the officer who later chases her until she stops. The second case is when reinforcement pursues the car; they order the victims to get out of the vehicle and arrested them without harm. The above actions by the police were appropriate as they were related to law enforcement. Also, in the document, Deadly Force, the police listened to Cheye who surrendered from upstairs, and they ordered him to go downstairs. They arrested him but he was not harmed. Moreover, they confiscated a box of marijuana from the mayor's house. Additionally, they did not harm Trinity, her husband, and her mother. The actions of the police were appropriate because they spared those who surrendered and were believed to be innocent. Besides, there was justification for confiscating marijuana as it is an illegal business.
How I Could Handle the Concerns of the Victims or Property Owners as a Senior Police Leader in My Jurisdiction
For the demonstrators, I could have called out their leaders, and have a dialogue with him/her in the office concerning their grievances. After arriving at a consensus, I would let the leader share the resolution with other members. In the case of the traffic police, I could have escorted the vehicle to the police station in the first incidence to be taken to court. In the deadly force by SWAT, I could have issued a search warrant without causing harm to individuals. Later, I would arraign the suspects in court for judgment.
Why the Incidences Were in Compliance With the Federal Standard
The federal standard has several stages and possible responses by police officers. In the lowest level, there are the complainants who are cooperative. In this case, communication skills are applicable. Secondly, there is passive resistance, which requires active verbal commands and contact controls (Mccall, 2017) . It is followed by active resistance, which involves compliance techniques. At the higher level, there is assault with bodily harm in which defense techniques are applied. Lastly, assault with death committed requires deadly force. Terrill (2014) indicates that e ncounters that instigate with force ensue in a higher occurrence of suspect resistance and an augmented use of extra force. Thus, the approach to “take charge” to maintain control in police-suspect encounters is questioned.
In the video, FLETC-Use of Force (1993), the incidences are compliant with the federal standard. When the protesters arrive, the officer engages in dialogue with them. It continues to be passive resistance until one protester becomes violent and turns the demonstration into active resistance. The protester is forced to comply by being handcuffed. A protester who takes out a knife to threaten the police is forced to take out his gun as a defense mechanism. He is then forced to surrender and is arrested. The scenario does not reach the peak for an assault involving death to call for deadly force. In the video, New Mexico State Police Traffic Stop and Ensuing Chase, the office listened to the lady who was cooperative at first and engaged in dialogue. When the boy assaulted the police, they applied a defense mechanism by pointing guns at them. There was no death involved in this case too.
Why the Incidences Were Not in Compliance With the Federal Standard
In the video, New Mexico State Police Traffic Stop and Ensuing Chase, some of the incidences are not compliant with the federal standard. The police resorted to shooting the victims while escaping, despite there being no harm to any police officer. Moreover, they damaged the vehicle of the victims who had not assaulted them physically. They had only actively resisted and were supposed to be forced to comply by handcuffing them.
Police Changes I Would Suggest Regarding the Federal Standard
I would propose some changes to the federal standard to ensure the protection of the victims to prevent the loss of lives. First, I will merge active resistance and assault with bodily harm to have a similar response to compliance techniques. Moreover, I would suggest that the deadly force for an assault involving death be eliminated and replaced with defense techniques. In this case, the judicial system will be more empowered to convict criminals instead of being killed. Hence, massive injustices and crime against humanity will be minimized. Additionally, as the American Civil Liberties Union (2019) holds, it is important to ensure the enforcement of the deadly force policy via community monitoring. As such, for accountability, the police department together with the local civilian review organization ought to publish summary data on the shooting instances (American Civil Liberties Union, 2019).
Conclusion
The police in the incidences have demonstrated appropriate actions which can be justified. On the contrary, there are police actions which were morally and ethically wrong. The violation of rights and inhumane acts are highly unethical. If I were a senior officer, I would apply minimum force to avoid injuring individuals or cause death. The FLETC-Use of Force is highly compliant to the federal standard compared to the other incidences. Nonetheless, the Deadly Force video involves massive brutality and inhumane actions. I have recommended that the deadly force be eliminated from the federal standard to avoid crime against humanity. The judicial system should charge and convict criminals.
References
American Civil Liberties Union. (2019). Fighting Police Abuse: A Community Action Manual. Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/other/fighting-police-abuse-community-action-manual
Mccall, G. (2017). Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Use of Force: FLETC - Use of Force (1993). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejE0s3f7w0Y
Ronkowski, E. (2015). Uses and Misuses of Deadly Force. Depaul Law Review , 28 (3). Retrieved from https://via.library.depaul.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=2479&context=law-review
Terrill, W. (2014). Police Use Of Force And Suspect Resistance: The Micro Process Of The Police-Suspect Encounter. Police Quarterly , 6 (1), 51-83. doi: 10.1177/1098611102250584
The Santa Fe New Mexican. (2013). New Mexico State Police Traffic Stop And Ensuing Chase. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYTqPJvW18s
Witt, A. (2009). Deadly Force. America's War on Drugs: It is Business as Usual. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/23/AR2009012302935_pf.html?noredirect=on
