There are several incidents of the police using force in the course of law enforcement in the US. Use of force by law enforcers refers to the police going to a harmful extent that leads to injuries or even death of the victim when dealing with citizens. The use of force by officers in the US is a way of controlling negative behaviors in the society. However, when police excessively apply force, it is considered as an abuse of power. Therefore, legal and morals issues arise with the use of force by law enforcing agents in the US. Thus, using the 2016 case of the use of force on White, a blind man by a police officer in Denver, this paper sheds light on the moral and legal issues on the use of force.
In the case study, White, a blind man was handled with force by Chafin, a police officer at the Greyhound bus terminus. Officer Chafin refused to let White touch his police badge to verify he was a policeman as required for blind citizens. Instead, Chafin twisted White's hands behind him and hit White's head against a ticket counter. White bled from the head and was handcuffed and put in jail for eight hours although no charges were placed against him. A civil case was later filed in the US district court, and after trial, the jury came up with a verdict that granted White $100,000 in compensatory damages and $300,000 in punitive damages (Nicholson, 2015). The police department however declared that they did not identify any violations of the use of force policy on Chafin’s side.
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The use of force policy within the police agency is legal in situations such as self-defense or in protecting another individual from harm. The use of force is a variance determined by each case. However, force is only acceptable to the extent it mitigates the incident. Excessive force can be sued in a court of law. Excessive force may be in the form of physical attack, verbal exchange or lethal force (National Institute of Justice, 2016). The use of force raises concerns in the interest of eliminating injuries that can be avoided, civil cases and promoting justice in policing. The use of force leads to various legal issues such as civil cases when the victims sue the officers who use force and demonstrations by citizens in an attempt to seek justice for those who die due to the use of force. Morality issues, On the other hand, arise in the use of force when the extent of use exceeds the requirement of the incident based on what is considered reasonable by ordinary people (Elliot & Pollock, n.d) For instance; morality becomes an issue when Chafin, a police officer mishandle white an elderly blind man. Therefore, legal issues in the use of force are determined by the use of force policy by the agency while morality issues are determined by societal and individuals’ perceptions of what is excessive force.
In conclusion, currently, the use of force is acceptable by law to keep citizens and police safe. All the same, the use of force by police is of great liability to the police as it can be exaggerated and blown out of proportion by the public or the police leading to lawsuits and injuries to the extent of death. Therefore, the use of force policy requires that force is applied when necessary and to the extent to which it counters the risk to safety and not in excess. The use of force as to be within the provisions of the use of force policy. The policy dictates that the use of force must be based on reasonability and method of training accorded to the police. It should be within acceptable parameters and for the legitimate reason of possible danger or actual proof of violence.
References
Elliot, K. A & Pollock, J. M. (n.d). Chapter 11: The ethics of force: Duty Principle and morality. Sage Publications . Retrieved on 17 March 2018 from https://us.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/54407_Chapter_11.pdf.
Nicholson, K. (2015). Blind man wins excessive force case against Denver police officer. The Denver Post . Retrieved on 17 March 2018 from https://www.denverpost.com/2015/10/30/blind-man-wins-excessive-force-case-against-denver-police-officer/.
National Institute of Justice. (2016). Police use of force . Retrieved on 17 March 2018 from https://www.nij.gov/topics/law-enforcement/officer-safety/use-of-force/Pages/welcome.aspx.
