Perceptions and Facts about Police use of Force
Police officers are mandated under the law to ensure law and order prevail in the society. The police are given powers to provide the public, and their property is protected from unlawful acts. The police relate to the public on a daily basis. Throughout their interaction, the police have on several occasions used force that is not allowed. The use of strength has made the public develop positive perceptions abut the cops. Unfortunately, the attitudes have been focusing at portraying the police in a bad light. Thus paper examines the perceptions the public have about the police and the underlying facts to this perceptions.
Police officers are only authorized to use force in specified circumstances, but this is after approval by their seniors. The approval to use force is only granted to the public, or a situation is beyond control and is presenting a security threat to the police and the general public as a whole. During the training of the police, they are explicitly instructed circumstances that can warrant them to use force. The police service in American for a long time has been one of the most respected police forces in the world due to their professionalism. In the recent past, incidences of police officers using more force that required in their line of duty have been alarming.
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Prevalence of police using unnecessary force vary from well-broadcasted incidents relating to accusations of unnecessary force to the inception of hostile police officers whose regular emphasis on zero leniency administration is commonly regarded as inspiring the use of strength. No matter the specific situations that may cause concern about the police use of force, how the public receives and examines the incident is becoming an issue of concern in many regions of the United state of America. Information regarding police use of excessive force broadly is grouped into the following categories. Facts that have been established that truly police are resorting to excessive force while in their line of duty, secondly, are police officers using force because they have a valid reason to use it and lastly know how yet to be established to determine if truly police are using excessive force.
In line with police officers ensuring the rule of laws is observed they face numerous challenges. The problems at some point pose a threat to the officers prompting them to use force to contain the situation before they are overpowered. The perception that police use force while on duty is unfounded as not supported by law. The public believe the use of force is a way of pre-empting the frustration the police have. Inside the police service, officers are mostly governed by orders to execute without being given clear guidelines. The nature in which police operations are conducted is never fair. The police are not allowed to question order they are presented. When it comes to implementation, the police are not willing to be professional at all. They resort to using force as a sign of the frustration they are exercising.
Secondly, the environment in which the police carry out their operations is never encouraging. All times, the public considers the police as unfriendly and unprofessional. The public is never willing to help the police perform their functions. The public believe the police are mandated to carry on their duties without involving the public. In case the cops for federal help without success the resort to using intimidation and harassment with the aim of getting the desired support they need. That has led to conflict making the public view the police as using force. The public too has the perception that the police are using force undue to their harsh working conditions. Police have to observe strict rules on a daily basis that makes them vent out their frustration by using force. The fact presented by the public is never true. The police have to act with utmost professionalism at all times for the public interest (Bitter, 2013). It is never allowed in the police service to use excessive force to justify their action. As a matter of fact, the public has never realized that the police have to ensure fair treatment of every member of the society. It is a fallacy for the public to believe the police use force due to the harsh operating conditions they might be going through.
There is growing perfection among people that police training equips them with a mechanism to use effect more than diplomacy in conduction their affairs. The public believe that training to use force among the police begins at the tome of their recruitment. Many people have questioned the subjection of police recruit to perform a difficult physical task to test their ability before joining the police. The public has never appreciated that the recruit is subjected to physical exercises to determining how suitable the can withstand harsh condition that can be encountered as the police carry out their functions. The public has for a long time believed the cops training does more harm to the police by making them more experienced in using force in conducting their duties (Pate, Fridell, & Hamilton, 2013).
Nevertheless, it remains the fact that the police training is aimed at making them more experienced and equipping them with mechanisms to solve whatever challenge they face without resorting to using force. Throughout the training of the police, they are taught various skills that are aimed at ensuring they remain professional and use only approved means in providing law and order are enforced. Under the police act, use of force is not listed as a means of providing law in preserved in the society. The public needs to hold an open symposium with instructors at police training camps so as they can be told why police officers have to be subjected to certain activities during their training (Alpert & Dunham, 2014). The training is designed to refine the police understanding of force and how to use it in preserving order. The police training also categorically defines situations under which the police can use force. It the training never permits the police to use force without being answerable.
The perception among the public that police officers have a mindset to use force in whatever situation they are in erroneous. It is never the intention of the police to use force in carrying out their duties. As a matter of fact, police are a human being just like the general public. It is never the intention of anyone to use force whenever going about their actions (Pate, Fridell, & Hamilton, 2013). The police are a law abiding citizen who does not know what to be involved in activities that might result in harming themselves or other people. The public need to change their perception about the police and realize that the police human like them to. They abhor acts of using force in carrying out their functions. The public has to change the mentality that police are wired to naturally use force in conducting their affairs (Bitter, 2013).
The public need to get to the fact that sometimes they are responsible for making police use force in carrying out their functions. The police do not operate in isolation; they interact with the public in the course of performing their duties. As a matter of fact, the police are trained and do exist to serve the public and ensure the safety of their property. It should be known that the public contributes a great deal to making the police use force. If the public to remain a support to police activities, the police could never be resorting to using excessive force. Various agencies have reported that when the public do not become cooperative with the police is when the public resorts to using force (Alpert & Dunham, 2014). The public should remain supportive to policing activities to ensure they are better served. The perception that the leadership of the police promotes the use of force should be done away. The police structure does recognize and value using the peaceful measure to ensure peace prevails in the society. Management of peace in the modern world is proving a challenge as more people are becoming rebellious to the law. Under precise circumstances to protect public interest do police use force. It is never their wish to use force in whatever they are doing.
In general, there seem to be more perceptions among the public as a whole to explain why police are using force in carrying out their function. The perceptions are not only misleading but aimed at destroying the good reputation the police have enjoyed in the past. There is a need for the public to be engaged more with the police with the aim of the police explaining why they have to resort to using force under certain circumstances. Clear communication between the public and the police need to be established to ensure a common understanding between the police and the public is enhanced. Clarity on why and how police carry out their functions has to be improved to improve the image of the police among the people.
References
Alpert, G. P., & Dunham, R. G. (2014). Understanding police use of force: Officers, Suspects, and Reciprocity . Cambridge University Press.
Bittner, E. (2013). The functions of the police in modern society . National Institute of Mental Health, Center for Studies of Crime and Delinquency.
Pate, A. M., Fridell, L. A., & Hamilton, E. E. (2013). Police use of force: Official reports, citizen complaints, and legal consequences, volumes I and II. Washington, DC: The Police Foundation .
