John Rodriguez
Mark Poisson
Crim 230-01
3/06/2020
Police Use of Force
In the world we live in today we are faced with a new problem that has been the topic of
conversation within the United States. And that is the Police use of force. Police use of force is
described as “… the application in a law enforcement capacity of physical or psychological
coercion against citizens. (Criminal Justice, 2020). Under the law, officers have the right to use
force for enforcing laws if they are broken thus, preventing criminal activity, defending others,
and themselves. More often than not they use their power of discretion in different degrees of
force against citizens who choose to violate the law. Those degrees of force can range anywhere
from an officer’s presence to the use of a weapon. With use of discretion comes a big
responsibility to make a decision that one feels is the most appropriate during the prevention of
criminal activity. Officers are trained for similar situations, but playing it out in real life
compared to training can be a totally different ball game. Some use the right amount of force
when making an arrest while others use too much to the point that the person they are detaining
is killed due to the excess force. Thus creating a hot topic of conversation in recent years that
cops may be abusing their power and using too much force on citizens who are following
officers’ instructions.
In many situations, an officer may be using force because they are either protecting
others, themselves, are attempting to control a situation or making an arrest. With that said, an
officer is usually trained on how to asses a situation and how to carry out their decisions on
whether or not to even use force. Typically an officer will formulate a plan and carry it out based
on the situational information they obtain. Thereafter making a decision to act, developing a plan
of action, and initiating actions. However, officers’ involvement in a force situation can put them
at risk of experiencing stress that causes changes in their perception and memory. Not all plans
go according to how it was formulated. Certain situations cause a change of action depending on
the severity of what is going on, but usually, an officer will use their best judgment and use the
right amount of force to not injure or kill anyone with a proper cause. I am mainly writing this
paper because there has been a rise in the misuse of that power to use force.
Officers around the country have a lot of room to use their power to help people in need
or make arrests when they feel that a law is being broken, but in recent years there has been a
