Fortunately, America’s law enforcement is not lagging behind in keeping up with these lawbreakers and has made the same strides in advancement so that for every dangerous criminal there is an officer who can stop him. Every day officers put their lives on the line to keep the general public safe from harm, and these law enforcement officers are permitted to use the degree of force that is considered to be rationally necessary to achieve their lawful objectives and to overcome any unlawful resistance.
Therefore, the government is responsible for providing these officers with the equipment that is reasonable and an effective means to incapacitate a resisting suspect in both close-contact and noncontact situations. At the same time an officer wants to look out for his own safety and those of the public, it is always better for everyone involved for the suspect to be taken into custody without needless death or injury to all parties involved. Throughout this research paper I will look into the non-lethal tactics employed by today’s modern law enforcement agencies, the equipment used in the field, and the pros and cons to these devices. 1)(4) During the course of a “normal” confrontation between a police officer and a suspect, the officer will approach the situation in general set of steps to try and avoid any unnecessary violence. The traditional first step is verbal persuasion (warning); the second is manual escort (hand on the shoulder or arm).
The Term Paper on Law Enforcement Officersare They Fair
... officer. Law enforcement officers often times have to use deception and other covert techniques to gain access into a suspects ... interconnected with deception of law enforcement officers do not exist in our society.Another reason why law enforcement officers use deception in ... legislature, which will also allow better control over law enforcement officers. People should pay taxes to protect their ...
If both are unsuccessful or unsuitable, the following step is “pain compliance”. Typical methods of pain compliance used include a wrist lock, arm bar or other “come-along” technique. It is only when submissive control methods are ineffective or inappropriate that the force applied intensifies to the use of non-lethal weapons.
This is the intermediate step between hand-applied force and the definitive use of firearms. Non-lethal weapons, also often called less-lethal weapons, are weapons intended to be less likely to kill a living target than are conventional weapons. These weapons are created to subdue a target without killing. However, it is not uncommon for these weapons to cause accidental or unintended casualties; these are always risks whenever force is applied. The goal of non-lethal weapons is to try to minimize that risk as much as possible but nothing is ever 100% safe.
Non-lethal weapons are used when combat is unavoidable to try and prevent the escalation of conflict where engagement with lethal force is undesirable, when attempting to minimize casualties, or where policy restricts the use of conventional force. Use of force, including non-deadly weapons, is nothing new to policing, and injury is always a high possibility when brute force is employed. Research has gone on to estimate that between fifteen and twenty percent of arrests involve use of force. A group of researchers led by Geoffrey P.
Alpert, professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of South Carolina, recently completed an NIJ-funded study of injuries to officers and civilians during use-of-force incidents. Injury rates to civilians and suspects ranged from seventeen to sixty-four percent in use-of-force events, while in those same incidents injury rates to officers ranged from ten to twenty percent. Most of the injuries sustained involved minor bruises, strains and abrasions that normally occur during a scuffle. Major injuries included dog bites, punctures, broken bones, internal injuries and gunshot wounds. 5)(1) During the mid-1800’s, police officers in New York and Boston relied on non-lethal weapons, which consisted of mostly wooden clubs. In the late 19th century, police departments began issuing firearms, usually a pistol holstered to the hip, to officers in response to be able to handle better-armed criminals. Today, there is a movement by many law enforcement agencies that are again making a move to try and make use of less-lethal weapons, but they are using devices that are decidedly more high-tech than their 19th-century ounterparts. (15)(4) After rigorously testing several nonlethal weapons, the Los Angeles Police Department purchased tasers and chemical irritants to use as weapons in the field to limit the amount of force needed in certain situations. In 1991 a study was conducted that examined the injuries to suspects and officers in a stratified random sample of 502 Los Angeles Police Department use-of-force incidents that did not involve engaging suspects with firearms in 1989.
The Essay on Weapons Control
What can we do about weapons control? In times like the present, the U.S. and the United Nations are dealing with a huge international problem known as weapons control and an example of the weapons control problem, is the constant battle with Saddam Hussein and Iraq, involving weapon inspections by the UN. The UN has the right to inspect weapon facilities and the manufacturing of weapons of any ...
The research examined eight tactics used by officers to cause a suspect to fall to the ground: everything ranging from baton use, kick, punch, flashlight, swarm (an organizational tackle of more than one officer), miscellaneous bodily force, chemical irritant spray, and tasers. During the research it was noted that sixty-six of the 502 cases there were handled with multiple types of force used to control the incident, so a total of 568 uses of non-lethal force were examined. Injuries sustained by the suspects and officers from each type of force were compared.
After examining the data collected, all cases that involved tactics where no chemical irritants or tasers were used there were moderate and major injuries for either the suspect or the officer. The chemical irritant spray ended ninety percent of the altercations, and the use of tasers ended eighty-six percent of the altercations. The study showed that lethal force is certainly not required to end a hostile situation between a suspect and an officer of the law. (1)(3) As advances are made in less-lethal technology the offerings and available weapons to police become more diverse.
The promise of more effective control over resistive suspects with fewer serious injuries comes with each new tactic or non-deadly deterrent. Pepper spray was among the first of these newer, less-lethal weapons and it achieved widespread adoption by police forces and is a staple in almost every policeman’s armory today. In more recent years, conducted energy devices (CEDs), such as the taser, have become more and more popular. More than 11,000 American law enforcement agencies employ the use of CEDs, but the use of such devices has not been without controversy.
The Essay on Multiple Weapons Japanese Forces Air
The war in the Pacific was unlike the European and Mediterranean campaigns. Throughout the European campaign the allied forces focused on strategic bombing and ground forces. Tank usage was more evident during the African and European theatres also. There were many changes in warfare that occurred during World War II. Warfare in the African and European theatre was fought mainly in the air and on ...
Organizations such as Amnesty International and the American Civil Liberties Union have questioned whether CEDs can be used safely, and whether they contribute to civilian injuries and deaths when being taken in to custody. Policymakers and law enforcement officials want to know whether CEDs and other less-lethal weaponry are safe and effective, and how police should use them. (3)(13) First we have the flashlight, this instrument is typically a lengthy, baton styled flashlight that can have many useful advantages to an officer in the field.
Some of its strengths include: It is usually readily available, especially at night; it is considered standard equipment. It does not give the outward appearance of an offensive weapon. It can be used with minimal reaction time, if held in an officer’s hand. The light can temporarily disorient or impair the sight of an opponent, and it is “effective” as an impact weapon, in that it will deliver a heavy blow should physical force be needed. However, flashlights provide a much slower response than that of batons; the recovery time is not rapid enough.
Furthermore, an officer who carries a weighted flashlight and a baton will be reluctant to drop his light and pull the baton. If the officer does discard the light, it could be used as a weapon against him. He may therefore strike the offender with the light (which is already in his hand) instead of using the baton, as he was trained. (1)(15) Officers may also have access to weapons such as black jacks or billy clubs. The advantages of these pieces of equipment are in their size as they are readily concealable weapons, of low cost and they are easily carried because they are lightweight.
One common complaint against these weapons is that because of the flexible nature of the design, they fail to generate enough shock waves to be effective. Many times for the officers to achieve the desired effect they are looking for they will end up hitting the perpetrator in the head which can lead to unnecessary injuries. (2)(1) The baton is classic weapon of choice used by police for many decades, and this device is a round stick of various lengths, and is made of hardwood, aluminum or plastic composite materials.
The Essay on Becoming A Police Officer: An Insider's Guide To A Career In Law Enforcement
Law enforcement refers to agencies and individuals responsible for public safety, enforcing a set of norms and rules in a society and maintaining public order. It also refers to activities conducted by law enforcers such as dissuasion, detection and investigation of crime as well as apprehension of law offenders(Hess, Orthmann, & Cho, 2014). The most typical and organized form of law ...
The baton is a lightweight weapon, and inexpensive to make which has led this to be a weapon that the public is accustomed to seeing police officers and security guards routinely carry on them. It provides officers with greater reach than blackjacks, billies or flashlights and it has greater utility and flexibility as an impact weapon since it is more rigid. The baton even doubles its advantages in that it can protect a policeman because it can be used in a non-offensive blocking fashion, to ward off blows or to push back an attacker.
Even still, as much good as these provide, they still have their draw backs as they are cumbersome, and therefore, are often left in the car because they can impair running and other activities. They also are not concealable, and are not well suited for plainclothes officers. Another factor to account for is the fact that it is difficult or impossible to avoid head strikes in all cases, Paralysis or death may result, even days later after the event. These facial strikes often cause lacerations and substantial blood loss.
This impairs the department’s public image, when citizens observe blood-splattered injuries on TV news programs, or at the scene of arrest. (15) Chemical agents, such as pepper spray, have been around for many years and I personally believe this to be one of the best methods out there for any use-of-force incident when trying to limit injuries. The pros to this kind of weapon include that the canisters used are inexpensive, lightweight, and easily carried and concealed which means they can be used by officers in uniform and in plainclothes. Sprays do not require extensive training and no physical contact is needed.
At the same time that I feel that chemical agents are some of the best means of subduing an individual without harm it also seems to have some serious cons in that it may not be effective on many individuals, especially the mentally disturbed, those who are intoxicated, and persons under the influence of certain drugs. Some individuals may become more combative when they experience the discomfort associated with chemical irritants. Even, wind direction can cause the officer to be inadvertently affected by the spray, and make him vulnerable to a potentially fatal attack.
The Essay on Degree Of Structuring Officer Discretion
Degree of Structuring Officer Discretion. The problem of the criminality is the key problem of the social security. The main mission of the police is to protect the society and its members from the law violation. This mission of police presupposes not only purely detective measures like crime investigation, arrest of suspects and taking them to a court, but the activity aimed to prevent the crimes ...
I feel as though the delivery system of chemical agents may need to be tweaked in order to deliver them more effectively in hostile situations a there can be a time lag between application and effect which may not stop aggressive behavior rapidly enough. Even still I like the idea of where these products are headed. (6)(11) Lastly, and easily the most controversial, we have electrical discharge weapons. Typically, such these devices project a high voltage spark (50,000 volts) at very low amperage (0. 3 joules).
This device can be hand-held and is pressed against the combatant or it can be a ranged weapon that fires small darts, connected to wires, accomplishing the same objective at a safer, non-contact distance. Tasers are especially useful for controlling non-criminal violent behavior, such as persons who are mentally impaired, or under the influence of mind-altering substances. Tasers also greatly reduce the need for officers to resort to firearms to control a person armed with a knife or blunt instrument as it is effective at distances of up to 12-15 feet.
However, tasers come with their fair share of scrutiny from both the public and the media. Tasers have been shown to be the direct cause of death in suspects under the influence of certain drugs or with preexisting medical conditions. This has led to a lot of back lash on law enforcement when an incident occurs in a specific community. (15) The Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD) is the largest law enforcement agency in the southeast with over 3,000 officers. The MDPD started using Tasers in 2003. By May 2006, about 70 percent of the officers carried Tasers.
The researchers examined 762 use-of-force incidents between January 2002 and May 2006. Most injuries were minor, and officers were substantially less likely to be injured than suspects, with 17 percent of officers injured and 56 percent of suspects injured. Use of both soft hand tactics and hard hand tactics by officers more than doubled the odds of officer injury. Hands-on tactics also increased the odds of injury to suspects, as did the use of canines. Taser use, however, was associated with a reduction in the likelihood of both officer and suspect injury. 15) The Seattle Police Department (SPD) has about 1,200 sworn officers. The agency started using Tasers in December 2000. The SPD recorded 676 use-of-force incidents between December 2005 and October 2006. Suspects suffered injuries in 64 percent of the incidents, while officers suffered injuries in 20 percent of the incidents. Officers used hands-on tactics in 76 percent of the incidents. The next most frequent type of force officers used was the Taser (36 percent), followed by pepper spray (8 percent).
The Essay on The Usual Suspect Movie Police Station
The Usual Suspect This movie, The Usual Suspect was not presented in an usual style, the plot was not completely revealed on the scene, it is a movie that led the viewers to think deeply in order to puzzle the plot together. The director of The Usual Suspect: Bryan Singer presented the movie with an extreme fragmented sequence, which helped create a high sense of mystery to the viewers. There was ...
Taser use was associated with a 48 percent decrease in the odds of suspect injury in a use-of-force incident.
The use of physical force by officers increased the odds of officer injury 258 percent. This coincides with the fact that the odds of officer injury also increased when suspects resisted by using physical force or when suspects used or threatened to use a weapon. (15) The research was conducted with a combined analysis of use-of-force data from 12 large local law enforcement agencies (which included Miami-Dade and Seattle).
The large sample, representing more than 24,000 use-of-force incidents, allowed the researchers to use statistical techniques to determine which variables were likely to affect injury rates.
The use of physical force (this includes hands, fists, feet) by officers increased the odds of injury to officers and suspects alike. However, pepper spray and CED use decreased the likelihood of suspect injury by 65 and 70 percent, respectively. To see if the introduction of CEDs was associated with changes in injury rates in individual police departments, the researchers reviewed monthly reports of use-of-force incidents and of officer and suspect injuries from these police departments both before and after the introduction of CEDs. 15) Separate date was further collected from agencies in Orlando, FL. and Austin, TX. This set of data included 4,222 incidents from 1998 to 2006 (CED use began in February 2003).
The Austin data included 6,596 incidents from 2002 to 2006 (CED use was phased in beginning in 2003 and was completed in June 2004).
Use-of-force cases increased in Orlando after CEDs were deployed, but they dropped after full deployment of CEDs in Austin. A large drop in injury rates for suspects and officers alike occurred in both cities following CED introduction.
In Orlando, the suspect injury rate dropped by more than 50 percent compared to the pre-taser injury rate. In Austin, suspect injury rates were 30 percent lower after full-scale taser deployment. In Orlando, the decline in officer injury rates was even greater than for suspects, with the average monthly rate dropping by 60 percent after Taser adoption. In Austin, officer injuries dropped by 25 percent. (15) In 22 cases, researchers interviewed both the officers and the suspects involved in an incident.
The suspects interviewed often perceived events differently (whether they were lying or not is unavailable) than the officer who arrested them. In almost all cases, suspects said officers used excessive force and that they were not resisting. A few suspects claimed that officers used tasers early and aggressively in the interaction, and further stated that the officers seemed to enjoy watching them endure the pain. Some of the suspects said officers kneed them in the back, kicked or punched them after they were in handcuffs.
Some even reported also said officers used tasers on them after they had been handcuffed. (15) A cold, hard fact that I stumbled upon was provided by Amnesty International which states that, between 2001 and 2008, 351 people in the United States died after being shocked by police tasers. This means there have been 538 documented taser-related deaths in America. However, even in light of this I firmly believe that if injury reduction is the primary goal agencies that deploy CEDs are clearly at an advantage. This weapon overall prevents or minimizes the physical struggles that are likely o injure officers and suspects alike, and as far as I am concerned keeps our law enforcement officers safe. I believe that the officer’s safety should be number one as they put their lives on the line every time that they step out the door for work, and that suspect’s safety should be secondary. Although CEDs cause pain, they reduce injuries; and, according to current medical research, death or serious harm associated with their use is rare. In that sense, both are safe and similarly effective at reducing injuries.
The researchers that is being published is supportive in that CEDs should be allowed as possible responses to defensive or higher levels of suspect resistance. This recommendation is followed by most agencies that responded to a national survey conducted by the Police Executive Research Forum. While I do advocate the use of CEDs, I also completely agree that in order for an officer to carry one he must be put through extensive training in the use and application of them. CEDs are rapidly overtaking other force alternatives.
Although the injury findings suggest that substituting CEDs for physical control tactics may decrease the chance of injury, their ease of use and popularity among officers raise concerns about overuse. CEDs can be used inappropriately just like anything else out there. One way to curb this problem is for law enforcement administrators to manage this with policies, training, monitoring and accountability systems that provide clear guidance and consequences to officers regarding when and under what circumstances CEDs should and should not be used.
I feel as though there should be a law or rules set in place for the use of tasers. It should not just be a random piece of equipment that each agency decides on what to do separately. Setting the resistance threshold appropriately to determine the level of resistance a suspect should endure should be a constant across the nation, which officers should be allowed to use CEDs, good policies and training should require that officers evaluate the age, size, sex, apparent physical capabilities and health concerns of a suspect should all come in to play and not just a “one size fits all” method.
In addition, policies and training should prohibit CED use in the presence of flammable liquids ( a man actually died from being covered in gasoline and then caught fire after being tasered just three days ago in the United Kingdom) or in circumstances where falling would pose unnecessary risks to the suspect. Policies and training should address use on suspects who are controlled or already restrained. (5)(9) In addition to the possibility of CEDs being used in too many cases where the police were too jumpy and used them too readily or aggressively, there are also concerns about CEDs being used too many times in a single case.
Deaths associated with CED use often involve multiple CED activations where more than one CED was shot into a suspect or multiple five-second cycles from a single CED. Research has shown that CED policies should require officers to assess continued resistance after each standard cycle and should limit use to no more than three standard cycles. Following CED deployment, the suspect should be carefully observed for signs of distress and should be medically evaluated at the earliest opportunity by medical professionals. 15)(12) Another point that I came across that caught my attention is a critical research question that asks whether officers can become too reliant on CEDs. During interviews (conducted in Philip Bulman’s study) with officers and trainers, the researchers noticed something to the effect of what they called a “lazy cop syndrome. ” The study shows signs that suggest some officers may turn to a CED too early in an encounter and may be too dependent on a CED rather than on their conflict resolution skills or other means of pacify the situation.
So there definitely needs to be more research done on that end of the spectrum where maybe there isn’t so much a problem with the taser but rather a lack of skill by the law enforcer or even malicious intent. (15) The use of force and weapons by law enforcement officers is one of the most visible and controversial aspects of policing. It is likely to remain so. A law enforcement agency must carefully choose the various devices and techniques it will authorize for the protection of its officers and the public. In making policy decisions in this area, an agency should consider existing court decisions and litigation trends.
No matter what policies an agency adopts, the use of force by officers should be carefully monitored on a persistent basis. An agency should not hesitate to change its policies when conditions show or indicate that it should be so. (8) Personally, I think, as stated before, that these intended non-lethal weapons are a fantastic way to deal with perpetrators as the facts show wonderful results when used appropriately and correctly. There is a drastic drop off of injuries sustained to both the officer and the suspect when these are used instead of brute force or deadly weapons.
This is clear to see in a study conducted by emergency medicine researchers at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine where they examined nearly 1,000 cases of taser use. The research team found 99. 7 per cent of them had either no injuries, or only mild injuries such as “scrapes and bruises”. In 0. 3 per cent of the cases (3 people) the injuries were serious enough to require hospital admission. Two had head injuries sustained during falls after the Taser was used and the third was hospitalized two days after arrest with a condition “of unclear relationship to the Taser”.
It is undeniable that there are still some issues to be worked out as there is still a chance of death when dealing with these instruments, but it is also undeniable that it has saved more lives than it has cost. With more studies, field use, and advancements in technology I am certain that someday soon these kinks will be ironed out and the police will have a non-lethal weapon at their disposal that is fail proof. (16) I would even go so far as to say that it should be recommended that the communities where officers use tasers be fully educated and notified of that law enforcement will be carrying these weapons.
Presently, more and more law enforcement departments are ordering tasers, and there is no sign of the taser gun going away. Local police departments, including thousands of others across the country, have and will be ordering the guns for some time. This can even prove beneficial to the police as a tactic in and of itself by allowing the residents and citizens of a particular area know that these weapons can and will be used it may deter some would be criminals from performing any such acts at all. 8) In my opinion there is also something else that people need to look at as far as pros of using tasers go is that the whole situation is more than just physical. The risks of stun guns need to be weighed against those of other traditional police tools like those mentioned earlier (ex. clubs, guns, pepper spray and handcuffs).
In few of the cases where a hostile suspect was shot with a taser and received relatively minor injuries, that taser actually might have saved a life by substituting for a gunshot.
Once traditional guns are drawn the chances of someone getting shot are high and that means that the chances of someone being killed are also high. This adds up quickly when about a quarter of the time there is a violent altercation where the use of deadly force by the officer would have been justified. Not only that but the company that makes the taser gun, Taser International Inc. , has faced dozens of wrongful-death lawsuits in which none of the suits has been successful. However, it is apparent that there is no easy answer to the pros and cons debate on tasers, because it all contingent on how they are employed.
Even a good thing can become a curse if not used wisely and with extreme caution and care. (14)(12) I think Taser International founder and chairman Tom Smith said it best,” Pepper spray goes on for hours and hours, hitting someone with a baton breaks limbs, shooting someone with a firearm causes permanent damage, even punching and kicking – the intent of those tools is to inflict pain, … with the taser, the intent is not to inflict pain; it is to end the confrontation. When it’s over, it’s over. ” References 1. ) G Meyer, Nonlethal Weapons vs.
Conventional Police Tactics: Assessing Injuries and Liabilities, Police Chief Volume:59 Issue:8 Dated:(August 1992) 2. ) Kaminski RJ, Sorensen DW. A multivariate analysis of individual, situational, and environmental factors associated with police assault injuries. Am J Police 1995 3. ) Durose MR, Schmitt EL, Langan PA. Contacts Between Police and the Public Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics; 2005. 4. ) Alpert GP, Dunham RG. Understanding Police Use of Force: Officers, Suspects, and Reciprocity Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press; 2004. 5. Alpert GP, Dunham RG. Analysis of Police Use of Force Data Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice; 2000 6. ) Amnesty International USA: Police Use of Pepper Spray—Tantamount to Torture London, England: Amnesty International; 1997. 7. ) Smith MR, Kaminski RJ, Rojek J, et al. The impact of conducted energy devices and other types of force and resistance on police and suspect injuries. Policing 2007 8. ) Government Accountability Office Taser Weapons: Use of Tasers by Selected Law Enforcement Agencies Washington, DC: Government Accountability Office; 2005. 9. Dawes DM, Ho JD, Miner JR. The effect of a cross-chest electronic control device exposure on breathing.
Ann Emerg Med 2008 10. ) Levine SD, Sloane C, Chan TC, et al. Cardiac monitoring of human subjects exposed to the Taser. J Emerg Med 2007 11. ) National Institute of Justice The Effectiveness and Safety of Pepper Spray. Research for PracticeWashington, DC: National Institute of Justice; 2003. 12. ) Jenkinson E, Neeson C, Bleetman A. The relative risk of police use-of-force options: evaluating the potential for deployment of electronic weaponry. J Clin Forensic Med 2006 13. Smith M, Kaminski R, Alpert G, Fridell L, MacDonald J, Kubu B. A Multi-Method Evaluation of Police Use of Force Outcomes Washington, DC: US Dept of Justice; 2008. 14. ) Adams K. Measuring the prevalence of police abuse of force. Geller WA, Toch H, editors. , And Justice for All: Understanding and Controlling Police Abuse of Force Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum; 1995 15. ) Philip B. Police Use of Force: The Impact of Less-Lethal Weapons and Tactics, NIJ Journal No. 267, Winter 2010 NCJ 233281 16. ) Paddock, C. (2007, October 9).
“Study Suggests Taser Use By US Police Is Safe. ” Medical News Today.
