The Theoretical Motivations for Use of Excessive Force by Police Officers

The Theoretical Motivations for Use of Excessive Force by Police Officers
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Institution
Date
Abstract
The police use force to maintain law and order, but this may be disproportionate when they encounter threats and dangerous situations. In most cases, neighborhoods with high social disorganization have high poverty rates and criminal activities. When police carry out their duties in such areas, they are more likely to use excessive force. However, profiling the people also creates mistrust with the people who dislike the use of coercive force. The perceptions that the police face imminent danger depend on their experiences, the situation and their perceptions. Hence, there is differential treatment when they encounter minorities in the underclass. There is tolerance of excessive force among police officers, and there is a need for police reforms to improve police-citizen relations.
Introduction
The state mandates the police to use force when dealing with people acting aggressively or resisting arrest. However, the police use force as a last resort, while there is a concern that the police can use force more than is necessary without repercussions. When the police face imminent danger, they can use more force, but each situation they encounter is different. There are divergent opinions on the extent to which certain situations or suspect conduct affect the safety of law enforcement officers. The police rarely use force, they may grab and hold suspects, but in cases where there is force, there are circumstances where the police overstep the boundary. This paper focuses on the theoretical motivations for use of excessive force by police officers.
Use of force
Police use of aggression and force may be warranted in cases where there is threat to their lives, and the suspect uses lethal force and is non-compliant (Paoline & Terrill, 2011). Even as the use of force can save lives, it may also have devastating consequences as it may escalate to more violence. Police have to balance their line between maintaining law and order and confronting potentially violent situations. However, merely supporting policing policies associated with police violence create tension, and at times result in the harassment of minorities. Even in cases where the police conduct stop and search activities when there are minor infractions, there is a risk of officers endangering their lives or that of suspects.
Arrests
In situations where there are arrests, the police are more likely to use force especially when life of law enforcement officers could be in danger. There could be an element of stereotyping that influences the behavior of police officers when they interact with people from diverse background. However, when the police have reason to believe that a person is engaged in criminal activity, they are likely to use deadly force regardless of the person’s background. This is especially when the suspects have been involved in assault, felonies, use of force and violence. Police may also judge situation based on a suspect’s record and arrests or potential arrests is a characteristic that is taken into consideration when they use force.
Social disorganization
There are few studies that examine the theoretical basis for police use of excessive force. Some of the major factors focus on criminology, deviance, crime and social disorganization. Typically, areas that are socially disorganized tend to have higher rates poverty, crime rate and concentrated disadvantages. To many police officers, these areas are hotbeds of criminal activity and in most cases people living in these places are treated harshly. Not only they do some of the police act harshly against the people in disorganized neighborhoods, so do criminals who victimize residents as they are in contact with them more often.
Theoretical perspectives
There are various theoretical perspectives focusing on police use of excessive force, mainly emphasizing the need for maintaining social order. This is especially when there is a need to control those who violate the law. However, there is no consensus whether the police use excessive force differently when interacting with diverse groups and segments of the society. Additionally, some social scientists contend that groups may be seen to present special threats to social order, and law enforcement officials are inclined to maintain the social order (Smith & Holmes, 2014). In other words, there is no incentive to deal with the inequalities with protection arrangements favoring the dominant groups. A similar perspective is the conflict theory of law where coercive strategies are to control criminal activities, with emphasis on advancing the interests of the powerful (Smith & Holmes, 2014).
The police are inclined to use violence in circumstances where they are responding to violence. Given that the police have the authority to interrogate, stop and search suspects, they are more likely to abuse power as they have the final say during interrogations. In these circumstances, the police are likely to be unreasonable and arbitrary when the police are on duty and there is no oversight on their activities. Additionally, when the police believe that the suspects are likely to engage in criminal conduct or defy authority, they react with force. In some circumstances using a confrontational tone is seen as threatening similar to use of physical force.
Minority threat hypothesis
The police are more at risk when they are likely to arrest suspects, and the danger in the working environment would indicate the likely use of force by the police. Even as the police respond to crime, when their perceptions that they will be in dangerous situations they are more likely to use excessive force. For instance, when responding to violent crime and auto theft, the police already know that these are risky situations that may require them to use force. However, the police may assume that some people are more prone to commit crime than others. This is particularly for high crime areas, where a large section of the population is assumed to be complicit in criminal activity (Smith & Holmes, 2014). However, making assumptions is counterproductive since the local community is more wary of the police who single out members of these communities and use excessive force.
Threat hypothesis
The threat hypothesis is one of the main explanations for the excessive use of force by the police, and when there are more criminal acts or people threatening the power structure, there is more crime control. This perspective highlights that there are divisions, when the police actions differ depending on who they interact with (Smith & Holmes, 2014). When the police encounter suspects from diverse backgrounds in similar situations, they are more likely to treat the situations as though they were completely different. The organization of police agencies reflects the societal structure characteristics, and this may increase the risk of police using aggressive strategies when they encounter minorities.
Recent media reports on the use of excessive force among police when engaging minorities, especially young males of color may be linked to the perceptions of threat. Even as the cases of excessive force have received more attention during President Obama’s...