Use of Deadly Force By Law Enforcement

Use of Deadly Force by Law Enforcement
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Introduction
Deadly force can be defined as the use of any physical force that might have the result of causing serious bodily harm or even death (Geoffrey, 2004). As a result of its grave consequences it is illegal, even criminal, to use deadly force without due justification. There are four main situations in which one is allowed to use bodily force legally. These are in law enforcement (which has been a controversial subject so far), in the prevention of crime, while defending a third party or finally, for self-defense. Still, under each of these provisions, the use of deadly force has to be completely necessary and this will differ from situation to situation.
The use of deadly force by law enforcement has been an issue of concern to many countries in the world. It can be described as use of excess force by a law enforcement officer when dealing with a particular situation that is likely to cause death or injury to the other person. Therefore, different circumstances call for different levels of force to be exercised by a police officer. The use of deadly force is considered the most serious decision made by a police officer. However, some police officers are lucky and in their entire careers are not accused of having used excessive force but those who are not as lucky and charged, they are normally guided by the United States Supreme Court case of Tennessee V. Garner of 1985 and their respective department’s policy. The authority given to the police officers regarding the use of excessive force while performing their duties is defined by case law, common law and statute. Tennessee V. Garner (1985) case was filed in the Supreme Court of the United States. It was held that a law enforcement officer can use deadly force when pursuing a suspect who is running away to ensure that the suspect does not escape if the officer has a reason to believe that the suspect is in possession of a weapon or is capable of causing injury either to the public or the officers.
The police officers are expected to explain and justify their actions lack of which can result in the releasing of the suspect and the police officer faces civil liability or criminal charges. The use of deadly force normally involves the use of a gun, explosives, bladed and vehicles by the officer that could either result in death or pose a threat of death to a civilian. This is a controversial issue because the law enforcement, unlike any other organization or agency, has been given the authority to use deadly force by the society. Under the common law, a police officer would use deadly force even in situations where it is not necessary when arresting a suspect (William, 2011). However, this has changed and today a police officer is only supposed to use deadly force in the following two conditions: the officer has reason to believe that the suspect has committed felony or the officer is preventing the suspect from escaping but this rule is limited by various jurisdictions.
Concerns have been raised about the rising number of civil suits that are being filed against individual law enforcement officers and police departments due to the use of deadly force. The law courts challenge the use of deadly force by officers mostly in circumstances when there was no threatening of lives. The law enforcement officers are normally sued by members of the public and the press who are most likely not aware of the threat present in the scenario that made the police officer to use deadly force. Most policies governing the departments state the guidelines concerning self defense, threat to innocent civilians, shooting at or from a moving vehicle and shooting at fleeing suspects or felons and are used in the solving from any legal issues regarding use of deadly force by an officer who works in the department. Deadly force can also be used by a civilian for self-defense. The law enforcement officers are required to use deadly force in circumstances when no other action can be used.
The use of deadly force is also restricted by the Model Penal Code, which states that law enforcement officers are not supposed to use deadly force unless faced by the following conditions. The suspected criminal committed a crime using deadly force, the use of the force does not endanger the lives of civilians or the officer believes that failure or delay in apprehension of the suspect may lead to death or injury of other people. These are the factors considered in determining the severity of a certain offense. For instance, a police officer would be held liable for damages and criminal charges if accused of shooting while arresting a suspect for misdemeanor for any other reason apart from self-defense but the officer has the right to use any force necessary when arresting a suspect for felony, including killing the suspect.
The fact that the situations happens first complicates the issue because the police officers have to make abrupt decisions on whether the suspects pose a threat to the public and decide on the type of force to use also makes the issue controversial. The members of the public rarely approve on the type of force used by the officers since their judgment is normally based on misinformation. The officer, after shooting a suspect is investigated by the department to determine whether deadly force was used and the explanation is rarely given to satisfy the questions raised by members of the public.
Literature Review
Law enforcement is one of the most complicated lines of work all round the world. Right from the hiring process to become a police officer. A lot is done to ensure that the person chosen to be a police officer fully qualifies to be one. Some of the processes that need to be conducted will include a background investigation, oral interview, medical examination, polygraph interview, passing in a written examination and psychological evaluation. The strict guidelines are not abandoned after one qualifies to be a law enforcement officer. The law enforcement work is also complex after one is employed. According to Albert (2003), the candidates who qualify then have to go through a long process of training. They have to spend up to six months in academies where they learn about writing reports, performing first aid, training how to use firearms, defensive tactics, and procedures followed in patrolling, investigations process and any other form of training that is considered useful in their line of duty.
After the completion of the academy training, the recruits are assigned a ‘field-training officer’ who is normally an experienced officer. The field-training officer takes the new officers through the field-training program, which has several phases and takes around five months to complete. The first phase that a new officer has to go through is observing what the training officer is doing and following the lead. The second and third phases the trainee remains under the directions of the trainer but he performs duties as a primary officer. In the fourth phase, which is the final phase, the trainee now performs all the duties in the absence of the trainer and the only time the trainer is contacted is to provide back up or when assistance is required.
In this phase, the trainer performs the function of observer whereby the officer may use a different patrol car and keep watch of the employee who operates as if they are working alone. This process is important to enable the trainee to start performing as a regular officer. The trainee officer usually has a whole year experience by the time the field-training program is finished. It is therefore obvious that by the time one becomes a fully-fledged officer they have many hands on training that will help them with their future duty.
Despite all the challenges on goes through to become a law enforcement officer, the greatest challenge is learning to perform the duties of maintaining law and order without breaking the rules regarding the methods used to deal with the scenario (James 1982). For example, there is the expectation that the officers should relate positively with the society, which they serve and at the same time always on the lookout and against any crime, illegal drug dealing, any form of terrorism and gangs. Working under these circumstances usually requires the law enforcement officers to use optimal force. Optimal force can be described as that force that is nestled between insufficient and excessive force. There really is not a certain action that can be described as excessive or insufficient. It is all dependent on the situation and how each law enforcement officer reacts to it. Excessive force can be defined as force that goes beyond the professional, legal or administrative requirements to maintain order or handle the incident at hand. The issue of the excessive force is more of a perspective matter and thus it is not easily defined and quite difficult to identify.
The use of excessive force by police officers is normally viewed as abuse of the authority given to them and it is said to violate trust by the public. However, insufficient force is not easily described but it normally defined as the amount of force that endangers the life of the officer or increases the threat to safety of the public. Thus, as a result of using insufficient force, the officer leaves many lives at risk because the suspect is in control. Insufficient force can also be described as the amount of force which is justifiable but which would have been avoided by the officer. This aspect of the levels of force that an officer should use in different incidents makes the law enforcement work one of the most complicated jobs. Generally, the level of forces employed by the officers depends on factors such as size, confidence, gender and level of experience (William, 2011). Other factors that determine the level of force to be used are the time of day, presence of weapons, the behaviors of the citizens, intoxication and the nature of offense that has been committed.
Research previously conducted on this topic has been limited to the information available mostly from coroner’s reports and newspapers. Thus, it was difficult for the authors to obtain the information on the police use of deadly power and the agency would also terminate the work of a researcher. Before 1985, the police had the free will to decide whether to shoot a suspect who was trying to flee. Most of the research that was being conducted on that time was to determine whether the police should shoot a fleeing suspect and whether there should be any restrictions to the rule. The United States Supreme Court in the case of Tennessee V. Garner (1985) stated when it was allowed for the officers to shoot fleeing suspects. It was after this ruling that more research was conducted to determine its impact on police shootings due to the restrictions and the decision making by officers those results to the use of weapons. According to Lawrence et al (1997), police officers are empowered to use deadly force in incidents that pose imminent danger. When arresting a suspect, the officer is required to overcome any resistance from the suspect and the officer may not retreat as they have been given the authority and obligation to maintain order. The law enforcement officers have monopoly in their work as no other branch of t...