Deadly Force: A Case Study

There has been two shooting of deadly force as I know of in our local department. I live in the city of Humboldt tn.There has been two incident after 2008. A person would not think it would have happen in such a small town, but it has been (Police officers charged in fatal shootings while on duty, 2016).

It was a very tragic situation, an officer should always know who/what they are shooting at every time they pull the trigger. It is a hard story to read and the radio talk amongst the police is even worse. After the officers had fired their weapons, in the graphic footage from one of the officers body cams, you could hear the two officers talking. An officer can be heard in the footage

Any serious crime committed in harm of someone should be treated identically to one against another person, regardless of his or her race, gender, or age. For 19 year old Zachary Hammond, that was not the case. In this occurrence, Hammond was unarmed fatally shot two times and killed by an undercover police officer trying to bust Hammond’s date for possession of marijuana for self defense purposes. The officer’s plea for defense was that Hammond was evidently approaching him with his car in a dangerous manner, yet the autopsy results beg to differ. The autopsy revealed that Hammond was in fact shot from behind with the bullets going from his back all the way through to his heart. However, the two gunshots were not even mentioned in the official

The law gives police officers power to use deadly force when they feel physically endangered, but that power doesn’t extend to opening fire at fleeing individuals. When is it necessary or proper for an officer to shoot at a fleeing suspect? This question was posed after a police shooting in South Carolina. There was video recorded by a bystander that shows a black man being shot in the back and killed as he runs away. According to A seminal 1985 Supreme Court case, Tennessee vs. Garner, “The police may not shoot at a fleeing person unless the officer reasonably believes that the individual poses a significant physical danger to the officer or others in the community.” So by that precedent it is only justifiable to shoot a fleeing suspect if they meet that criteria. No two situations are identical neither are any two officers, but law enforcement officers should use only the amount of force necessary to dissolve the situation in order make the arrest. Force should only be applied to protect officer or others from harm. The levels of force police use include basic verbal and physical restraint, less-lethal force, and lethal force application of each depends on the situation. KRS 503.090 is the use of physical force in law enforcement.

The Use of Deadly Force by Police Officers in the Field: Understanding the Complexities and Issues Surrounding Deadly Force

Seeing these events people conclude that these shootings are the result of law enforcements being bias to black or white people. But in“Paper finding no racial bias in shootings by police criticized” by Samantha nelson shares about the reality of the bias. Here she writes about a new study confirming that “black women and men are treated differently in the hands of law enforcements.. They are likely to be touched, handcuffed, and pushed to the ground…but when it comes to the most lethal form of force-police shootings- the study finds no racial bias”. She shares about Mr. Fryer a Black economic Harvard professor who studied the data of 1,000 shootings in major cities in America. In result, Fryer found that the results contradict to the image

Now that we have established what deadly force is and what the law states, let’s move on to the investigation that ensues after the fact. Let’s look into how the investigative process works for this type of incident and how the public views the use of deadly force. The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin outlines six investigative elements in a case of deadly force; The Investigators, The Crime Scene, The Involved Officers, The Civilian Witnesses, The Criminal Justice Authorities and The Media. All of these play a pivotal role in deciphering a particular case of deadly force. This process could take months or years to sort out. I will tell you about the steps of the process but keep in mind, that while the slow wheels of justice are turning, the officer is dealing with his emotions, his family’s response and most likely the public’s response due to the media coverage. Whatever the outcome, no doubt this will have an effect on the individual officer for the rest of their life.

“I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!” These were the last words of Eric Garner, a middle-aged African American man. Garner died at the hands of multiple police officers who were trying to restrain him for selling cigarettes. These sorts of images are showcased on television way too often. To the point that some people feel helpless, they know that they alone do not have the power to overthrow the superiority of an officer. So they have really no choice but watch the tragedy unfold. Also fear that if they interfere, that they may be the next victim. “I am most struck by the behavior of the EMTs, who stood along with the police and did nothing as they watched Eric Garner die” (Williams 10). Although some people deny that police brutality is a problem, recent studies and events (such as the one listed above) prove that ultra-aggressive police officers, militarization of police agencies, and the effects of racism have increased police brutality.

First, it is crucial to note that police brutality is not synonymous to racism against a particular group. However, there is a stigma that police often racially profile a specific African Americans. In February 2015, two cases of police brutality did not involve African Americans; instead the two victims were a Hispanic shot and killed in Washington State and an Indian-American severely paralyzed in Alabama. Even with this considered, of late, a majority of police brutality cases have involved minorities and specifically African American males. Cases such as Michael Brown and Freddie Gray have sparked a cultural uprising. These trigger event inspired the protests and riots against police brutality demonstrating collective action and physical violence, but the idea of police brutality is much larger than these individual cases, since it is a reoccurring cycle.

The use of force, with regards to law enforcements use of it, is a complex topic that should be looked at in all perspectives. There is tension between the police and the community they work for, on whether this is a power that the officers should have or not. There are ambiguous laws that do not give law enforcement offices much guidelines on what is exactly permissible when it comes to force, and all the different situations it could occur. The line that the use of force leis on is often a fine one. It is teetering between excessive force and never being able to enforce the laws. The use of forces is a conversation that is worth having with all the pros and cons that it brings to the discussion board.

As of September 1, 2015, in the United States police officers have killed 776 people and 161 of those people were unarmed at the time of their death (MintPress). There have been too many incidents where police officers have injured or killed someone that could have been prevented. Using maximum force with a suspect has become a routine in many confrontations. Officers have not been given the proper training to deal with individuals and how to handle them without using a weapon. If they were given more training on how to deal with situations resulting in using a weapon to stop an individual during certain scenarios police brutality situations would decrease, lives would be saved, and police would get their good reputation back. However, police departments would have to spend more money on re-training. Some people agree with police brutality and think that a civilian deserved their punishment, which is not right because no one deserves to be beaten or killed. Situations involving police brutality have been increasing throughout the years, which is a problem that must to be solved.

This academic paper will discuss and examine the code of ethics and security case study. This paper will examine police brutality in New Orleans. The case will be examined from the perspective of the four different ethical theories. The four ethical theories are ethical relativism, ethical egoism, deontological ethics, and ontological ethics. The analysis will determine how the different perspectives support or condemn the conduct in the case study. The analysis will reveal which ethical theory resolves the particular ethical issue or issues from Criminal Justice Ethics 2e, Case Study 1.1, Police Brutality in New Orleans.

The brutality of the police force has been a long worldwide problem, but especially between the years of 2012-2016. Black people are being unjustly beaten and shot in plain sight for doing nothing while being unarmed. Journal of African American Studies “Blacks are viewed as deserving of harsh treatment in the criminal justice system” (482). “Black males with more “Afrocentric” features may receive longer sentences than blacks with less Afrocentric features like lighter skin and straighter hair”(482). Nowadays it is important to know about the police force. It’s important to know our rights as citizens and be careful around cops. Not everybody is good, but not everybody is bad also. In The New York Amsterdam News 21 people were killed by Chicago police in 2008. Entire families were being attacked. They believe it’s because of their skin color and how they are different. The year of racism started off with the world seeing the police murder of Oscar Grant. “The media have pushed people away from hearing the issue of police brutality, and it has fallen off of the radar screen.”(2) “You can’t give in. They will try to make an example out of you, try to break your spirit!”(2) African Americans say do not trust the cops with anything. “They will ruin you.”(2)

In certain situations, the police may have to act quickly on their instincts. Sometimes, a situation is unpredictable and a decision needs to be made in a split second. The quick decision may to be to take a person down physically with the officer’s own hands, or to use deadly force, unfortunately. Anything can happen and the officer needs to be ready for every scenario. The different levels of force can be anywhere from just a police officer being present, to having to kill someone to prevent him or her from hurting anyone else. It’s a harsh reality, but sometimes the officer needs to make the decision to die or to protect him and do what he needs to do.

The use of excessive force by police officers is a topic that continues to make headlines and a study that needs to be done. Although much research has gone into this topic there still is no consensus on why the use of excessive force occurs. Some studies suggest lack of training and/or problems with organization policy/procedures. Law enforcement officers are authorized to use force when necessary, but when the level of force is excessive, however, the actions of the police come under scrutiny. The resulting effects can include; public outrage, scandal, negative reputation for not only the officer but the law enforcement community, and criminal considerations. Although there’s is no concrete definition of excessive force, police