Use of Force

Paper Summary:

This paper argues that the use of force is most justifiable in a clear situation of direct threat of harm to the police and innocent persons. The paper further argues that this is not the only justification, however, as within police work there are many gray areas. In addition, the paper argues that the adoption of a policy of only allowing the use of force when there is a perceived threat of injury to an innocent is too simplistic a model for the many gray areas that are involved in police work. The paper argues this by first discussing scenarios of apprehension and then by discussing the issue of interrogation and, lastly, by developing, from the literature, a better sense of the existing rules, regulations and laws pertaining to the use of force and their moral ground.

Outline:
Introduction
Grey Areas
Suspect Coercion by Force or Threat of Force
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Yet, this is simply one example which can be dissected to a myriad of gray eras that often face officers in the field. For Locke, or Hobbes, there is no question that if one person is seeking to take another's life or liberty than the acts of a civil government are justified, as use of force may need to be used to subdue the infringement. What if the weapon is concealed, by the individual or even simply suspected to be a lethal weapon by the officer, in a moment of assumed danger and fast movement, but is in fact not a weapon at all? What if the individual is reaching for said weapon to relinquish it and the officer perceives that they are doing so to use it? What if the distance from the suspect is so great that the officer cannot confirm that the item in question is a weapon but if it is it is still within lethal striking range of the officer or another innocent bystander?"

Sample of Sources Used:

• Buker, H. (2005) Book Reviews, International Journal of Police Science and Management 7: 3 pp. 208-312
• Carty, K. (2006) "Guidebook of Democratic Policing Organization for Security and Cooperation In Europe" Vienna
• Council of Europe Committee of Ministers (COECM) "Recommendation Rec(2001)10 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the European Code of Police Ethics" 19 September 2001, Retrieved, November 15, 2007, from: http://www.legislationline.org/legislation.php?tid=155&lid=4886
• Evans, M. D., & Morgan, R. (1998). Preventing Torture: A Study of the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Fennell, P., Harding, C., Jorg, N., & Swart, B. (Eds.). (1995). Criminal Justice in Europe: A Comparative Study. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

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