12 Angela Bonagura – Use of Force in Policing
Angela Bonagura is a second-year student majoring in Psychology and minoring in Neuroscience. She grew up on Long Island in New York. This assignment was from a discussion post she completed for Carrie Mier’s CJUS P100: Introduction to Criminal Justice. Professor Carrie Mier notes “ Anglea discussed this topic thoroughly and dissected a relevant case. Wonderful information and input!”
Discuss the concepts of use of force in policing – do you think use of force is appropriate or necessary in policing? What circumstances can influence use of force in policing? When does use of force become excessive in policing? What can be done to remedy excessive force in policing?
According to our text, “officers are trained to use the appropriate level of force given the totality of the circumstances presented in the context of the situation” (Rennison et al., 2022). I do believe there are some cases in which use of force is necessary, such as someone being completely belligerent in that they are unable to respond to law enforcement commands, or someone being so strung out that they become a danger to themselves and others. In those cases, proper restraint techniques could be used to apprehend the offender. Issues that arise in the use of force I think come from a two-sided coin. On one side, officers may engage with a foul attitude or on a power trip where they feel they are the power of the law so they must be obeyed, which causes a situation to escalate as opposed to deescalate. On the other side of the coin, people who engage with police officers may not trust law enforcement or have a negative attitude towards law enforcement which causes them to be unnecessarily uncooperative. This can also cause situations to escalate to where the use of excessive force occurs when it could have been avoided.
Use of force becomes excessive when the verbal or physical interaction on the part of the police officer is more than needed for the situation. Examples would be verbal abuse, the use of a taser or another weapon when it is not called for in the situation, physical restraint being held for too long or unnecessary, such as handcuffs being too tight.
To remedy excessive force in policing, we should start by mandating psychological tests or evaluations on officers entering the police force. This will allow law enforcement agencies to weed out potential abusers of power before they ever enter a position of authority. There also needs to be extensive trainings in the appropriate use of force for a variety of situations, and trainings on how to properly deescalate situations so that they do not turn into a case where excessive force is used.
References
Rennison, C. M., & Dodge, M. (2022). Chapter 5 On the Streets: Organization, Responsibilities, and Challenges. In Introduction to criminal justice: Systems, diversity, and change (4th ed., pp. 129–129). essay, SAGE Publications.
Find an example of a use of force incident in policing – this can be a current case, high profile incident, or academic article. Discuss the circumstances surrounding this incident, whether force used was appropriate, and how the officer could have responded differently. Discuss how this example influences your viewpoint.
This case I have found from current events is disturbing to say the least. Excessive force is almost too tame to describe what happened to the victims involved. The article that covered the story, states, “The officers, who are all white, entered a house without a warrant on Jan. 24, assaulting the men with a sex toy and using stun guns and other objects to abuse them over a roughly 90-minute period, court documents show. After one victim was shot and wounded in a “mock execution” that went awry, documents say the officers conspired to plant and tamper with evidence instead of providing medical aid” (Fox News, 2023). This happened in Mississippi, and both the victims in the case are African American. Some of these officers even dubbed themselves “the Goon Squad”. They clearly showed no remorse for their actions, and even tried to cover up what they did.
I understand that this is an extreme example of excessive police force being used, but the fact that people are capable of this kind of treatment towards other human beings needs to be talked about. Cases like this one also highlight the need for psychological examinations of people entering the police force, and continual observation and evaluation during an officer’s career.
References
FOX News Network. (2023, August 4). 6 ex-Mississippi officers plead guilty to racist assault on 2 black men. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/us/6-ex-mississippi-officers-plead-guilty-racist-assault-2-black-men Links to an external site.