Use of Force: Has It Become Excessive?

Salt Lake Community College 2017

 The Use of Force: Has It Become Excessive?

Use of force; what exactly does this term refer to when it comes to the Criminal Justice

end of things? Is the use of force a useful tactic, or has it just become a way of beating criminals

for various reasons? Has the use of force become excessive? Throughout this paper, I will

discuss these, and other questions surrounding the concept of the use of force. Ill explain what

the term really means, where its boundaries begin and end, as well as reviewing recent cases

calling into question the use of force. Ill discuss the pros and cons of this tactic and try and help

you understand more fully whether this tactic has gone too far, and if the reigns need to be

tightened, or if officers are operating within their rights.

What Is Use of Force?

The general idea of the use of force in the context of law enforcement is using physical

force or effort to compel a suspect or person to comply with the demands of an officer. The

tactic is used in most, if not all forms of contact between persons and officers. To what extent the

use of force is used generally depends on the behavior of the suspect.

Most police departments will lay out a guideline for their officers to follow with regards

to how much force should be deemed necessary for a given situation or set of circumstances.

This set of guidelines is referred to as a Use of Force Matrix, and officers are trained using such

a matrix to learn the safest most humane procedures of restraint and force necessary to gain

control of a suspect, and thus, a situation.

 The text refers us to an example of a Use of Force Matrix which is used by the San Diego

Police Department.1 The San Diego Police Department organizes their Use of Force Matrix like-

unto a ladder, in which each rung represents a new and more escalated situation based upon the

behavior of the suspect. It reads:

Rung 1. Suspects Behavior: Compliant Officers Response: Touch and verbal control such

as orders, explanations, and requests.

Rung 2. Suspects Behavior: Passive Resistance Officers Response: Light pushes or

jabs with impact weapons such as nightsticks and flashlights, control holds with or without light

impact weapons, and body strength.

Rung 3. Suspects Behavior: Active Resistance Officers Response: Tasers, neck

restraints, takedown techniques, chemical agents (e.g., pepper spray), and K-9.

Rung 4. Suspects Behavior: Assaultive Officers Response: Hard impact with

weapons such as nightsticks and flashlights and personal body weapons such as head, hands,

elbows, knees, and feet.

Rung 5. Suspects Behavior: Life Threatening Officers Response: Firearms and

hard impact with weapons.

From this Use of Force Matrix we can get a fairly clear idea of what exactly use of force

entails. We can see the correlation between escalated suspect behavior, and officer response via

the use of force. Also we can see the boundaries in which officers are trained to operate during

altercations with suspects.

1 CJ 1010 Criminal Justice Salt Lake Community College. Gains/Miller Pg. 198
 Is the Use of Force a Helpful Tactic?

As discussed previously, the tactic of using force is a tactic that is carried out during

nearly every face-to-face contact with a suspect by an officer of the law. Being that it is used so

frequently, the question rises; Is the use of force actually helpful, or is it simply just a

requirement of officers?

Taking to the internet for help answering this question lead me to a very powerful

statement made by Lt. Dan Marcou who is an internationally recognized police trainer. He states,

Police work is a contact sport, but for cops there is no second place.2 Chillingly true, this

statement was made in response to critics of police using force, or rather, misusing force in

situations the critics believed to have been mishandled.

Marcous statement alone sheds light on the need for the use of force from officers. If a situation

reaches a point in which the officer no longer has control, his or her life is at risk. The use of

force from an officer gives him or her the ability to try and maintain, or regain control of a

situation, thus rendering a much lower risk of life threatening actions taking place.

When Is It Too Much?

There are two types of force referred to in the text. The first is nondeadly force. This type

of force is the most often used by law enforcement today. Referring back to the Use of Force

Matrix, this type of force is mentioned multiple times with examples such as light pushes or jabs,

verbal orders, tasers, takedown techniques, pepper spray, nightsticks, etc. These are all forms of

nondeadly force in which an officer can attempt to gain control and compliance of a suspect.

2 www.policeone.com/use-of-force/articles/7526699-How-cops-can-help-citizens-
better-understand-police-use-of-force/
 The second type of force as you may have inferred is deadly force. This type of force as

stated in its name is any force that a police officer uses that will place the subject in direct threat

of serious injury or death.3 Again referring to the Use of Force Matrix, the fifth and final rung of

the ladder refers to a suspect whose behavior is deemed to be life threatening. In this case, the

officers response is expected to be the use of firearms, and/or hard impact with weapons, thus

rendering the suspects life in direct threat of serious injury or death.

So where does one cross the line? When do terms such as misuse of force, and excessive use of

force become valid? The text sheds light on where the line can be crossed, as well as why the line

is ever crossed. The author presents statistics showing the rarity of physical force being used

during contacts with suspects, stating 1.6 percent of the 43.5 million annual police-public

encounters4 are reported to use physical force. (This does not include any verbal force, which

tends to be a much higher percentage)

The author cites the Christopher Commission as defining the misuse of force by stating

an officer may resort to force only where he or she faces a credible threat, and then may only

use the minimum amount necessary to control the subject.5 Essentially inferring any amount or

effort deemed to be more than the minimum amount necessary would be categorized as a misuse

of force.

A grey area clearly exists between what is an acceptable minimum amount of force

required to control a subject. Herein lies the why behind officers being called into question

3 CJ 1010 Criminal Justice Salt Lake Community College. Gains/Miller Pg. 198

4 CJ 1010 Criminal Justice Salt Lake Community College. Gains/Miller Pg. 197

5 CJ 1010 Criminal Justice Salt Lake Community College. Gains/Miller Pg. 197
regarding the level of force they exerted. When questions arise, the situation may be taken as far

as the United States Supreme Court in order to sort out, and make more clear the line of

acceptable use of force. Such was the case with the Tennessee v. Garner Supreme Court case in

1985. The case involved an incident in which Memphis police officer Elton Hymon shot and

killed a suspect who was trying to climb over a fence after stealing ten dollars from a

residence.6

Officer Hymon was called into question as some believed his use of deadly force to be

excessive for the situation presented to him. Though Hymon testified to having been trained to

respond in the manner he responded, the judge ultimately decided that Hymons actions were in

fact excessive, calling them unconstitutional. Said the judge, When the suspect poses no

immediate threat to the officer and no threat to others, the use of deadly force is unjustified7

Recent Cases Questioning Use of Force

In 2014, an eighteen year old Missouri man named Michael Brown was shot and killed

by an officer after robbing a convenience store in the city of Ferguson. The story went viral after

many believed the officer, a twenty-eight year old named Darren Wilson, had used excessive

force when fatally shooting Brown. Many believed, based on witness reports, that Brown had his

hands up while walking toward Officer Wilson after an altercation in which Brown attempted to

gain control of the officers gun. Due to the aforementioned altercation, Officer Wilson felt his

life was in danger, and upon seeing Brown begin to walk towards him once again, he fired

multiple rounds into Browns chest.

6 CJ 1010 Criminal Justice Salt Lake Community College. Gains/Miller Pg. 198

7 CJ 1010 Criminal Justice Salt Lake Community College. Gains/Miller Pg. 198
 The U.S. Department of Justice was responsible for reviewing the case, and determined

that the witness statements regarding Brown having his hands up were in fact inaccurate. Riots

ensued across Ferguson for a week, both peaceful and violent in response to the decision. A

grand jury was called in to review the case, and on November 24, 2014, it was decided to clear

Officer Wilson of any violation of rights.8

This is just another example of the criticism police officers may receive because of the

grey area between acceptable and excessive use of force. As you have read, the use of force is the

effort used to gain compliance from a suspect. It is a tactic that is often used, and can be

extremely helpful in attaining or regaining control of a situation. Officers are trained using a Use

of Force Matrix on what level of force is acceptable for a suspects level of behavior and

compliance. However, because of the subjective nature of the acceptable amount of force to be

used, there is a gray area which blurs the line of right and wrong. In reviewing some of the cases

in which the use of force was called into question, we were able to not only review the Use of

Force Matrix and its application to real world scenarios, but also get a small glimpse into the life

of an officer.

They do say hindsight is twenty-twenty. It may be much easier for someone to look at a

situation after it has occurred, analyze the data, and really pick apart each step that took place to

determine what the best course of action may have been. However, when faced with the situation

in real-time, and simply having to work off of instinct and training, making the right call for your

life, and the best call for the rules may not always be the same call.

8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Michael_Brown