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Use of deadly force by the police

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Use of Deadly Force by the Police
Introduction
The law enforcement officers are mandated to protect lives and property of
individuals within a nation. They are authorized to employ force on specific instances.
Besides, the law enforcement officers are trained on how to use force when faced
with circumstances that demands that such as restraining of unruly combatants,
making arrests and controlling disruptive crowd (Terrill et al. 2008). However, on
several occasions, the police use of force exceed that justifiable within the specified
circumstances. When this happens, the activity of the law enforcement officers comes
under public scrutiny (Terrill et al. 2008). Incidences of excessive use of force have
received frequent attention from legislators, media and civil rights activists.
The aspect of excessive force by the police during violent police-citizens
encounters have been give limited attention. Its more worrying that the correct and
common definition of what degree of force constitutes deadly or appropriate is yet to
be reached (Worden, 2015). However, several options have been laid down in the
previous years. The fact that these definitions vary from institution to another
markedly confounds the researchers’ efforts to establish parallels in the use of deadly
force (Worden, 2015). Although the incidences of deadly force is rare, the shooting of
Michael Brown by the police as well as the death of Eric Garner have become
powerful reminders that these incidences still occur.Besides, the killing of George
Floyd became an awakening that the use of excessive force is more real today than it
was before.The use of deadly force has drawn political interest and public scrutiny, it
has heightened controversy while challenging the history of modern policing (Brian,
2013). This study focuses on examining the legal provisions of a justifiable use of

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force, the history, reality and the implications of excessive force. Further, it seeks to
provide best-practice approach to remedy the phenomenon.
The use of excessive force is associated with situations when law enforcement
officers legally use force exceeding the required amount to protect themselves or
others or to diffuse a rowdy crowd (Terrill et al. 2008). The recent events surrounding
the use of excessive force by police have caught congressional attention on the
policies of the federal, state and local police officers. The use of police force in
handling criminal suspects has been an area of particular focus in the US. congress.
The federal government has been particular in collecting data from the states on the
use of excessive force by the police (Klahm & Tillyer, 2010). However, the
substantive laws and standards that points out the acceptable force is not in the
federal stature. The provisions on the limits of the use of force are a function of the
Fourth Amendment of the American constitution. The Fourth amendment provides
substantive standards the use of force by the law enforcement officers.
The Fourth Amendment and the Use of Force
According to the Fourth Amendment, unreasonable seizures are prohibited. Any
violations to the provisions of these standards are taken care of by the federal civil
and criminal provisions which are always incorporated into the use-of-force policies
or the jurisdiction policies (Garrett & Stoughton, 2017). The meaningfulness of these
standards have been a source of debate among scholars for many years. There have
been periodic reforms on these standards including the recent Policing Act of 2020
following the murder of George Floyd. The congress have included the Justice in
Policing Act, which would aim at changing the use of force doctrine by the law
enforcement officers.

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Use of Deadly Force by the Police Introduction The law enforcement officers are mandated to protect lives and property of individuals within a nation. They are authorized to employ force on specific instances. Besides, the law enforcement officers are trained on how to use force when faced with circumstances that demands that such as restraining of unruly combatants, making arrests and controlling disruptive crowd (Terrill et al. 2008). However, on several occasions, the police use of force exceed that justifiable within the specified circumstances. When this happens, the activity of the law enforcement officers comes under public scrutiny (Terrill et al. 2008). Incidences of excessive use of force have received frequent attention from legislators, media and civil rights activists. The aspect of excessive force by the police during violent police-citizens encounters have been give limited attention. Its more worrying that the correct and common definition of what degree of force constitutes deadly or appropriate is yet to be reached (Worden, 2015). However, several options have been laid down in the previous years. The fact that these definitions vary from institution to another markedly confounds the researchers’ efforts to establish parallels in the use of deadly force (Worden, 2015). Although the incidences of deadly force is rare, the shooting of Michael Brown by the police as well as the death of Eric Garner have become powerful reminders that these incidences still oc ...
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