What is Police Brutality?
The first step in preventing police brutality is understanding what it is.
Police brutality oftentimes falls under the category of excessive force or unreasonable force. Excessive force occurs in any situation where a government official who is allowed to use force against other people uses too much force. Remember that a police officer is allowed to use force as long as it is reasonably necessary. The issue occurs when there are not grounds for force or the force gets escalated to an inappropriate level.
If a conflict occurs, a police officer should use gradual methods to resolve the situation. Ideally, a police officer won’t need to use force at all. Their mere presence or verbal interactions with a suspect would be enough to resolve any issues. This is oftentimes what happens.
But, if conflict persists, the police officer might escalate to what is known as “empty hand control”. This means that the officer uses their bodily force to resolve a situation, (ex. grabbing or holding a suspect).
In most situations, this is all the force that is needed for the police officer to do their job. However, if a threat persists, the police officer might then use less lethal weapons such as a taser, a club, or a police dog to resolve the situation. Lethal weapons such as firearms are used as a last resort.
Learn more about police brutality by contacting our office.
