Use Of Force

Title page

Use of force

The mean age of the suspects who experienced force was 30 years. While the suspects selected for national survey had ages between 12 to 85 years. Among selected suspects Hispanics were 32 percent and Anglo were 24 percent (Alpert & Dunham, 2004, pp. 158). The number of female officers was 54 (Alpert & Dunham, 2004, pp. 159). The female officers opposed the males in terms of using force. Facts depicts that one-half (55 percent) of the agencies use intermediary force and lethal weapons (Alpert & Dunham, 2004, pp. 157).

An important data set is the patterns between suspects and the officers. PGPD is a small department that conducted survey for examining the patterns of resistance. There were total 244 cases but the views of the suspects and officers were analyzed. Facts indicates that suspects resisted officers in different ways. The data reveals that 57% of the suspects resisted actively and 33% resisted defensively. Among the resisting suspects, Anglo were 12%, Hispanic were 5% and Asians were 1.3% (Alpert & Dunham, 2004, pp. 162).

Findings also depicts that young officers are inclined to use less force compared to the mature officers. The evidence indicates that young officers are more likely to respond to the resistance of the suspects (Alpert & Dunham, 2004, pp. 166).

Ethnicities and races also influence the officer’s decision of using force. Among selected suspects Hispanics were 32 percent and Anglo were 24 percent (Alpert & Dunham, 2004, pp. 158). These figure exhibits thee use of force vary among races and ethnicities. The findings also indicate that 60% of the officers were Anglo, 26% were Hispanic and 14% were black. The most common form of force was the use of fists and hands. Officers are inclined to use force on suspects who share same ethnicities.

Three conclusions can be derived on the basis of experience of PGPD training. The first conclusion depicts that use of force by officers is common in investigations. The second conclusion states that older officers are more likely to use force than young officers. Ethnicities and race impacts process of inquiry and officer’s intentions of using force (Alpert & Dunham, 2004, pp. 157).

The analysis of the PGPD experiences provides information about different topics. Such as cooperative suspects means suspects who are willing to help the officers by sharing information. They don’t resist inquiries and officers don’t use force over them. The officers act in defensive manner in which they subdue hands and feet of suspects. Police use OC spray against suspects who are violent or who exhibit non-corporative behaviors. Most common type of irritation is created by OC spray reported as 28% (Alpert & Dunham, 2004, pp. 162). Officer’s first action is forcibly subsidizing suspect. The facts depicts that 26 percent of the suspects are subdue (Alpert & Dunham, 2004, pp. 162).

The chapter provides clear details about the role of PGPD and how it is working to restrict use of force. National survey is discussed for assessing the practical role taken by officers and the patterns of using force against suspects. The findings confirm that the use of force is more common over minority populations compared to the white suspects. Hispanics, blacks and Anglos exhibits high likelihood of experiencing force. There were 676 control-of persons report depicting that the officers and suspects agreed on 553 reports (82.2%). However suspects resisted to 74 reports (11.8%) (Alpert & Dunham, 2004, pp. 161). The evidence suggests that black and Anglo officers used lower force against Anglo suspects. Facts depicts that one-half (55 percent) of the agencies use intermediary force and lethal weapons (Alpert & Dunham, 2004, pp. 157). It is also revealed that senior officers use more force because they exhibit low self-control compared to young officers.

Reference

BIBLIOGRAPHY Alpert, G., & Dunham, R. G. (2004). Understanding Police Use of Force: Officers, Suspects, and Reciprocity . Cambridge University Press.