POLICE DISCRETION IN THE USE OF FORCE
This research examines the following question: Can the exercise of police discretion in the use of force be reformed or controlled? The thesis of this examination is that the use of force by police in the discharge of their duties can both be reformed and controlled without compromising the capacity of the police to maintain public safety and enforce the law.
Violence in the United States has reached epidemic proportions (Mason, 1993, pp. 1-3). Violence is most typically an outgrowth of conflict when peaceful dispute mechanisms fail. The use of force by police frequently occurs in situations that are characterized by violence prior to the arrival of police.
Crime, particularly violent crime, has been a major concern of the American population for decades. The demands placed upon police officers in the 1990s are far more complex and difficult than were those placed on the police a decade earlier. Further, the potential for additional and significant changes in these demands over the coming ten years appears to be strong. The complex demands placed on police officers may be appreciated through a consideration of the following factors:
1. Police are expected by society to preserve order and to enforce the law. In accomplishing these objectives, police, at times, injure or, less often, kill offenders. When injury to or death of offenders occur, police officers often are condemned by many in society (Buchanan, 1993, p. 20).
2. Police are expected by society to incarcerate offenders, and to preserve order in detention centers. In accomplishing these objectives, police, at times, are required to employ procedures which can, and at times do, result in injury or death to those individuals apprehended and/or incarcerated. When injury or death does occur in such circumstances, police officers often are condemned by many in society for the consequences of their actions, in general, a...