professor instructions: To use force or not use force is one of the most important ethical decisions a police officer or correctional officer can make during his/her shift. For this paper, I’d like you to discuss how use of force decisions are made, what the legal standards are for using force, and/or how the use of force can damage a police department’s legitimacy within the community. You may also want to consider why some police officers use force, or are more likely to use excessive force, while other officers are not likely to do so.
You will need to support the assertions in the paper by using at least three sources. These can include: 1) textbook information on uses of force, implicit bias, patrol staffing experiments, etc. (Ethics in the Criminal Justice System / 2nd Edition Author(s)– Belshaw, Johnstone and Deboer. ISBN-13– 978-1524987503)
2) a news, research or internet article/publication related to your topic and from a reliable source, 3) studies published by a reliable source. The paper should be three to five pages, double-spaced, in 12 font. Provide a works cited page. Use APA format (7th edition) for student papers. The Title Page and works cited pages do not count as part of your page count.
What are some topics or issues to be considered while writing this paper (you don’t need to include all of this, just giving you some ideas)?
Consider the statutes and codified laws regarding the use of force. Also consider discussing some of the main Supreme Court Decisions (case laws) regarding the use of force and how that has impacted police officers.
Discuss how the use of force can be legitimate, or not. When illegitimate, excessive, force is used explain how that can cause the community to lose trust in the officers and the department.
Why are some officers more likely to use force, and to use excessive force, than others. Consider topics such as implicit bias and somatic markers. Also, you can include the results of some well-known studies, including studies done in Kansas City and San Diego to compare single officer cars to double officer cars. Also, there was a study done in New York regarding partner officers where one used deadly force and the other did not.
