Racial Disparities in Police Use of Force: Objective Standards, De-escalation, and Reform

Racial Disparities in Police Use of Force: Objective Standards, De-escalation, and Reform

By now you should have read the Graham v. Connor case included in M2 Readings. If not, please do so before attempting to complete this assignment. Then, use the following two articles (retrievable via ESC library) to respond to the questions below.

Hollis, M.; Jennings, W. (2018). Racial disparities in police use-of-force: a state-of-the-art review. Policing 41(2), 178-193.
Frank, C.; Frank, J.; Liederbach, J. (2014). Understanding police use of force. Policing 37(3), 558-578.
Questions

What do the studies show concerning race as a factor in excessive use of force by police officers? How might some of this research be characterized as problematic?
What do you think is the proper standard for determining whether an officer in a given situation used excessive force in a stop or arrest? Should it be whether it was reasonable from the perspective of an objective observer, as the Supreme Court determined in Graham v. Connor?
Is it possible to come up with a standard that is better defined than “objective reasonableness”? What should it be?
Do you agree with the Court in Graham that an officer’s intentions should not be taken into consideration in determining whether use of force was reasonable? What if those intentions appear to be based on race?
What does “de-funding” the police mean? Is this a viable solution to the excessive use of force by police officers?

ANSWER

 Racial Disparities and Use of Force

Studies show that there is not enough evidence and research on the issue of race as a factor in the excessive use of force by police officers. according to Hollis & Jennings (2018), data collected on the police use of force depending on the race of the subject has not been recorded but luckily researchers are starting to concentrate on this specific area of research.

I believe the proper standard of determining whether an officer in a given situation is excessive force in a stop or arrest should be determined by an objective observer. An objective observer who is not racially biased can decide whether a police officer unreasonably used force. For example, in the case of Graham v. Connor, an objective observer could have ruled that the police used unreasonable force.

Apart from objective reasonableness, there are other ways of dealing with the use of force in the police department. I believe that the police can use minimal force and learn to de-escalate the situation. For example, in Graham v. Connor the police could have de-escalated the situation by first asking for their identification and why he left the drug store in a hurry. If the police had checked his identification and run it through the system, the situation would not have escalated.

I do not agree with the court that the intentions of the police should not be taken into consideration when determining whether the use of force was reasonable. This is because some police officers’ intentions are based on race and thus, the intentions should be considered.

De-funding the police involves taking the money used in the police department and channeling it to the community. It also means having fewer police officers on the streets to prevent incidents of excessive use of force. I do not think de-funding the police is a solution. Police officers need to be trained to de-escalate situations and not use force. The police departments should also punish any racially biased police officers or those who target other races.

References

Hollis, M. E., & Jennings, W. G. (2018). Racial disparities in police use-of-force: A state-of-the-art review. Policing: An International Journal.

Graham v. Connor. 490 US 386 (1989).