Police and the Use of Excessive Force Essay Example for Free

Police and the Use of Excessive Force Essay The use of excessive force by police organizations around the world as a crime control mechanism has been widely criticized and debated for many years. Many ask, what exactly is excessive force? What causes an officer to use excessive force and is it justified? There is much ambiguity when it comes to answering such questions. Your perception will undoubtedly create your expectation and too many times one’s failure to acknowledge, ‘the other side of the story,’ causes a misperception. How big of a role do the media play in portraying police use of excessive force as fair or unnecessary? These are all valid questions that will be addressed in this analysis as well as what is being done to address the situation. We begin with the definition of excessive force as provided by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, â€Å"excessive force is the amount of effort required by police to compel compliance by an unwilling suspect† (Police use of Force, 2009). That is, police will turn to excessive force when an individual has been uncooperative. Some argue that the police’s most defining feature is their capacity to use coercive force (Katz Walker, 2008). Police use of force may include physical force as well as the power to arrest, but most importantly the power to use deadly force. It is important to keep in mind that there are laws set in place to limit the amount of force an officer uses, including excessive force. Such laws have allowed for better policing practices and an improved police/community relationship. Although police use of excessive force still arises from time to time, the number of incidents has dropped dramatically over the years. According to a study done in the years 1999 and 2000 of calls for service, force was used by police in less than one percent of the calls (Police use of Force, 2009). In actuality, the police spend most of their shift serving their community as peacekeepers as  well as helping others. So what drives a sworn police officer to use excessive force? The answer to this question is not a simple one, and rightfully so. Some argue that discrimination, stereotyping and the environment in which a n officer may patrol can contribute to the use of excessive force. People call the police because they want an officer to settle a problem: to arrest someone, to get someone to calm down, or to have someone removed from the home (Katz Walker, 2008). In other words, police are constantly put in volatile situations where the people they are dealing with can become a danger to the officer who is responding to a call and there is no telling what someone might do at any given moment. Often times when an officer has been dispatched to a scene, particularly an altercation, tempers are already flaring and what would normally be a situation calling for a simple mediation performed by the officer can easily escalate to the citizen resisting arrest for fear of going to jail, not knowing that the police is just trying to calm down the individual in order to assist with the situation more accurately. Situations like these are all too common and police can feel very much unappreciated and a sense of disrespect on behalf of those they serve. This frustration often times lead to a small number of officers easily losing their temper when confronting citizens in future instances. It must be pointed out that such instances are rare, but still do a rise from time to time. As a retired police lieutenant reflecting on his career put it, ‘The majority of cops were good, hardworking, conscientious individuals. They cared, and they wanted to do a good job. But there were enough cops—not one rotten apple, but several rotten apples—to give law enforcement the taint it had received’ ((Retired), 2000). The media, which include movies, television shows, and news organizations, have a lot of power when it comes to portraying the police as good or evil. Given the considerable ambiguity that surrounds the issue, whether police use of force is presented as police brutality and whether brutality is understood as a problem depend greatly upon which voices and views the media emphasize (Lawrence, 2000). It is the media who determine what the general public learns about street cops’ daily experience with criminals and the underclass, as well as what the middle-class public learns about other groups’ experiences with police (Lawrence, 2000). A perfect example is the famous reality television program, ‘Cops,’ where camera crews  participate in ride-along a ssignments and capture real life drama from the police officer’s viewpoint. News headlines are one of the most, if not the most, influential media forms influencing public opinion and attitude towards law enforcement. As the lawyer for a Miami policeman acquitted in the shooting death of a black motorcyclist—an acquittal that touched off days of rioting—indignantly told reporters, â€Å"If the headlines read, ‘Twice-convicted drug dealer shot while trying to run over officer,’ there wouldn’t have been any riots† (Lawrence, 2000). So the question arises, what is being done to address the situation with police use of excessive force? History has shown that policing systems and strategies can and do change. One way the situation has been dealt with in recent years is with the creation of local citizen oversight groups where complaints by citizens are reviewed to determine whether the action taken by the officer towards the individual filing the complaint was caused by a lack of policy, or a bad policy, on behalf of the police department in which case a recommendation for a new policy is sent to the department. Another way that police departments are dealing with the situation is by mounting video recorders on patrol cars as well as working with the local media and using them as a way of checks and balances. There is also the case for higher education for police officers. The subject matter of higher education as a requirement for police officers is a hot debate topic today. Study has shown that higher educated cops receive fewer complaints than those with less education (Victor E. Kappeler, 1992). Works Cited (Retired), L. A. (2000). From the Inside Looking Out. In J. Nelson, Police Brutality (p. 265). New York: Norton. Katz, C. M., Walker, S. (2008). The Police In America. New York: McGraw-Hill. Lawrence, R. G. (2000). The Politics of Force. Los Angeles: University of California Press. Police use of Force. (2009, August 04). Retrieved March 19, 2010, from National Institute of Justice web site: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/topics/law-enforcement/use-of-force/welcome.htm#note1 Victor E. Kappeler, D. C. (1992). Police Officer Higher Education, Citizen Complaints, and Departmental Rule Violation. American Journal of Police , 37-54.

Mental Categorization and Development :: Psychology Jean Piaget Essays

Mental Categorization and Development Missing Works Cited Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist, explained cognitive development in a way that may be useful in understanding the story of our story of evolution. He explained that in order to understand and function in our world, we organize thoughts and behaviors into systems, and are in a continual process of adapting our mental systems to better make sense of our surroundings. He calls these systems schemes and defines them as the basic building blocks of thinking, or tools for being able to mentally represent objects and events. They can be very simple like a scheme for throwing a ball, and get more complex like a scheme for playing baseball. Throughout development, new schemes arise and they become more organized to better make sense of the environment. Schemes become more complex and better organized through adaptation, which Piaget explains is a mixture of two different processes: assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation occurs when one makes sense of something in the environment by fitting it into an already established scheme. This may or may not work. For example, most things of similar body shape that swim in the water can be understood and fit into a fish scheme. However, when one encounters a whale, it may not fit into one ¡Ã‚ ¦s previous schemes, or what one understands to be a fish or a mammal. In that case, one has to accommodate, or change their schemes in order to make sense of new information. These processes most often don ¡Ã‚ ¦t occur in isolation, but are done together constantly to make sense of the world. In some situations, when the information we are getting from the environment is too complex, the information is left out entirely. As our understanding of the world expands, Piaget explains, it also divid es into categories. Expansion and fragmentation also seems to be a universal natural biological principal. Liquids and gases spread out to the boundaries of their containers, animals disperse on land, and humans have managed to explore even the uninhabitable territory of space. Animals often divide themselves into herds or flocks, while humans divide themselves into cultures, societies, and families. Expansion and division seem to be inherent and interconnected in other realms as well. The human constructs of religion and literature expand through time as they build on past stories. The more the wealth of knowledge, beliefs, and history expands, the more categories we define to separate them.

A Prime Innovator of Intelligence

Alfred Binet is one of the most significant figures in psychology as he redefined the meaning of intelligence. He basically set a new standard in the study of the human mind through his creation of the IQ test, which basically revolutionized how to gauge a person’s intelligence. Even today, several of his major works and ideas are still being used by modern psychologists.Early Life & EducationAlthough Binet was highly successful in his field, he didn’t always thrive well, especially during the early stages of his life. He was born in July 8, 1857 in Nice, France (New World Encyclopedia, 2008). His father was a physician and from here it could be surmised that he was also meant to pursue a career in the medical field.However, his parents separated when he was still young and he and his mother relocated to Paris where he attended law school. Upon receiving his license as a lawyer in 1878, he decided to follow in the footsteps of his father in the field of medicine but lat er decided that his interest psychology was more important (Sweet Briar College, 2007).Beginnings & FailuresDespite his contributions to psychology, Binet, ironically, was a not formally-schooled psychologist. He mainly educated himself by studying books of Charles Darwin and John Stuart Mill, among others, for several years (Indiana University, 2007).He became particularly interested in Mill’s belief that the processes of intelligence could be expounded by the laws and principles of associationism. However, he soon realized the restrictions of this particular theory, but he was still heavily influenced by Mill’s ideas (Indiana University, 2007).In 1880, Binet published his first paper on hypnosis, which was highly criticized for lack of scientific support (International Bureau of Education, 2000). Subsequently, he began working in Jean-Martin Charcot’s laboratory, where the main focus of research was hypnosis. Binet was heavily influenced by Charcot’s id eas and as a result, he published four papers on animal magnetism and hypnosis.Unfortunately, his Charcot’s ideas were refuted by various scientific studies and in effect, Binet was also discredited for supporting his teacher, which was considered his first major failure (New World Encyclopedia, 2008). Shortly after abandoning his research on hypnosis, he married Laure Balbiani in 1884 with whom he had two daughters, Madeleine and Alice.Important Contributions & WorksOne of the Binet’s first significant contributions was his incorporation of chess into one of his psychological studies that dealt with the cognition of chess masters. In his experiment, he found out that memory was only part of the processes of cognition in the game of chess and that only master chess players could play the game successfully while blindfolded (Internal Bureau of Education, 2000).He further surmised that imagination, memories of abstract, and experience were among the many factors that is required of a chess master. Furthermore, his most significant contribution is the intelligence test. In 1904, Binet and his colleague, Theodore Simon developed a test called â€Å"New Methods for Diagnosing Idiocy, Imbecility, and Moron Status† (Indiana University, 2007).Among the tasks included in the test were to repeat a sequence of numbers from memory and to follow an object with one’s eye (Indiana University, 2007). Binet and Simon conducted the test on 50 children who acted according to their age or level.They would then compared the results to other children of the same age and evaluate the results. Meaning to say, a 13-year old who could complete the tasks that all 13-years olds performed would have a mental age of 13. Similarly, a 13-year old who would complete all the tasks of a 15-year old would have a mental age of 15 (Indiana University, 2007).In 1908, Simon and Binet modified their intelligence test as they theorized that intelligence increased with age a nd included a comparison between the chronological age and the mental age in the new test (Indian University, 2007).However, Binet stressed that his intelligence test also had its limits and that human IQ was diverse and had to be assessed qualitatively and not only quantitatively.

Economy in Ancient Greece Essay - 921 Words

Slaves, woman and men had different jobs to do in the community. Slavery was an important part of ancient Greek civilization. Slaves didn’t only work as domestic servants but also as factory workers, shopkeepers, mine workers, farm workers, and as a ship’s crew; They could be found just about every were. There were many ways a person might become a slave. They could have been born as a slave, token as a prisoner in a battle abandoned as an infant. Another way if the family needed money, they might sell one of their children into slavery. If this was done, they usually sold the daughter because the sons were needed to help out with the chores or on the farm. The price of the slave would depend on their appearances, age and attitude. If the†¦show more content†¦Slaves, woman, and men had different parts of the community, and they are all important in every way. Farming, Pottery and Metalwork was a very important part of economy in ancient Greece. Farming was diff icult in ancient Greece due to the limited amount of good soil and cropland. It was estimated that only twenty percent of the land was usable for growing crops. Most farms were small with four or five acres of land. The farmers grew enough food to support their families and, at times, they grew small extra crops to sell at the local market. There were some very large farms run by managers while the owner lived in the city. Ancient Greeks main crops were barley, grapes, and olives, but Barley was the main crop for the ancient Greek farmers. Barley and wheat were planted in October and harvested around April or May. They made the barley into porridge or beat it into flour to make bread. Olives were harvested in November through February, along with the grapes normally picked in September. Olives were turned into Olive oil and was used for cooking oil or in oil lamps. Grapes were primarily used for wine production, although they could be eaten or dried into raisins. The Greeks watered down wine, mixing one part of wine with two parts of water. Drinking wine straight was considered cruel. In ancient Greek pottery was based on selecting the clay, fashioning the vase, drying and painting, baking it, and applying varnish. Part of the production went to domesticShow MoreRelatedAncient China Versus Ancient Greece Essay1008 Words   |  5 PagesAncient China Versus Ancient Greece Ancient China and Ancient Greece were two vastly different civilizations with different cultures; they shared a multitude of similar political, economic, and philosophical achievements while also inholding multiple differences. The centralized government of China differed from the independent city-states of Athens. A similarity that both civilizations held in regards to politics would be the role, or lack thereof one, that women played within their respectiveRead MoreThe History of Ancient Greece Essay1001 Words   |  5 Pagescan be traced back in time. 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