Excessive Force

Every single hour of the day and every single day of the week and ever single week of the year, law enforcement personnel put their lives on the line to protect us.

And, I would suspect that most everybody appreciates what they do.

However, that does not give them an excuse to use excessive force on some in order to keep others like myself safe.

Bear in mind that what we see on television or on a cable series is not the way it really is in a “real life” situation; now, one would expect that I should not have to make that clear, but I do because many believes those shows convey the “truth.”

There's no concrete definition of excessive force. Police have to use force to subdue suspects every day. Reasonable levels of force are guessed by cops on the street, second-guessed by police review boards and sometimes tested in civil lawsuits and criminal prosecutions on a case-by-case basis.

Well, that information certainly is comforting...

According to USLegal.com

Excessive force by a law enforcement officer(s) is a violation of a person's constitutional rights.

The fourth amendment states:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The term excessive force is not precisely defined; however, the use of force greater than that which a reasonable and prudent law enforcement officer would use under the circumstances is generally considered to be excessive. 

In most cases, the minimum amount force required to achieve a safe and effective outcome during law enforcement procedures is recommended. 

Police brutality is a violation of the law. 

Cruel and unusual punishments by the state (police) are prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

The Fourteenth Amendment provides further protection to individuals, prohibiting the state from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.

Well now... this makes me feel much, much better... now that I know there are 3 Amendments to the US Constitution that protects me against EXCESSIVE FORCE from law enforcement personnel.

The problem with those assurances, I would have to retain a lawyer, no doubt a good one, who would have the brass balls to take on a municipal police department.

That is providing that I am not too hurt from the excessive force that has been exerted upon me.

Having spent some time in the military during one of our wars (euphorically referred to as conflicts) so I am very much aware of how uncertainty dictates one's response actions but in some cases it has to be clear to these “guardians” that the perpetrator in question is not HIGH on coke or meth and that in order to subdue a “loud mouth” female, it does not take 6 burly males.

During the day, these decisions, it would be suspected would be a tad easier than they would be at dusk or during the hours after midnight before dawn.

And, I am sure that is why law enforcement personnel travel in pairs so that they can not just protect each other, but that they can decide together how much force is enough.

On the other side of the coin, if I were a law enforcement person, I think I would rather be safe than sorry and therefore would have a tendency to use more force than necessary just to make sure, without the slightest consideration mentally as to how much is too much, since it is my life that we are talking about here.

It would also seem reasonable that law enforcement training programs would deal with this issue of excessive force by developing a matrix of sorts where, if you find yourself in this type of situation, then this is the force you should use and if you go past this indicator, then you have used excessive force.

But, this type of analysis simply states that all these situations are black and white therefore all the solutions should be black and white as well... AND, we all know that just ain't true... that there are all sorts of gray areas; in fact, there are 50 Shades of Gray I am told...

no... wait a minute...

that is something else... sorry.

Now, I am embarrassed.

Let's get back to the topic.

I would say that profiling can be construed as a form of excessive mental force, because as soon as we make that profiling decision, our entire outlook changes and we immediately change to a cautious defensive but aggressive mode and we approach carefully but decidedly.

At this point and if we were a cat, all the hair on our tail would be sticking out straight making it look 5 times larger than it really was.

It is our Fight/Flight response that causes this to happen instinctively to us, automatically producing a sufficient amount of adrenalin in case we need to do either one.

It would be my thoughts that this increase in adrenalin could cause our judgments to become clouded and confused not from the standpoint of not knowing what to do but from the standpoint of thinking that we see what is not really there.

But, I am not a psychologist or a psychiatrist.

Unfortunately or fortunately (depending upon one's perspective) profiling is seldom used against Caucasians that walk our city streets unless it is done by the FBI preparing a criminal profile for a serial killer or some kind of white collar crime.

According to discoverpolicing.com

Military service can be a perfect entrance into a law enforcement career. While military police and security forces may have the most directly applicable skill set, service members from a variety of occupational specialties are also well suited to police service.

Military veterans make good police officers because of the following traits:

• Sense of service and commitment
• Discipline
• Integrity
• Firearm skills
• Responsibility
• Ability to work effectively in teams or individually
• Experience dealing with difficult situations
• Ability to problem solve
• Attention to detail

Many law enforcement agencies recognize the value of your military experience and reward you for it by:

• streamlining or fast-tracking your applications
• waiving education requirements
• adding preference points to exam scores
• offering incentive pay
• offering service credit toward retirement

I think that hiring military veterans make a lot of sense; but, when I was in the military I learned very quick that one shoots first then asks question. It is nothing personal but it can save one's life. That desire for survival is instinctive but during a war it is honed to perfection.


It is my opinion that the use of excessive force is just a natural by product of the profession and that it cannot nor should not be scrutinized or controlled because it would severely handicap them from instantly making a decision that will save their lives.