What Steps Should the Government Take ?

The society grants members of law enforcement an enormous power over citizens to enable the police to keep the peace and to preserve social order. They are granted a great deal of freedom to use their judgment regarding which laws to enforce. This wide range of options can lead to an abuse of power by police authorities. Some police officers come to see themselves not as simply enforcers of the law, but as the law itself. Most abusing officers would frequently remind his victim that it is within his power to deprive the suspect of their physical safety, privacy or freedom. Most abusers however, are not able to enlist the help of the criminal justice system to carry out their threats. One problem with Section 35.30 of the penal code is it states as he/she reasonably believes. Each officer will have a different opinion on when physical force will be necessary.

Legislators should write law that are more clear on when physical force is necessary instead of giving officers the task to find a situation in which they believe is necessary. The head of the Law Enforcement agency should discourage officers from using physical force through their hands. There should only be a few exceptions to this rule. If an officer has no doubt at all in their mind and the person is trying to escape and is actually using a weapon this should be the only exception. Since officers are trained in the police academy, they should train them in this type of situation. The officer should be able to run faster than the criminal who is trying to escape to ensure there will be no way the suspect can leave his or her custody. If the suspect does escape the custody of the police, they should result to using their tools such as their pepper spray or a taser gun which would not cause physical harm.

In the effort to stop police officers from using their power legislators should make laws that are more strict and more clear. They should lessen the use of hands on hands fighting, hitting or verbally abuse. The head of the Police Department should also reduce the weapons which can cause fatal harm. By changing these three situations, the police will no longer be allowed to abuse the power and citizens would be able to feel safe around police officers.