Don't Forget These Points When The Need to Use Force Erupts

I was reading  a newspaper account the other day about a policeman who savagely beat a teenager  he was interviewing whom he suspected was one of the trouble makers at a party when he became enraged by the youth's claims that he was not the one he was looking for.


.He, of course is far from the lone sufferer of this malady in the police  (and even security) world as you can see from numerous media accounts of the excessive use of force by police officers or security guards.  It seems that far too many police officers and security people forget some critical parts of the use of force -- such as these:



Everyone in Canada, whether they are a private citizen or a police officer is allowed to use force to protect themselves or somebody else, to prevent an assault or other crime, or to prevent a suspect from escaping -- however:(1) They must be sure that what they are doing at the time is either allowed or authorized by law. (2) There  must be no other alternative to the use of that force ( especially lethal force). (3) They must start with a minimum amount of force -- just enough to control the situation..(4) They must never use any more force than necessary -- what can be justified  by law.


This, of course, requires  a continuous assessment  of the situation from the time they first learn of the situation or person they are going to confront right through to the end of the engagement.




If more police officers -- and security professionals practised  this type of thing there is bound to be far few cases of police and security guard brutality.




In emergency situations following such a guideline is not easy as decisins about how to react to somebody must be made in secons not minutes, but it seems that far too often police officers -- and others  --don't follow any guidelines such as the National Use of Force Model in Canada at all they just explode in a rage -- destroying their own careers as well as the lives of their victims.




A prudent police officer or security professional will always keep these guidelines in mind. As most do!.