...Abstract The dissension encompassing Stand Your Ground laws have recently seized the nation’s heed. So far about eighteen regimes have accepted laws extending the right to ‘self-defense with no duty to retreat’ to any region a person has a legal right to be. Several governments are also debating the passing of similar legislation. Inspite of implications that the laws may have for public well-being, there has been less empirical investigation of their impact, not only on crime but also on victimization. This laws makes it easier for some people to use deadly force when their “reasonably fears” result in serious injury at the hands of others. In such cases, those persons may be entitled to immunity from prosecution and civil liability. In fact, these laws usually confer powers that police have on private citizens, without the need of training kind and accountability. Before the Stand Your Ground laws, right to use deadly force was strictly not allowed. An individual had to show that it was reasonable to believe that the use of such force was necessary to prevent sudden death or great harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible ‘felony’. Only when a person was attacked in his home by a person not having an equal right to be there, she/he had a duty to retreat if he/she could do so in safety. Florida was unambiguous in protecting human beings.an individual under attack had to retreat to the wall before taking a life. The one interposing...
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...Use of Force Brenda Love Mississippi Valley State University Mrs. Rochelle Cobbs Law Enforcement Systems/Practices CJ 384-Spring 2015 March 22, 2015 Use of Force Abstract This paper addresses the reasons why police use force and how police use force to apprehend suspects. There are several elements that should be considered before police use force. These elements include: if the police officer has reasonable cause to use force to arrest the person, if use of force will help protect the officer and others, and if the police offer should result to using deadly force. These elements are things that all officers are trained on, but officers have to use their own instincts on the way that they will use force based on various specified situations. This paper will observe the reasons why police use force and focuses on how police may use force to control situations. Introduction Force can be defined as restraining someone or something by use of strength, by command, or by use of weapons and/or animals. Police officers may use force when making an arrest. Samaha (2014, p. 155) states “Whether the manner of an arrest was reasonable is affected by whether the amount of force, if any, was reasonably necessary.” Due to each patrol, crime scene, and situation being different, police officers have to go with their instincts and use their knowledge and skills to take control of the situation. After several reports of police brutality, the Supreme Court began to observe...
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...Getting away with Murder There are different laws in each state that allow citizens to protect themselves against a criminal. However, Florida’s law Stand your ground is giving todays citizens a right to kill. Every day we read about a new case where this law justifies the killing of another person. This law was made up to protect criminals and people who choose to kill when they could have easily avoided the whole situation. Shoot first and ask questions later should have been the name of this law. Walking home from the convenient store, playing your music in your car at a gas station, or even going to the movies and asking someone to keep it down has become a scary task. How is it possible that you run the risk of getting shot or killed by doing these everyday normal tasks and the person responsible for your death gets off Scott free with no repercussion for their actions? Having the right to protect yourself when you are seriously in harm’s way is necessary, but useless acts of violence is what todays people are doing and justifying it in court with the Stand your Ground law. This is turning innocent people into targets for angry individuals to take their frustrations or dislikes out on. I want to have the right to walk down the street with a hoodie on and not fear for my life. Gun laws have been restricted over the U.S since the Sandy Hook shootings; however Florida still hasn’t caught up with these actions and still provides an out for over zelles gun toting...
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...Assignment #2 Strayer University James Crews Introduction to Criminal Justice – CRJ 100 Professor Michael Sherwin January 24, 2013 “The new paradigm of “evidence-based medicine” holds important implications for policing. It suggests that just doing research is not enough and that proactive efforts are required to push accumulated research evidence into practice through national and community guidelines. These guidelines can then focus in-house evaluation of what works best across agencies, units, victims, and officers (Sherman, 1998).” One of the advantages of applying evidence-based policing is that police can root their decisions upon findings and proven methods of investigation. Furthermore, they can form on previous evidence and move onto other procedures through innovations based on the experience other of police officers. A disadvantage of evidence-based policing is that polices and procedures, or regulations and events (another way of looking at it), will only be taken for the research that was founded on the subject. In many cases, people that found the information may not be acceptably thorough with their statements, retrieved data, experimenting methods. If any of these subjects are negative, the conclusions that came from that research may be a contradiction. It just goes to show that many police officers may not be sufficiently versed in research methods to properly implement these strategies; or qualified for the today’s standards. Lastly, people have to...
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...This case started on the night of October 3, 1974 at about 10:30 p.m. in Memphis, TN, Edward Garner a young teenager of about 17 or 18 years old broke into a house with the intention of committing a burglary, shortly after a neighbored next door called the police when she heard glass breaking next door, two police officers answered the called Elton Hymon and Leslie Wright, after arriving to the scene Hymon went to check the back of the house when he suddenly saw Edward Garner running across the backyard with the intention of jumping the fence and fleeing from the police, with the help of Hymon’s flashlight Hymon knew that the suspect was just a teenager and he could see that Garner had no weapons or presented any significant threat towards...
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...s The Right to Stand Your Ground Florida is among 21 states with a "Stand Your Ground Law," which gives people wide latitude to use deadly force rather than retreat during a fight. The self-defense law helps explain why a neighborhood watch captain has not been arrested in the shooting death of an unarmed teenager. The shooting of the 17 year old Trayvon Martin has beyond doubt questioned Florida’s “Stand Your Ground Law”. Many have proclaimed that in Florida anyone who believes he is in danger can use deadly force, no matter how unreasonable his belief. This perception of the law is very wrong. The night that Trayvon was killed, George Zimmerman called the police saying that he sees a very suspicious young man that looks like he is up to no good, or on drugs or something. While Zimmerman was on the phone with the 911 operator he noticed that Martin had his hands in his pockets. Zimmerman was asked to stay in his car and not to follow then teen. The 911 operator said that we don’t need you to follow him. Zimmerman created his own crime. He had been instructed to stop the pursuit and did not. He decided to take the law into his own hands; Trayvon was killed. Zimmerman was arrested after killing Trayvon that night; he was taken into for questioning but was set free a few hours later. Since he was crying self-defense does that justify that he was free 6 weeks after the murder? That isn’t fair that someone can take the law into their own hands when they are told to stay...
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...1) What are the Legal issues? In Texas, you have the right to use deadly force in certain circumstances to protect property, and you can “Stand your ground,” where killing a person would be justifiable if your able to claim you were afraid. -Prosecution’s position? How would prosecution prove Horn violated these laws? The police advised for Horn to stay in his house and not try to stop the burglars. The house that was being robbed wasn’t even his, so the law wouldn’t apply to Horn. -Defense’s position? How would the defense prove Horn was not guilty? Horn fired out of fear for his life, making deadly force justifiable. Law also permits the use of deadly force to protect property under some circumstances Mr. Horn also is a retired veteran, and doesn’t have criminal history 2) Specifics of case. What happened, what were the actions of all individuals in case? Joe Horn was a 62-year-old veteran that caught 2 burglars that were undocumented aliens, Diego Ortiz, and Hernando Riascos Torres, stealing property from the neighbor’s house. He was on the phone with the dispatcher saying that it was wrong of what their doing and proceeded to go confront then, even though the dispatcher told him not to do so multiple times. Horn went outside to find then running across his yard, told them to freeze, they didn’t do so, so he decided to put a shell in each of their backs. Texas Laws Deadly force is considered justified and a defense of justifiable homicide applicable...
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...shoot out? If you were thinking that I was referring to a small western town back in the late eighteen hundreds, you'd be wrong. The wild, wild west has made a comeback to modern America. That era, synonymous with lawlessness and vigilante justice is being revived in essence by the introduction of legislation called "Stand Your Ground". Currently, there is a debate raging in our country over the rights of gun owners in regards to gun control and startling increases in justifiable homicides all over the United States. Recently, there was an incident that sparked a huge backlash against the National Rifle Association (NRA) and their support of a law called "Stand Your Ground". The law states that "... a person is justified in the use of deadly force and does not have a duty to retreat if: (1) He or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony...". (FL Statute, 776, 2011) The incident involved an armed self appointed Caucasian neighborhood watchman named George Zimmerman and an unarmed seventeen year old African American male, named Trayvon Martin. The situation began as the watchman patrolled the neighborhood and spotted the young man as he was returning home from the store, carrying a bottle of iced tea and a bag of...
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...The Use of force by law enforcement Alphonso Jones ECPI University Eng 120: ADVANCE COMPOSITION Professor Amity Brown 10/16/2014 The use of force by Law Enforcement What is the reason for the use of force by law enforcement? The use of force can be that of one’s race, more against minorities and the weapons that are being used seems to play a factor in the use of force. The use of force by law enforcement is becoming a large topic in today news. There have been several killings, beating, use of pepper spray, Taser guns, guns, and baton use. What is the use of force? The website Case Law 4 Cops states, “Excessive force means the physical force that exceeds the degree permitted by law or the policies and guidelines of the law enforcement agency. The use of excessive force shall be presumed when a law enforcement officer continues to apply physical force to a person who has been rendered incapable of resisting arrest.” There are many stories about the use of force by law enforcements for example here in Charlotte, NC recent accusation of use of force with the police occurred one morning in September 2013 around 2:20 am. A call came from the Bradley farm development in an upscale part of north charlotte. The call came from a woman that stated that she had a black man at her door that was knocking loudly. The woman stated that she was thinking that it was her husband when she opened the door but closed it quickly when she noticed that it was not her husband and called...
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...Police brutality 2011 Intro to Policing 6/11/2011 “Police in Miami Beach, Florida attempted to cover-up evidence of a brutal police shooting of an apparently unarmed man on May 30. An eyewitness captured the killing on video (see link), then had his cell phone seized and smashed. The victim of the shooting was 22-year old Raymond Herisse. At least nine officers opened fire on Herisse in a hail of bullets, injuring four bystanders in the process. Eyewitnesses say that Herisse never fired back.”( wsws.org) This is an all too sad common headline in our country. The police force has had many accusations and cases of excessive force, brutality and corruption. Often when corruption and police are said one thinks of LAPD as it had the longest run of corruption in US history. Now, however it seems Miami has caught up. The video shows the police unloading several rounds into a vehicle where no shots are returned and then it shows the police harassing the public. The obvious threat was the perpetrator in the vehicle as they were not concerned with the public until they murdered him. Once the police realized they had been video tapped by the public they all acting in hysteria trying to control the situation. I understand the fear they felt of losing their badges and possibly their freedom. However, placing a loaded pistol in innocent people’s faces is the worst thing a “protector of peace” should ever do. They were only trying to protect their image and their jobs. This video and...
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...Missouri State Representative Randy Dunn has proposed House Bill 1940 which is intended to modify the current state statute commonly referred to as the Castle Doctrine, specifically 563.031, RSMo. The proposed bill was analyzed in conjunction with the proposition set to be voted upon by the house and senate later this year. One significant change to the Castle Doctrine imposes a duty to withdraw or retreat from the location where the doctrine is invoked. The other major change includes opening up civil liability to anyone who invokes this doctrine. While the bill expands on a fairly ambiguous concept, it runs the risk of subjecting common citizens to scrutiny of the law typically reserved for law enforcement professionals. Missouri Representative Randy Dunn has sponsored a proposed change (HB 1940) to the current Castle Doctrine as represented in part by 563.031, RSMo (2007). The Castle Doctrine as it currently stands allow Missouri residents the ability to defend themselves in their dwelling, residence or vehicle with force up to and including the use of lethal force. This use of force is based upon self-defense against a person imposing or threatening to impose physical force or violence against the resident. Residents protected by this doctrine have rights under this provision against civil and criminal scrutiny. House Bill 1940 proposes clarification to what constitutes a last resort for residents placed in a situation of potentially invoking the Castle Doctrine...
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...Justin nikirk Law enforcement Lori Petro 4/24/15 Part 3 of final project Biography of police chief Name: Garry Hamilton Height: 6ft 2in Weight: 185lbs Hobbies: Hunting, fishing, cars, martial arts Family: Wife (Debbie) Four Kids (Joe, Justin, Matthew, Kristina) Mother (Tina) Dad (Chad) Education: High school diploma (Northrop High School) Associates Degree in Criminal Justice (Ivy Tech Community College) Police Career: Accepted 1989, captain in 2000, Lieutenant in 2010, Police chief in 2014 Community profile The township of St. Joe is a very close community everybody respects each other and everybody helps each other if they ask for it. There is this one kid named Justin Nikirk and he is one of the most helpful person in the whole community. He is always volunteering to help the local baseball team to help the little kids have fun and learn the fundamentals of baseball. He is currently employed at Fort Wayne ATA as an instructor of the Korean martial art Tae kwon Do he has achieved the rank of 2nd degree black belt. The kids their really love him and they keep him on his toes when they try to be deviant. There is no such thing as the perfect community in ours we have some bad areas and some good areas. We have recently seen a rise in the amount of drugs and drug sales in our area. It seem like every time I read the newspaper I see that there is a new drug bust. I personally hate drugs they can be expensive and they take your life away. Also, I have been hearing...
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...In today’s world all over the news stories about unlawful killings bombings and the use of deadly physical force are being portrayed as just while a handful of those cases are viewed as unjustified. Police and other officials need to understand the definition of deadly force and the differences between justifiable and excessive. The public needs someone they can depend on and if the police are using deadly force in harmful ways that trust is lost. However, police should be prepared to shoot to kill in any situation because the outcomes cannot always be determined. Police should use deadly physical force in only necessary situations to protect the public. A 15 year old boy named Jordan Edwards from Mesquite High School who weighed 150 pounds and was nearly six feet tall, was shot in the head by a police officer from Dallas suburbs over this past weekend. The police officer whose name still has not been released allegedly killed Jordan Edwards, and also gave false information on the way the incident happened. According to the officer who shot Jordan said, “The car was reversing down a street towards the officer in a very aggressive manner.” Police Chief Jonathan Haber told reporters at a news conference that the video showed opposite of what actually did happen. The unknown officer fired when the car was...
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...The term suicide by cop was first coined by Dr. Karl Harris in 1983 when he was a suicide hotline operator. Dr. Harris had previously served on the police force and had quoted to the New York Times in 1998 that he coined the term as a result of his years on the police force and his experience of observing, "cases where it appeared that people had actually forced police officers to shoot them" (Voorhees, 2014). Suicide by cop is the result of an individual intentionally displaying life-threatening behaviors in order to coerce a law enforcement officer to respond with lethal force which results in that individual's death. The typically profile for an individual that is likely to engage in a suicide by cop is younger, Caucasian, males who have active relationship conflicts or have suffered from mental health issues (Patton & Fremouw, 2016). In terms of percentages, the estimated percentages for suicide by cop victims were around ninety-eight percent males, fifty-two percent were Caucasian, and the average of their ages were in the earlier thirties. According to a case report produced by the American Journal of Psychiatry, suicide by cop accounts for ten to thirty-six percent of law enforcement shootings. Upon researching each of these victim's triggers it was discovered that over seventy percent of them had recently suffered a stressful, adverse life event such as the recent end of a relationship, victim or perpetrator of domestic violence,diagnosis of a terminal illness, a loss...
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...conjure up crimes through loopholes, allows people to commit crimes based off of prejudicial profiling, and is misunderstood and used improperly so law enforcers don’t know when to act on the law and when to enforce it. As it stands now there are twenty four states in the United States that hold the 'stand your ground' law in which each state has its own definition. With the recent case Florida vs. Zimmerman in Florida, where Zimmerman killed a boy Martin without good reason, the law is being questioned on its definition and misuse. Currently Florida statutes chapter 776 defines justifiable use of force. In the subset .012 it states a person is allowed to use force, except deadly force, against another person when that person believes that it is necessary to defend him/herself. However, they are allowed to use deadly force and can't retreat if one believes that it is necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to him or herself (State of Florida). Another state that holds the 'stand your ground' law is Arizona. The Arizona state legislature states a person is justified in threatening to use or using...
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