The police favoring side consists of the arguments that say police have the right to use strong force because of the situations they are put in. when someone is dealing with a person who might have a gun or knife, that makes the situation very dangerous and gives the police officer permission to defend themselves with force as strong as needed. the amount of forced used is decided by the police officer depending on how much they feel is/was necessary. often times too much forced is used or the victim thinks that too much forced was used which causes the controversies we see and hear about today.
The Public/people's side is that there should be a better way to be able to protect our people. when they see the people who are supposed to protect them(the police) hurting them and other people around them. this produces the thoughts of people not knowing whether they can trust the police officers they see on a weekly basis and if they cant trust them for their issues, who can they trust?
these two sides bring about great arguments and major differences between them and is a topic many people are unsure of
I think you clearly showed why this topic is such an interesting and tough one. It's all about where you draw certain lines and can really be taken on a case by case basis. Phrases like "very dangerous" or "too much force" are used, but it's tough to determine what exactly qualifies as "very dangerous" or how much force is "too much."
ReplyDeleteYes I agree with Austin that this is a very hard situation to pick a side. I think a lot of times it depends on the situation but if it were me I would have to take the police's side because almost all the time they are doing their job right and we never really hear about that because that is what they are supposed to do. But I would say there are corrupt policemen because we live in a sinful world but I dont think the police force should be judged as a whole but on the individual.
ReplyDeleteOne idea that might help clarify the issue of "how much is too much" is the question of motive. Is a police officer acting brutally because he needs to in a given situation? Or is he acting brutally because he wants to or even likes to? Certainly we can say that it is too much if an officer enjoys acting brutally. But then, how do we know this? Is there a history of brutality? Is there a history of crime from the perpetrator?
ReplyDeleteThese questions might help to clarify...but then again, they might just muddy the water even further!