I might be the only person in the United States who feels this way, but I believe that police officers should use more force. Because, if the police used more force, fewer police interactions would result in someone dying.
The more time a suspect isn’t restrained properly, the more chances there are for an escalation. By limiting the amount of force the police can use, you’re actually putting them, and the suspect in greater danger.
Let’s take a look at three recent examples and see how they might have played out if more force had been used.
If you watched the bodycam videos, you’d see that the police officers acted very respectfully towards George Floyd. Even though there were three officers trying to put him in the back of the SUV, they were unsuccessful. Because, they didn’t use enough force. Had they forced him into the vehicle, he wouldn’t have died on the ground. He might have died from a fentanyl overdose anyway, but he would have done so in air-conditioned comfort. Remember, he died on the ground, because he ESCAPED from the SUV. Had he been safely detained in the SUV, there never would have been a knee on his neck. But to do so would have required more force than was used. And he might have gotten hurt.
Rayshard Brooks was found passed out drunk in a Wendy’s drive through. Officers spoke with him for nearly 20 minutes before attempting to restrain him. Rayshard was a friendly drunk, until he wasn’t. The officers were being quite courteous when they were attempting to handcuff him. Rayshard reacted violently and from there it went very badly. Had they used more force when restraining him, or perhaps restrained him sooner, things may have turned out different.
Jacob Blake ignored officers’ orders. The Taser they used on him was ineffective. He continued to evade officers even after repeated orders to stop and after the officers had drawn their weapons. Why didn’t he listen to the officers? Because criminals might be dumb but they’re not stupid. And he owns a TV.
He kept moving away from the officers, even when they had their guns drawn, because he knew they couldn’t use them. Everyone who pays even the slightest attention to the news knows that officers are regularly being reprimanded and often prosecuted for using too much force. If they had successfully restrained him, but injured him in the process, there would have been hell to pay.
So, the officers followed a protocol specifically designed to protect the criminal and not the officers. And it failed. Jacob Blake continued to ignore orders to stand down and reached into his vehicle to retrieve something. And then he was shot. The sole reason being that he neglected to comply with the officers’ orders.
Could this shooting have been prevented? Yes. If the officers had used more force, he never would have been able to get near his vehicle. But, they may have had to hurt him in the process.
Which is worse, getting hurt or getting killed? Most people would choose being hurt over being killed. More force, while sounding bad, will actually reduce the number of police interactions that escalate into something much worse.
I believe that police officers should use OVERWHELMING force when dealing with a non-compliant individual. They should respond in a manner that ensures their own safety.
Because if there’s a choice of who gets to go home to their family at night, and the choice is either a good guy doing good things or a bad guy doing bad things, I will choose the good guy every single time.
