Critical Issues in Policing - Essay Example

In addition, there are also state police agencies and federal-non-military agencies. This paper looks at various issues affecting policing in the United States. Dangers of Policing Police officers are at serious risk of losing their lives to criminals that are heavily armed. Police officers have encountered dangerous and senseless shootings from criminals. They have been gunned down while investigating cases in the United States. The criminals who possess guns kill the police officers to prevent evidence from being used in a court of law against them.

In addition, terror attacks have posed dangers to the police. In particular, the 9/11 terror attacks killed several police officers (Walker and Katz, 2011). Police officers are also vulnerable to vehicle accidents. Police officers use vehicles every day and are therefore vulnerable to traffic accidents. In addition, many police officers have lost their lives in acts of homicide or in the line of duty. Police officers are also at risk of getting infected with dangerous diseases after getting into contact with body fluids of those injured during incidents.

During treatment in the event of serious injuries, the officers face the risk of contracting diseases especially if proper screening of blood is not done by medical practitioners (Walker and Katz, 2011). Stress is another danger to the police officers. . Stress has also been attributed to the increasing level of divorce cases among police officers and their spouses (Walker and Katz, 2011). Less-Than-Lethal Weapons Use of excessive force by the police officers is not allowed by law. In particular, the police officers are not required to use firearms when carrying out their normal duties in the society.

Less-than-lethal weapons have been recommended for use instead. The police officers are trained to effectively use “less-than-lethal weapons” so as to reduce fatalities as they go about their duties. A verbal command is one example of less-than-lethal weapon that police officers are required to use. Suspects are commanded to do what the police officers have told them. Failure to adhere to the police verbal demands lead to another level in the use of justified force (Dempsey and Forst, 2011).

Police officers can use batons and beanbags that are aimed at incapacitating a criminal from a distance. These non-lethal weapons have no penetrating contact energy and thus the criminal cannot be grossly harmed by them. The police officers are advised not to aim at the suspect’s head because the effects can be diverse when the batons or beanbags hit the head. Chemical agents such as pepper spray and mace also form part of non-lethal-weapons. The chemicals are meant to create irritation on the suspect’s skin, eyes, and cause violent coughing.

The police officers can then take control of the suspect after disorienting them with these chemicals (Dempsey and Forst, 2011). Technology Used In Policing Police officers have opted to use computing power and high-tech data transmission equipment to ensure that they collect, store, analyze and share data with other