ABSTRACT
After studying this chapter, the reader should understand the following concepts and issues:
• What constitutes the use of force • When the use of force is excessive? • When the police are legally permitted to use a
taser • What conduct is considered excessive use of force
Introduction I am glad you asked that question [about allegations of police brutality toward minorities], but before I get into it, I might point out that in a study I once made of the factors that militate against public understanding of the police service, I said that two of the factors were the criticism of the police by certain minority groups in order to direct attention from the high incident of criminal activity within those groups and the practice of the press in magnifying police failures and in minimizing their successes or accomplishments. [A 1962 statement by Los Angeles Chief of Police William H. Parker1]
This quoted statement by the former chief of police of Los Angeles, California is reective of the attitude of police supervisors in the 1960s whenever the police were accused of the excessive use of force.
