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Evaluating Police Uses of Force Kindle Edition

by Seth W Stoughton (Author), Jeffrey J Noble (Author), Geoffrey P Alpert (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.3 48 ratings

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Evaluating Police Uses of Force provides a critical understanding and evaluation of police tactics and the use of force.

Police violence has historically played an important role in shaping public attitudes toward the government. Community trust and confidence in policing have been undermined by the perception that officers are using force unnecessarily, too frequently, or in problematic ways. The use of force, or harm suffered by a community as a result of such force, can also serve as a flashpoint, a spark that ignites long-simmering community hostility.

In Evaluating Police Uses of Force, legal scholar Seth W. Stoughton, former deputy chief of police Jeffrey J. Noble, and distinguished criminologist Geoffrey P. Alpert explore a critical but largely overlooked facet of the difficult and controversial issues of police violence and accountability: how does society evaluate use-of-force incidents? By leading readers through answers to this question from four different perspectives—constitutional law, state law, administrative regulation, and community expectations—and by providing critical information about police tactics and force options that are implicated within those frameworks, this book helps situate readers within broader conversations about governmental accountability, the role that police play in modern society, and how officers should go about fulfilling their duties.

“Provides a current and complete blueprint of the laws and policies that contribute to persistent inequalities in police violence. This blueprint will be of tremendous value―perhaps especially so―to those who seek to understand the existing system and where they may best intervene in order to reduce these damaging inequalities.” ―Theoretical Criminology

ISBN-13

978-1479810161
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On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

NYU Press
Publication date

May 26, 2020
Language

English
File size

1278 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"These authors are at the forefront of those who probe the complex questions that can arise when an officer shoots a civilian. This book is an indispensable guide for anyone who wants to better understand police use of force. At the Washington Post we have relied on Geoff Alpert’s expertise to untangle use-of-force issues. Here, he and his co-authors advance the public discussion of this important topic." -- Jeff Leen, Investigations Editor at the Washington Post

"No book has offered a full account of the legal standards used to evaluate use-of-force incidents―until now. The authors bring decades of combined academic and practical expertise in law, criminology, and policing to comprehensively lay out not only federal constitutional law, but state law, administrative standards, and tactical considerations that influence the use of force. As a result, every reader―whatever their perspective or experience―will walk away far more knowledgeable about how the use of force by police officers is governed in the United States." -- Rachel Harmon, University of Virginia School of Law

"Provides a current and complete blueprint of the laws and policies that contribute to persistent inequalities in police violence. This blueprint will be of tremendous value―perhaps especially so―to those who seek to understand the existing system and where they may best intervene in order to reduce these damaging inequalities." ― Theoretical Criminology

"Evaluating Police Uses of Force is a deeply informative and clearly organized book that provides a thorough description of the standards used to evaluate police uses of force in the United States ... I highly recommend it for that reason." ― Teaching Sociology

"An informed, in-depth review of one of the most controversial and misunderstood aspects of modern policing: the use of force. Everyone―from police chiefs to judges to community activists―would benefit from the insights this book provides." -- Art Acevedo, Chief, Houston Police Department

"This meticulously researched book may be the most comprehensive treatment of police use of force there is. The authors carefully explain how force legally may be used, and how it should be regulated. This should be required reading for all policing leadership. Highly recommended." -- Barry Friedman, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Professor of Law and Director of the Policing Project at NYU School of Law

"An excellent reference for lawmakers and reformers. By pulling together so much important information in a single place, Stoughton and his coauthors have done the country a service at a very fraught time." ― National Review

"A timely and needed tool with which to engage in critical debates around policing and police violence ... The value of this analysis for our understanding of police violence is difficult to overstate" ― Theoretical Criminology

About the Author

Seth W. Stoughton is Associate Professorat the University of South Carolina School of Law.

Geoffrey P. Alpert is a Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of South Carolina and author of more than twenty books about criminal justice.

Jeffrey J. Noble is a police consultant and author of Managing Accountability Systems for Police Conduct: Internal Affairs and External Oversight.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07ZKYL9N1
Publisher ‏ : ‎ NYU Press (May 26, 2020)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 26, 2020
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1278 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 337 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #901,710 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #18 in Urban, State & Local Government Law (Kindle Store)
- #203 in Urban, State & Local Government Law (Books)
- #319 in Law Enforcement (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 48 ratings

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Jeffrey J. Noble
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Jeffrey J. Noble retired as the Deputy Chief of Police of the Irvine, California Police Department after over 28 years of service. Mr. Noble earned his bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from California State University, Long Beach, where he graduated with honors and he earned a juris doctorate from Western State University College of Law in 1993.
Mr. Noble is a policing consultant and nationally recognized expert. He has testified in over 300 cases nationwide including the shooting deaths of Tamir Rice and Philandro Castille, and has served as a federal court monitor reviewing uses of force.
Mr. Noble is the co-author of a text on police accountability entitled, “Managing Accountability Systems for Police Conduct: Internal Affairs and External Oversight,” and a text on investigating police force titled, "Evaluating Police Uses of Force."
Mr. Noble has authored numerous articles articles on use of force, pursuits, police officer honesty, threat assessments, interviews and interrogations, witness credibility, and evaluating the quality of investigations, among others. His articles may be accessed on his webpage www.policeconduct.net
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Seth W. Stoughton
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4.3 out of 5

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John Edwards

I highly recommend this Excellent resource for practitioners and academics

Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2020

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This book represents an excellent resource for a broad overview of police use of force. It is well written and comprehensive. The book provides four different perspectives under four different standards of review.
It then outlines tactical practices and force options. Finally, it concludes with a commentary regarding contemporary issues in policy and practice.
The book draws important attention to the lack of a complete repository of accurate data regarding police use of force incidents in the approx 18000 agencies nationwide.
Law enforcement will be victim to the sample bias until comprehensive data is available for academic research.
The book falls short in only two areas that I wish were examined. First, the issue of the compliance by a suspect at the beginning of an encounter. Second, the complexity and dynamics regarding the single perspective of incidents when viewed later on video.
Coauthor Stoughton has provided exemplary classes and excellent articles regarding using caution when video evidence is reviewed from a single perspective absent the additional context in the case. This is an important subject that research has shown to be seminal in individuals interpretation of a use of force incident.
The emotional reaction to a video absent specific context is normal behavior. Use of force incidents seen on video whether justified or not, are never pretty. Some cases are found to be ”lawful but awful” when later evaluated by police investigators, prosecutors, and Grand Juries.

In summary, this book is essential to anyone interested in this subject matter to have a important reference of study with pragmatic perspectives in the operational realities of the police and their use of force.

One person found this helpful

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cMarier

Excellent resource

Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2023

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Excellent book. What makes this book great is that it takes several different approaches to the evaluation of police use of force: a community-standards approach, a constitutional approach, an approach involving the application of state law, and an approach involving agency policy. Do they contradict? Of course. Are there easy answers? Of course not. But this is an important work that provides at least a rudimentary introduction to the understanding of use-of-force controversy.

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Frankie09

Helpful for those not in law enforcement

Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2020

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This is a look into the world of law enforcement through the lens of laws that impact the outcome of critical police interactions. Those communities that have civilian review boards may benefit from this book. Local police administrators may garner other insight on policies. Communities to guide them on police perspectives, and guide police on community expectations. I'm paraphrasing Seth Stoughton: law enforcement has to be open to criticism and transparency, it's the only way to build trust and learn from those critical interactions. This gives perspectives from both sides of this very critical conversation currently surrounding uses of force.

One person found this helpful

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Robert Bravo

Could have been great, but offers opinions as fact that are contrary to the law and the record

Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2023

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From the book, page 55, "...We do not mean to suggest that an officer’s use of force will always, or even generally, be unreasonable just because the officer put herself in harm’s way; in a great many situations, officers are expected to do exactly that. However, when an officer fails to use reasonable tactics given the situation or otherwise contributes to the creation of a threat to a governmental interest in a way that violates professional norms—what some policing scholars have referred to as “officer-created jeopardy” —the officer’s role in unreasonably bringing about the threatening situation should generally be understood to render unreasonable an otherwise reasonable use of force." <end of excerpt>:

My comment: So when an officer makes an error in judgement of a tactical nature, they must then resign themself to accept the responsibility for the suspects illegal actions and deadly force used against them without the ability to defend oneself? If this is what the authors are suggesting, it is flawed in not taking into account the lack of tactical training officers receive and have little experience practicing since most encounters don't require force, and the very real problem of the human factor making each interaction completely unique. I've seen countless videos of drivers of 2-police units put their partner directly in harms way by pulling adjacent and too close to the threat. Is the bad tactic in the authors' opinion the responding officer getting out of the vehicle after being placed in a tactical disadvantage? Clearly this is a practice of a bad tactic, however, the officer has a duty to public safety to address the public threat;

Statements like the excerpt from the authors make policing more difficult, and discourages people from filling the ranks of the profession as they have to be held to a standard of making correct split-second decisions with the miraculous effect of always being right in their tactical choice as required by the authors here. Maybe that is the wisdom in the SCOTUS opinion and you should leave the heavy mental lifting to the justices, as they appear to have gotten what you have missed.

EDIT 11/2023: Reduced one star (total of 2 now): The authors write, "What, then, should the grand jury have done if it concluded that, at the time of the shooting, Michael Brown was a fleeing felon, but did not present an imminent threat of death or great bodily harm? Applying the state statute, the officer’s actions were lawful, and an indictment would be unwarranted. Applying the Supreme Court case, the officer’s actions were unlawful, and an indictment would be entirely appropriate." Except that the forensic evidence, and credible witness testimony provided during the review by the 25-day grand jury review and the later review by the US DOJ/FBI didn't corroborate that account that Brown was fleeing when he was shot. This book is offering a biased and unproven set of facts for their determination that under the Constitutional standard the officer would have been indicted appropriately. Whoa to the juries that hears "expert" testimony from these three self-proclaimed experts on criminal justice and police uses of force.
***Bottom line*** don't puff your position with unsubstantiated or made up facts; we are reading this book to learn how to evaluate police uses of force, and by you not providing accurate information you undermine your credibility to the extent I cannot trust what you write. This book is now less valuable and the considerable time I invested studying it is less than what it could have been in the overall learning on this topic for my professional development.

3 people found this helpful

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Joe

Fluffy

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2021

Verified Purchase

I sat down with this book multiple times to give it a chance but it’s unreadable. I have about 30 or so books on policing / law. This is one of the 3 out of 30 that I just couldn’t get through. The authors appear to know what they’re talking about but it’s a slow, dry read with a lot of fluff. It feels like it was probably a pretty good 100 page book.. but a lot of unnecessary / irrelevant information was added to every part of it to make it actually become the length of an actual book. If you can get through it then you’ll probably learn something. But if you already have knowledge of the law governing police use of force then you might not. There are some better options on the topic.

10 people found this helpful

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Henry H. Perritt

Disappointing advocacy piece against use of force

Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2021

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This is not an analysis of the need for use of force and how to make its application proportional. It's an argument against use of force