Rethinking about Police Force Continuum Models

• In Event: Police Response to Resistance: The Past and Current Practices

Abstract

Law enforcement officers are entrusted with providing protection and service to the individuals and communities they serve. As part of their job, law enforcement officers often encounter individuals that challenge their authority and even pose a danger to the officer and to the general public. In these situations, officers often find it necessary to make swift decisions to use a certain type of force to restore public order or to gain control of a situation. To assist the police decision making, police agencies have developed or employed a force continuum model based on their force polices and procedures. There have been lots of debates among scholars and practitioners regarding the effectiveness and usefulness of force continuum models because existing force continuum models do not reflect the reality of police-citizen encounters and because of the complexity to define the force levels based on its types, how to use them, and what the results are. Due to these reasons, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) has not used a force continuum model as a training aid since 2006. Many law enforcement agencies, however, still use or employ a force continuum model in their use-of-force policies and procedures and as a training tool. The current study will briefly review the history of police force continuum model and compare and contrast the publicly available models to identify the feasibility of developing a standardized model and revitalizing its use.

Authors

• Hyeyoung Lim, University of Alabama at Birmingham

• Tonikos Vandiber, University of Alabama at Birmingham