Over the recent months there has been a lot of media attention on the way in which the police treat suspects. In particular there was the recent case of the police officer whom was caught on cctv repetadly kicking a female suspect whilst she was being restrained on the ground by another officer. This case was investigated and it was said that the office was not using “brut force” but was in fact using “reasonable force” which he is by law entitled to use. So what constitutes reasonable force? The law is very clear on what circumstances “reasonable force” may be used by a police officer or member of the public. The law states the “reasonable force” may be used in self-defence, protection of property, to prevent a crime from taking place, and also in a lawful arrest. The law also states that this force must only be used in “reasonable circumstances”.
So what is “reasonable”? So of the definitions that you might find in the dictonary include: “being within the bounds of common sense”, “not excessive or extreme” or “being of reasonable or sound thinking”. So was the police officer in the recent case mentioned before acting “reasonably” or “within reason to the circumstances”, I personally am not able to see how he could have been.
By the way in which the police are behaving and the way in which they are being portrayed through the media, society is losing their confidence in them. The police are no longer upstanding members of the public, respected by their community, and protecting there community’s. Is this because we have invested too many powers in the police?
There is the “independent complaints commission” for investigating police officers whom complaints are made against. Although the complaints commission is called “independent” it is not; it is still employed and paid by the same organisations. There is also the problem that it takes such a long time for police officers to be investigated that the evidence is finally lost or unusable in court. I feel personally that the whole system is a shambles, the police are allowed to get away with too much. We are now even portraying this within the “cop dramas” featured on the tv.
How far is it going to go before the police are stopped. I feel that the time has come for our government to start making restrictions on the powers in which the police process and also to be watching and reporting what is happening within our police force a lot more.