Use of force by police seen as rare but necessary action

Law enforcement authorities work to keep confrontations from escalating.

The brawl last week between Cape Girardeau police and residents on South Hanover Street led to the use of pepper spray, Tasers and the drawing of a firearm by law enforcement.

It's called use of force and sometimes, police say, it's necessary.

"We would love never to have to use force," said Capt. Carl Kinnison with the Cape Girardeau Police Department. "The only reason we ever use force is because we are met with force."

While high-profile instances garner much attention nationally -- remember Rodney King? -- the statistics show that police in fact rarely use force.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, an estimated 45 million U.S. citizens -- one in five -- have some sort of face-to-face contact with law enforcement each year. Still, a department study shows that police use force on fewer than 1/10 of 1 percent of all calls.

That's holds true locally. The Cape Girardeau Police Department said it used some sort of force -- a Taser, pepper spray, baton or pulling a firearm -- 54 times in 2004 out of more than 4,000 arrests. So far this year, they've used force 32 times, which is in less than 2 percent of all arrests, Kinnison said.

The last time local police have even shot at someone was four years ago, when two officers returned fire at the Super 8 Motel while taking down a meth lab, he said.

"We even get people who say we should be more aggressive," Kinnison said. "So you can see that police officers don't like to use force unless we have to."

Sometimes it's inevitable. Police say that was the case on July 4, when two officers responded to a call that fireworks were being shot at someone's house. An attempt to question three youths turned into a pursuit.

As one officer was handcuffing one of the juveniles, he was approached by three adults and was struck in the head with a metal object. Then, as the suspects fled, a crowd descended on the officer and made threats. The officer said he was then forced to pull his gun to protect himself.

Police from across the area responded to the scene and a search for the suspects culminated in using a Taser on a man who they say was yelling and screaming. They then used pepper spray on two women that they claim were prohibiting the arrest. Since then, the women who were pepper sprayed have filed a rights violation complaint against the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

But police say that using force in such situations is necessary. They say it can be safer for everybody in cases of arresting a potentially dangerous suspect, restraining unruly combatants or controlling a disruptive demonstration.

"You really can end up with less trauma on both the officer and the subject," said Lt. Vince Diebold, patrol division supervisor at the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department.

"If we end up in a fight, everybody may get hurt," Diebold said. "But with Mace or a Taser, it's generally harmless if it's used properly. It can settle a dangerous situation pretty quickly."

Dr. Mike Brown is a professor of criminal justice and director of Southeast Missouri State University's Law Enforcement Academy. He said that law enforcement students are trained to assess a threat and respond accordingly.

"Sometimes they have to make these assessment pretty quickly," he said. "They may have only a few seconds. We are continually training and preparing for these contingencies. But it's a work in progress. There's no set of techniques that are successful in every situation."

Brown said that officers are told to use the least violent technique. Officers are told to use the next level of force that is being directed at them. For example, if someone is resisting arrest and has clinched fist, pepper spray or a Taser would be appropriate. If that person has a firearm, then lethal force can be used if the officer feels his life or someone else's is in danger, Brown said.

"We hope a person realizes it's futile to resist an arrest," Brown said. "Because police aren't punching bags. They don't have to take it. In fact, to effectively keep the peace, the law expects and requires them to be the aggressor in some of these situations."

smoyers@semissourian.com

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