Violence and the Police Role

The police use of deadly force has been viewed as a commonsense aspect of the police role. It should be questioned, for only by asking why violence is used, can one address the issues of how much, by whom, and against whom it is used, or why violence is selected from among several techniques available for achieving police ends. The violent event is multivalent and the complexities are reflected in the control mechanisms, which are legal, administrative, and occupational in origin. Legal controls are weak, the sub stantive case law is inconsistent, and departmental regula tions and policies on the use of force are variable. The public, organizational, and personal meanings of events involving force are not given in the facts at hand, but are constructed and woven together over time: the occupational role and the self of the officer are in most instances made integral by the unifying act of applying force. This construction of the prob lem implies that legalistic attempts to control the use of force, and even the development of departmental guidelines, are likely to fail and that occupational controls will be the most powerful. Given the occupational basis for violence, macro- social changes such as gun law control or the differentiation of the police role seem, if not promising, at least possible reforms.