The Use of Police

Decision Making-Case Study

The use of police force is a hot topic in today's day and age and the public has begun to show concern to the level of where the department heads of law enforcement have to consider how to handle these situations; specifically on the recent activities resulting in the deaths of the suspects. Therefore, the paper will involve the case study titled "Racin' Ray's Wild Day," which is located in Chapter 5 of Justice Administration. The essay will cover the following questions:

• What are the central issues involved?

• Is the Deputy in compliance with the use-of-force policy?

• Should the Lieutenant end Ripley's pursuit?

• Should the Deputy have fired warning shots under these circumstances?

• The complaints and Internal Affairs actions.

• Are additional policies needed?

Central Issues

The central issues in this case study involve police officers using excessive force as well as engaging in a violent pursuit of a suspect. The Pineville County Sheriff's Department is currently under investigation, and facing a lawsuit regarding a previous incident of a violent pursuit ending with the death of a 14-year-old teenager.

Therefore, the department has implemented strict rules and regulations against such activities to prevent similar accidents from happening again. In addition to the incident, the behavior of Deputy Raymond Ripley adds fuel to the fire because of various tactics used during his investigation of a suspect.

The deputy was not authorized by his superiors to fulfill additional tasks, such as doing an extra patrol, or pursuing a vehicle not involved in a felony crime or posing a significant threat to the community. Furthermore, the deputy picked up his German Shepard dog and possessed a Taser stun device in the trunk of his patrol car, which neither weapons were authorized for use within the public (Peak, 2010).

Use-of-Force Policy

Deputy Raymond Ripley's actions were not in compliance with the use-of-force policy because the policy states the use of force at arrest must be objectively reasonable in view of all the facts and circumstances of each case, including the severity of the crime, whether the suspect pose an immediate threat to the safety of the officers or others, and whether the suspect is attempting to resist or evade arrest by flight (Peak, 2010). According to the case study, the suspect was in a parked car at 20:00 hours, which attracted the officer's attention because personal vehicles are normally gone at this time of night.

However, the suspect was not committing