SCJ310 Police Use of Force

This course is designed as an examination of police use of force within the United States. During the semester we will explore: (1) the practical and methodological difficulties of obtaining data on police use of force; (2) the history of various styles of policing in the United States; (3) the practical and legal issues surrounding the application of various types of force in police-citizen encounters; and (4) the methods of holding police officers and agencies accountable when force has been used inappropriately. This will entail a discussion of several law enforcement agencies that have had systematic issues related to use of force over long periods of time, as well as that of specific incidents of police uses of force.