The Use of Excessive force in Virginia
DeShawn Moore
South University Online

The Use of Excessive Force in Virginia
Within the last few decades there have been a number of recorded incidents in the state of Virginia involving the police department and the use of excessive force. Most people do not take this type of behavior into account until it affects them, or one of their loved ones. Excessive force is any force used beyond what is necessary to arrest a suspect and keep police and bystanders safe (Segan, 2014). If a suspect refuses to follow an officer’s order, then some force is needed to gain control of the suspect, for questioning or arrest. However, there are police officers using this type of force on civilians that are not guilty of committing any crime. It is not right for anyone to be dragged through the window of a vehicle for questioning, and to do so is absurd and reckless unless it is a life threatening situation. When this type of force is used on someone who has not broken the law, it then becomes a serious issue that needs to be addressed. The excessive force used by police officers in the state Virginia is out of control, and police officers are not being held accountable for their ruthless actions.
There have been incidents reported of excessive force being used when traffic violations are broken and very little is being done about it. In Hampton, Virginia a jury cleared several officers of wrong doing over a 2009 traffic incident. A man was arrested for failing to wear a seatbelt, expired inspection sticker, defective brakes, and resisting arrest. The officer stated he ordered the suspect off the phone 11 times and he failed to comply. The officer saw it necessary to use force to remove him from the car. However, the forces of three officers were needed to violently pull the unarmed traffic offender from the car and place him under arrest (Duhardin, 2012). For incidents like this to go unpunished in the legal system is considered a violation of civil rights. The chief of police said the officer was in the right to use force to handle the situation and he commended his officer for a job well done (Duhardin, 2012). There is nothing being done about the way police officers is allowed to treat civilians who are not guilty of any crime.
It’s apparent that the violation of civil rights, in regard to excessive force on those who are not guilty of committing a crime, will continue to go unnoticed in court, even if it results in death. A woman reported a man banging real hard on the door of the downstairs apartment. Responding to a possible burglary in progress, an officer arrived at the scene within minutes. Seconds later 11 shots rang through the airwaves leaving a drunken unarmed man dead. In the police report, the officer stated the man charged him with his hand in his waist band. The drunken man was unarmed and trying to get into his apartment which was the one he was banging when the officer arrived. The 11 shots it took to supposedly detain the man, were (according to the autopsy) located in the chest, shoulders, palms of the hand, buttocks, his back and thighs. Some of the shots exited and entered in at other locations, going throughout his body in different direction. Once a second officer arrived at the scene, he placed the man in handcuffs, thinking he was still a threat (Dietrich, 2011). A jury found officer Denyakin not liable in the shooting death of the unarmed man (McGlone, 2012). Even with the intense training police officers go through as part of their training process, it would not take 11 shots to detain a drunken unarmed man to question him for beating on an apartment door. This type of tyranny the police force is using against civilians is considered an act of dictator ship, and it must not continue to go unpunished.
Excessive force does not discriminate in what type of degree a person has or what their profession is, in the state of Virginia. An English