Citation

Lee HOON. Korean Assoc. Public Saf. Crim. Just. Rev. 2017; 26(3): 271-298.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Korean Association of Public Safety and Criminal Justice)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The authority to use force, within law enforcement, represents the government power in modern societies; however, police use of force must meet the legal standard established by the court decisions and related laws and regulations. Nevertheless, the general public have often observed police officers in the line of duty apply unnecessary force against citizens when they encounter disturbing situations. Recently, there has been a heated debate between civic organizations and the police with respect to police use of water cannon that killed a citizen who participated in a street protest. Considering the importance of police water cannon safety issues, the current study addressed the legitimacy of police use of water cannon that resulted in a citizen's death within the context of "immediate and serious danger" that was adopted in the two landmark decisions by the United States Supreme Court: Tennessee v. Garner(1985) and Graham v. Connor(1989). As U.S. federal courts find police use of deadly force as well as non-deadly force legitimate only when a suspect poses an immediate and serious danger to a police officer or others, the current study discussed whether the citizen killed by police use of water cannon was an immediate threat to police officers or not. Furthermore, the current study proposed several policy implications that may contribute to the prevention of excessive use of police force in the future.

Language: ko

Keywords

Immediate Danger; Legal Boundaries of Police Force.; Past Dangerousness; Police Use of Force; Police Water Cannon