the difficulties associated with conducting research on a group such as the police that, historically, has had great power and autonomy should not be underestimated. As we have seen, the role of the police in society is one of authority with the right to use force. The right of the police to use force to fulfill their responsibilities and the fact that they work in an environment without direct supervision contribute to making abuse of this power all too easy. Unfortunately, these considerations also make it very difficult to study the police and their possible abuse of power. Given the unquestionable relevance of these issues to our society, researchers have attempted to understand and explain the phenomenon of police use and abuse of force. This book proposes a new conceptual framework for examining and assessing the use of force, a framework discussed at length in Chapter 8. A brief survey of prior research on police use-of-force is therefore both necessary and useful to demonstrate the progress that has been made in police use-of-force research, and to highlight the obstacles that remain to attaining a more complete understanding of when and why force is used in law enforcement.

An Imperfect World: Necessary Force

Since the beginning of law enforcement, people have been concerned about the use of force by the police. As early as 1215 English barons ordered restrictions placed on all sheriffs and constables to curb abuses of power by the forces of law and order.