Title: Excessive Force: Causes, Solutions & Victims’ Rights | DC Law
Headings: Excessive Force: Causes, Solutions, and Victims’ Rights
Excessive Force: Causes, Solutions, and Victims’ Rights
What is the definition of excessive force?
There are five types of police brutality:
How does police brutality violate human rights?
When does police use of force become excessive or unjustified?
Force is categorized into five levels:
Famous examples of excessive force
Police violence and excessive force statistics
What causes police officers to use excessive force?
The following factors have been found to contribute to the use of excessive force:
Fear
Racism and discrimination
Systemic problems in the police force
Proposed solutions on how to prevent excessive force by police
Proposed excessive force solutions include:
Additional officer education and training requirements
Additional mental health resources for officers
Demilitarize the police
Update department policies
What should I do if I’ve been the victim of excessive force by police?
If you’ve been the victim of police violence, you may find these resources helpful:
File an internal complaint
File a criminal complaint
Pursue civil litigation
Typical victim compensation for excessive force includes:

Content: The officer involved was acquitted of criminal charges. Police violence and excessive force statistics
The following information was obtained from Mapping Police Violence’s report on 2019 deaths caused by police unless otherwise noted. Police killed 1,098 people in 2019. 429 civilians have been fatally shot by police as of June 4, 2020. 24% of the people killed by police in 2019 were Black. There were only 27 days in 2019 where police did not kill someone. Black people killed by police are 1.3 times more likely to be unarmed than white people. 99% of killings by police officers from 2013-2019 have not resulted in the officers involved being charged with a crime. From 2013-2019, the Austin Police Department killed 31 people. 42% of these people had a mental illness.