Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Field Justice -- A Green Light to Vigilantism or Police Brutality?

For those who understand people who are governed by the rule of law, justice, equity and due process, you will understand that a person can be both a criminal, even a vile criminal, and also be a victim of police or vigilante brutality. They are not mutually exclusive nor incompatible. Would you have it otherwise?

Is it the responsibility of the police officer to inflict punishment based upon what the officer thinks the alleged suspect has perpetrated?

Likewise, a police officer can be responding to a legitimate criminal event and both act within the scope of his or her authority and at the same time exceed the scope of the requisite police response. Every such situation must be evaluated in isolation in its entirety before it can be determined to fit a pattern or tell us whether we have a rogue cop or a system-wide problem.
© Loren M. Lambert, September 21, 2015

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