NCJ Number
191397
Journal
American Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 25 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 2001 Pages: 173-197
Editor(s)
William G. Doerner
Date Published
2001
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This article demonstrates that law enforcement agencies need to develop policy guidelines for officers’ behavior, especially when they are facing drug suspects who attempt to destroy contraband.
Abstract
This article reviews both Federal and State cases to assess different ways to respond to legal questions that arise about the amount of force officers can employ in this situation. When drug suspects attempt to destroy evidence by ingesting it, police officers have a limited amount of time to react. In addition, the amount of force a police officer can lawfully employ to prevent this comes into question. This situation can be difficult for many police officers for a variety of reasons. If an officer employs more force than considered necessary to remove evidence before it is ingested, the court can rule the evidence inadmissible at trial. In addition, if an excessive amount of force is used, the officer is not only liable for his own actions but the agency will also be held responsible. This type of situation can potentially ruin both the agency and individual officers professionally and financially. This demonstrates that agencies need to develop guidelines as well as devise special training for handling drug suspects. As the war on drugs continues, law enforcement needs to be more aggressive but at the same time trained to stay within legal bounds so that evidence is allowed at trial and costly law suits are avoided. Bibliography, references