Law Enforcement Accountability: Prosecution Disparities

The Prosecution Gap in Law Enforcement Accountability

By [Student’s Name]

Course Code and Name

Professor’s Name

University

City and State

INTRODUCTION

Problem Statement

In pursuit of excellence and increased security, America as a country has invested heavily in the employment and training of law enforcement. The majority of the states enjoy an average of 83,000 law enforcement officers employed in one capacity or another. State law gives officers authority to decide on how to employ and use lethal force (Zeidman 2004). As Maguire *et al. *(2017) shows, the main justification for such use of force is a desire to arrest the individual or prevent further harm to the officers or citizens within the vicinity.

However, Smith (2004) counters that in the past decade, officers have continuously been implicated in using lethal force in situations where such force has been unnecessary. This includes harming and even killing innocent civilians…