Reasonable Use of Force For the Occupy Movement

If the Occupy Movement had a mascot, who do you think it would be?

?Bland…

?Cliché…

?We might be on to something…

This is Lieutenant John Pike, a police officer at

UC Davis.

Through the power of the internet, he

has become lovingly known as…

PEPPER SPRAY COP!

Lt. John Pike

Became the face of opposition to the Occupy Movement

Demonstrates how far social media has come in the capacity to spread ideas

Rallied Occupy members and garnered unwanted publicity for UC Davis campus

Gap

Amount of force law enforcement agencies apply to the Occupy Movement

Amount of force public deems as necessary to employ

Perception of force

Deciding how much force is reasonable or necessary is difficult

Every situation is different

Public judges that decision after the fact knowing all the variables

UC Davis and Occupy Oakland

Two different Occupy incidents

Highlight the difference between accepted levels of use of force

Is there a solution to minimize damage to society and maintain respect for authority?

UC Davis

What happened?

UC Davis chancellor, Linda P.B. Katehi orders campus police to remove the Occupy encampment

Police move in to remove tents with minimal arrests and incidents

Protesters surround police and shout that they will let the cops go pending release of arrested students

What happened?

Police spend upwards of 15 minutes giving out warnings to protesters that they would be required to use force if they did not move

Prime example of current tactics by police officers being out-of-date and insufficient to resolving Occupy movement conflicts

Occupy Oakland

What happened?

Occupy goal: Move the protesters to the vacant Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center

Police confront protesters for destroying construction barriers

Protesters respond with bottles, metal pipe, rocks, spray cans, improvised explosive devices, and burning flares

What happened?

Officers respond with smoke, tear gas, and beanbags during the arrest of 20 people

Night ends with protesters breaking into City Hall, breaking windows and property, and burning an American flag in front of the building

Whose fault?

Tensions escalated quickly

Would this have been a problem if police just let Occupiers take the vacant building?

Do we blame the police officers for provoking retaliation and causing property damage?

Use of Force

Too little…

Runs risk of failing to apprehend the suspect

Endangers themselves, fellow officers, and the public if the suspects resists violently

Too much…

Use of force doctrine

Law enforcement agencies had to create a doctrine to determine acceptable use of force

Strike a balance between security needs and ethical concerns for the rights and well-being of intruders or suspects

Double standard

Decision is complicated

Citizens expect the police to be aggressive in the enforcement of the criminal law against serious offenders

They also expect the police to show restraint when they or those they know are involved

Technology

Tasers Pepper spray Etc…

Use of force becomes a moving target

In Hindsight

Davis and Oakland

Errors of judgment Escalated conflicts Bad publicity for police officers Negative publicity for protesters Could have been handled better

At UC Davis

It is clear that pepper spray was not necessary for the police to leave

The main objective of removing tents was already complete

Didn’t take into account that their actions would be spread around the internet like wildfire

But…

Occupy protesters should not have surrounded the cops in the first place

Undermined the peaceful image of the protest and begged for retaliation

At Occupy Oakland

Protesters got out of hand immediately

No justification for escalation besides mob mentality or lack of personal judgment

Exhibits an image of immaturity and lack of respect for authority and private property

Don’t burn the American flag. For real.

Should police have backed off?

Argument: Conflict and damage would have been kept to a minimum if police had backed off

Argument is weak Should police let bank robbers do as they

please because confronting them could cause a shootout?*

*I know that is a hyperbole

Mediation

Mediation Observations

Finding the middle ground requires a fundamental change in the approach of law enforcement

Need a change tailored for Occupy protest circumstances

Public needs to understand the difficulty of deciding when to use force and how much

For UC Davis

Police should have erred on the side of caution

Risk to officers and public was minimal

For Occupy Oakland

Police were forced to respond with force

Police blamed after the fact for causing the chaos

Public should contemplate the double standard presented and temper bias toward police

Questions?

Name& Section: Barber, VE

Excellent Good Fair Needs Work

Context Purpose: perceptive definition of central question, visual & verbal; scope is narrow, question consistent throughout

X

Substance Development: sufficient summary & insight; slides focused & yet fully developed; mix of verbal & visual information

X

Sources: appropriate for topic, pertinent in placement, and accurately cited; quotations & data introduced correctly

X

Organization Thesis: a thesis, early or late, that clearly states both sides of question & its mediation

X

Introduction and Conclusion: overview of organization given at the beginning; conclusion sums up key points

X

Relationship: relationship of ideas clear; coherent; visual cues guide us through presentation

X

Style Style: clear & to-the-point text on-screen; same for data on-screen; the verbal component fits the visual

X

Verbal performance: engaging presence, name given, neither too colloquial nor too formal; no mumbling

X

Conventions & Correctness free from data errors free from word errors (SP, etc.)

X

Response Team Response: Questions in class & written responses demonstrate understanding; response helps enhance presentation (rated “Excellent,” “Good,” or “Fair.”

X

Overall Comments: My take is pretty similar to your Response Team’s, when it comes to this presentation about the use of force at two West-Coast OWS events. Like your Team, I had misgivings at the macro level, the level of purpose for your Mediation. You fault the police response in both cases — though in Oakland, obviously, the protestors were much to blame as well. The presentation called the police “out of date,” esp. in Oakland. So what exactly were you mediating? The “double standard” you spoke of regarding the public’s perception of the police use of force? Or two police approaches, when force is required? Everything else you about the PowerPoint was excellent, though: the use of visuals, the choice of examples, the distinctions drawn between UC Davis and Oakland, the excellent citations, rooted in careful research. Yu handled the questions in class with fine intelligence too. A or 95.