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Fuller, T. C.

College of Education and Social Services

2004

M. Ed.

Policing is a uniquely fulfilling, thankless, rewarding and dangerous profession. Whether one is a local officer walking a beat, a state trooper patrolling the highways, or a federal agent pursuing terrorists, law enforcement is a calling that few answer and fewer still turn into their life's work. One of the areas of law enforcement that many realize yet few discuss is the application of deadly force. While people in our society understand and (for the most part) accept the fact that police officers will occasionally have to kill people, it is a fact that is rarely discussed, even within policing circles. When it comes to scholarly work on the subject, the pool of available knowledge gets even smaller. This is an enormous disservice not only to those in policing, but for the larger society as well. Scholarly work in this realm has value in that it can provide a better perspective on this emotionally and legally loaded topic. This thesis is an exploration of current teaching trends, available literature and my personal experiences on the topic of teaching police officers to apply deadly force. It is an attempt to partially remedy a dearth of information and to perhaps begin a conversation around this sensitive, imperative topic.