The US Police use of force policy fall short of human rights standards, report finds

Last updated on June 25th, 2020 at 01:35 pm

A new study by the University of Chicago has learned that the Police department in many cities in the United States is failing to meet international human rights standards in the utilization of lethal force.

The report comes between the growing demand for police policy reform at the state, local and federal levels following the demise of George Floyd, Laquan McDonald, Breonna Taylor, and numerous other black Americans. 

The University of Chicago Law Review Online report surveyed in the year 2018 that the police department policies in 20 cities of the United States. Plus, they graded them utilizing the international human rights law and standards on police using lethal force.

The report underlines the global challenge of balancing police force as per human rights—including the rights to life and security of an individual. To address this difficulty, the 193 member nations of the United Nations, including the United States, have created standards and norms to necessitate the utilization of police power, along with the UN Basic Principles for the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. 

Researchers didn’t find a single Police department in the United States that was working under the definite rules that are agreeable under the guidelines made on international human rights laws. 

The report also found that America’s greatest police forces lacked legality since they are not liable to human rights laws allowing the utilization of deadly force.