1. Reasonable Use of Force
For the Occupy Movement

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

3. ?
Bland…

4. ?
Cliché…

5. ?
We might be on to something…

6. This is Lieutenant John
Pike, a police officer at
UC Davis.

7. Through the power of
the internet, he has
become lovingly known
as…

8. PEPPER SPRAY COP!

12. 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

13. Gap
 Amount of force law enforcement agencies apply
to the Occupy Movement
 Amount of force public deems as necessary to
employ

14. 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

15. 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?

16. UC Davis

17. 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

18. 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officers being out-of-date and insufficient to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

19. Occupy Oakland

20. 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

22. 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

24. 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?

25. Use of Force

26. Too little…
 Runs risk of failing to apprehend the suspect
 Endangers themselves, fellow officers, and the
public if the suspects resists violently

27. Too much…

28. 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

29. 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

31. Technology
 Tasers
 Pepper spray
 Etc…
 Use of force becomes a moving target

32. In Hindsight

33. Davis and Oakland
 Errors of judgment
 Escalated conflicts
 Bad publicity for police officers
 Negative publicity for protesters
 Could have been handled better

34. 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

35. But…
 Occupy protesters should not have surrounded
the cops in the first place
 Undermined the peaceful image of the protest
and begged for retaliation

36. 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.

37. 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

38. Mediation

39. 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

40. For UC Davis
 Police should have erred on the side of caution
 Risk to officers and public was minimal

41. 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

42. Questions?

43. Needs
Excellent Good Fair
Work
Context
Purpose: perceptive definition of central question, visual & X
verbal; scope is narrow, question consistent throughout
Substance
Development: sufficient summary & insight; slides focused & X
yet fully developed; mix of verbal & visual information
Sources: appropriate for topic, pertinent in placement, and X
accurately cited; quotations & data introduced correctly
Organization
Thesis: a thesis, early or late, that clearly states both sides of X
question & its mediation
Introduction and Conclusion: overview of organization given X
at the beginning; conclusion sums up key points
Relationship: relationship of ideas clear; coherent; visual cues X
guide us through presentation
Style
Style: clear & to-the-point text on-screen; same for data on- X
screen; the verbal component fits the visual
Verbal performance: engaging presence, name given, neither X
too colloquial nor too formal; no mumbling
Conventions & Correctness X
free from data errors
free from word errors (SP, etc.)
Response Team
Response: Questions in class & written responses demonstrate X
understanding; response helps enhance presentation
(rated “Excellent,” “Good,” or “Fair.”
My take is pretty similar to your Response Team’s, when it comes to this presentation
Overall Comments:
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.