Reconciling Policing and Military Objectives: Can Clausewitzian Theory Assist the Police Use of Force in the United Kingdom?

Abstract

In contemplating the use of force within liberal democratic societies, policing faces what is known as the “paradox of police governance:” the irreconcilable objective of using minimum force set against the inherently escalatory nature of violence itself. This analysis explores the relevance of Clausewitzian theory for understanding this paradox with regard to policing in the United Kingdom. With reference to recent security incidents in which force, and on occasion lethal force, was employed, this investigation finds that Clausewitzian ideas can be used to address, and potentially resolve, such fundamentals as to how much force is enough, and how and where it should be employed.

Keywords:

• Clausewitz
• Policing
• Strategy
• Use of Force

Notes

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2. Geoffrey P. Alpert and Robert G. Dunham. Understanding Police Use of Force: Officers, Suspects, and Reciprocity. (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 1.

3. Carl B. Klockers. “A Theory of Excessive Force and Its Control” in William Geller and Hans Tock (eds.). And Justice for All: Understanding and Controlling Police Abuse of Force. (Washington, DC: Police Executive Research Forum, 1995), 442.

4. Alpert and Dunham, Understanding Police Use of Force, 171.

5. Home Office. “Crime Statistics for England and Wales,” http://www.crimestatistics.org.uk/output/Page66.asp, (2006); Home Office. “Crime Rates Hold Steady,” 20 July 2006 http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/about-us/news/crime-stats, (2006).

6. Alan Wright. Policing: An Introduction to Concepts and Practice. (Cullompton, UK: William Publishing, 2002), 61.

7. BBC News. “7 July Bombings: Overview” http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/uk/05/london_blasts/what_happened/html/default.stm (2005).

8. “Al Qa'eda Brings Terror to the Heart of London,” Daily Telegraph, 9 July 2005.

9. J.W. Honig in Carl von Clausewitz. On War (trans. J.J.Graham, F.N. Maude and J.W. Honig), (New York: Barnes & Noble, 2004), xix.

10. Christopher Bass and M.L.R. Smith. “The Dynamic of Irwin's Forgotten Army: A Strategic Understanding of the British Army's Role in Northern Ireland after 1998.” Small Wars and Insurgencies, 2004, 15(3): 3.

11. Azar Gat. A History of Military Thought: From the Enlightenment to the Nuclear Age. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 239.

12. Honig, in Carl von Clausewitz, On War, 117.

13. Carl von Clausewitz. On War. (trans. and ed. Michael Howard and Peter Paret) (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984), 75.

14. Ibid.

15. Bass and Smith, The Dynamic of Irwin's Forgotten Army, 5.

16. Clausewitz. Vom Kriege. (Berlin: Dümmlers Verlag, 1832). http://www.clausewitz.com/CWZHOME/VomKriege/Book1Ch02VK.htm

17. J.J. Graham, in Carl von Clausewitz. On War, xx.

18. Clausewitz, Vom Kriege, Book 1, Ch. 2.

19. Graham, On War, xviii.

20. Ibid.

21. Gat, A History of Military Thought, 201.

22. Bass and Smith, “The Dynamic of Irwin's Forgetten Army,” 5.

23. Alice Hills. “Militant Tendencies: Paramilitarism in the British Police.” British Journal of Criminology. 1995, 35(3): 457.

24. Les Johnston. Policing Britain: Risk, Security and Governance. (Longman: Harlow, 2000), 39.

25. ACPO in Johnston, Policing Britain , 37.

26. Mawby and Wright, Policing Accountability, 2–3.

27. Egon Bittner. The Functions of the Police in Modern Society. (Washington, DC: National Institute of Mental Health, 1970), 40.

28. Peter Paret. “Clausewitz,” in Peter Paret (ed.), Makers of Modern Strategy: From Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age. (Oxford, UK: Clarendon, 1986).

29. Clausewitz, On War, 92.

30. Clausewitz, Von Kriege, Book 1, Ch. 2.

31. P.A.J. Waddington. “Public Order Policing: Citizenship and Moral Ambiguity” in Frank Leishman, Barry Loveday, and Stephen P. Savage (eds.). Core Issues in Policing. (London: Longman, 1996), 122–23.

32. Ibid., original emphasis.

33. Collins English Dictionary: Complete and Unabridged. (London: Harper Collins, 2005), 88.

34. Bittner, The Functions of the Police in Modern Society, 38.

35. P.A.J. Waddington. “The Case against Paramilitary Policing Considered.” British Journal of Criminology. 1993, 33(3): 354.

36. See Figure 4.2 in Frank Bolz, Kenneth Dudonis, and David Schulz. The Counter Terrorism Handbook: Tactics, Procedures and Techniques (Practical Aspects of Criminal Investigation), (Washington, DC: CRC Press, 2000), 70.

37. Waddington, “The Case Against Paramilitary Policing Considered,” 357, emphasis added.

38. Paret, “Clausewitz,” 104.

39. Ibid., 112.

40. Clausewitz, On War, 117.

41. Clausewitz, On War, 102.

42. Clausewitz, On War, 585.

43. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. (Havana: September, 1990) http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/h_comp43.htm., emphasis added.

44. Clausewitz, On War, 75.

45. Wright, Policing, 59.

46. James J. Fyfe. “Geographic Correlates of Police Shooting: A Microanalysis,” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency. 1980, 17(1), Bill Clede and Kevin Parsons, Police Nonlethal Force Manual: Your Choices this Side of Deadly.

47. Ian McKenzie. “Violent Encounters: Force and Deadly Force in British Policing” in Frank Leishman, Barry Loveday and Stephen P. Savage (eds.) Core Issues in Policing (London: Longman, 1996), 139.

48. Ibid.

49. John Nicolleti. “Training for the De-Escalation of Force.” Police Chief, July 27–29, 1990.

50. John Collins. Military Strategy: Principles, Practices and Historical Perspectives. (Washington, DC: Brasseys, 2002), 89.

51. Bittner, The Functions of the Police in Modern Society, 106, emphasis added.

52. Johnston, Policing Britain, 43, emphasis added.

53. Lawrence C. Trostle. “The Force Continuum: From Lethal to Less than Lethal Force.” Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice. 1990, 6(1):23–26.

54. David Best and Anna Quigley. “Shootings by the Police: What Predicts when a Firearms Officer in England and Wales will Pull the Trigger.” Policing and Security, 2003, 13(4): 350.

55. Graham Evans and Richard Newnham. Dictionary of International Relations (London: Penguin, 1998).

56. Best and Quigley, “Shootings by the Police,” 350.

57. Clausewitz, On War, 149.

58. Ibid., 77, emphasis added.

59. Hills, “Militant Tendencies,” 452.

60. BBC News. “Police Chief Defends Terror Raid.” June 8, 2006. http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5054348.stm.

61. BBC News. “Police Chief Defends Terror Raid.”

62. “The East London Raid.” Economist, June 8, 2006.

63. Peter Taylor. “Double Tragedy of Stockwell Shooting.” BBC News, March 8, 2006. http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panoorama/4782718.stm.

64. Best and Quigley, “Shootings by the Police,” 352.

65. BBC News. “Man Shot Dead by Police on Tube.” July 22, 2005. http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4706787.stm

66. “Shooting to Kill.” Economist. July 28, 2005.

67. Alexis Akwagyiram. “Community Reacts to Terror Raid.” BBC News. June 6, 2006. http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpa.pps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5053542.stm

68. Roger Ramm. “Support Police in War on Terror.” Sunday Express. June 11, 2006.

69. BBC News. “Police Chief Defends Terror Raid.” 2006.

70. Taylor, “Double Tragedy of Stockwell Shooting,” 2006.

71. Lorie Fridell and Arnold Binder. “Police Officer Decision-Making in Potentially Violent Confrontations.” Journal of Criminal Justice. 1992, 20 (5): 385–399.

72. Bittner, The Functions of the Police in Modern Society, 46.

73. Ibid., 151.