Police Discretion Essay

Police discretion is a decision made by an officer whether to enforce the law or to let the offense go as a warning. An easy example of police discretion is when a person gets pulled over for a traffic violation, something like speeding. The officer could either let you off with a warning or he or she could give you a ticket. Depending on how the person is behaving the officer will use some discretion, if you're mean with a attitude the officer will probably give you hefty ticket. If you are a well mannered law abiding citizen who normally doesn't get into trouble the officer will hopefully let you go with a warning.

Discretion, by definition according to Griffiths (2015) is defined as, “the freedom to choose among different options when confronted with the need to make a decision” (p.29, 110). Meaning to say, it allows the police to exercise their knowledge in choosing the best way (in their opinion) to handle a situation (p.29). Discretion plays an extensive role as there is no distinct rule that demand police officers to act a certain way in each circumstance as every situation is unique

Police discretion is the authority granted by law to officers and agencies to exercise their freedom in deciding whether of not an arrest should be made, a traffic stop should occur, or other law enforcement action should be initiated (CMRJ 302, 2018). Police discretion is used by officers and other law enforcement agencies in making responsible and legal decisions in certain situations. This discretion is left up to officers in the field and when making the decision the officers use their judgement that they feel is best for that situation. Discretion is used by not only patrol officers in the field, but by the administration and detectives. Because every city and state are different, the use of discretion varies from agency to agency.

Police officers are given the tool of using discretion and although this is a good tool to possess, discretion sometimes is the key that unlocks

Discretion is an essential component of policing because not every set of laws or regulations prescribes what an officer must do in each and every circumstance. It is impossible nor necessary to enforce the law all the time

The disadvantages of police discretion mostly lie in the abuse of the privileges they have in regard to exercising the discretion power. Discretion has been seen as inviting partiality in dealing with the citizens as well as creating an opportunity for corruption. Others have debated that during discretion, the police don’t have the slightest idea about what could be the consequences of their actions (Peak, 2009). Police discretion is a potential tool for abuse that could possibly result into potential needless death and/or injury. A police officers choice may be influenced by personal factors that may determine an irrational decision. For example; In the 2005 shooting, that occurred on 126th Street between Fifth and Lenox Avenues, the suspect, Richard Gooding, ignored officers’ orders to drop his gun and began shooting. Five officers returned fire, fatally injuring Mr. Gooding and wounding Ms. Johnson in the right elbow. Garnold M. King was shot in the lower back; he has settled his lawsuit with the city.

Discretion allows individual circumstances to be taken into account when applying the law. The criminal justice agents such as judges, can implement sentencing policies in line with their own views (Kessler and Piehl 1997). It is vital for criminal justice agents to displace themselves in an individual’s circumstances in order to issue out a just punishment. Often police will issue out a warning for less serious crimes as Ryan stated in his example of jaywalking. Discretion is all dependent upon the circumstances of the offending and the manner of detection by the police. A recent run of mine with a static RBT site resulted in no discretion being applied for a relatively minor offence (failure to display rear P-plate as it fell off during transit) and resulted in a very hefty fine for an offence as minimalistic as that. I’ve come to realise that during intensive police operations such as traffic operations like RBT sites results in a lack of discretion being applied and a more outcome or statistical driven focus being applied by the police. Does that mean that it adds or detracts from the law? I believe that in

Now, with police discretion, it gives the officer a lot of power. There are proper ways to handle situations and then also, improper ways. The proper ways to handle police discretion are making the correct arrest the first time, to investigate crimes correctly and thoroughly, taking notes to report from a crime on what you have been told and not what you think might have happened,

In order to fully control police discretion, officers would have to uphold the laws in every situation they encounter (Pozzulo, J., Bennell, C., & Forth, A. 2013). This is the benefit for the needs of discretion for situation to take into account other life factors. The disadvantage is that there are several possible variations in how a cop might perceive a given crime; ultimately, allowing the law to be influenced by the personal factors that the officer uses to arrive to an decision (Pozzulo, J., Bennell, C., & Forth, A.

Police discretion is one of the most complicated topics. The general definition for police discretion is technically up to how one looks at it. Each police officer has their own discretion in handling every situation they go through, and of course there are guidelines on police discretion. Merriam-Webster’s dictionary definition of discretion is still broad but answers the missing parts, “The quality of having or showing discernment or good judgment: the quality of being discreet: circumspection; especially: cautious reserve in speech (Webster, 2017).” Simply put, discretion is the ability to make good logical decisions. So, police discretion is extremely important.

The role of a police officer can be rather intense at times, but they play a central part in the law enforcement system. Police officers monitor criminal activity, take part in community patrols, respond to emergency calls, issue citations, make arrests, investigate crimes and testify in court as needed. Although officers have a delegation of authority such as their chain of command, they are also given the discretion on which laws to enforce based on their trustworthiness, experiences, situation and training. Though I'm for officers having the entitlement of discretion, I strongly feel their background, values and beliefs can also cloud their judgement. While an officer's discretion has been up for debate publically due to the unnecessary

Police discretion is a unclear term that has an appropriately vague explanation. It is stated as the decision-making ability given to police officers that permits them to determine if they want to engage in police procedure or just let someone go with a word of warning. How it seems in drill is altered from situation to situation.

The first being that the use of police discretion creates the opportunity for fewer arrests. This is a crime prevention technique in itself. With less prisoners, jails and arrests, that creates the opportunity for community building and an alternative to incarceration. When the officer has a chance to understand the situation they have encountered, they can decide what is ethical and what should be done. They can also make decisions like choosing to give warnings instead of citations and tickets. Police officers should absolutely be given their amount of discretion in making decisions for all of the situations they encounter on a daily basis. But with the changing of laws so frequently and with the times we live in, I feel that may change or that this issue will be a topic of debate in discussion for some

From a criminological perspective discretion can be defined as the authority granted by law to agencies and officials to act on their own considered judgement and conscience in certain situations; and each area of the legal system (judges, parliament and law enforcement) has its own discretion. Police discretion is the ability granted by the legal system to police offices, in certain situations, to act in a manner that allows authorities to make responsible decisions and individual choices or judgments, within certain legal bounds. In law enforcement, discretion is left up to each individual officer to make reasonable and responsible decisions out in the field everyday (Beech, 2008). Discretion is used in many situations, such as when an

Police officers are charged with enforcing the law and there is a level of permissible expectation that discretion will be used when making an arrest. The use of discretion by police officers aid prosecutors in successfully prosecuting a trial. Police officers are the first ones on the scene of a crime and they are the ones who initiate the case of probable cause. Court systems are bursting at the seams with cases and the police officer’s ability to use discretion will help to alleviate some of the backlog.