The Importance Of Discretion And Continuing Education

My classes taught me well, there were few things I did not understand during my time with the LRPS. I knew which forms should or are being used whenever an officer was dealing with a violated offence. I also knew what needed to be done before, during, and after an investigation. The things I was mostly learning about was the policing culture and mindset. Quite of few of the officers exercised their discretion to not tarnish the image of the agency or keep individual people happy. There was more than one ticket-able violation where Constable Norman Smith could have given a much harsher ticket or numerous ones, but he chose not to. He explained this as he did not want to be, “That guy”. Some the officers went to calls at the request of some co-workers,

Perceptions of what constitutes a qualified police officer have been crafted as a result of numerous television shows and movies. They are often portrayed as heroic, invincible, and possessors of brute strength. While some of these physical attributes are in fact expected and required of police officers, they are not the only ones and at times,

Ramsey mentions the prejudices present in today’s police officers. After reading this article I have thought about my own prejudices and how it would affect my police work. Ramsey explains that it is human nature for officers to have prejudices, but it is up to the individual officer to not let those prejudices control his/her police work. It would take self-discipline and self-control for officers to not let their prejudices surface and become a problem while working. However, officers are taught self-discipline and self-control at the Police Academy to prevent this problem.

In 1789 the storming of the Bastille on the 14th of July signalled the start of a change in political history which would not only lead to half a decade of political unrest in France, but would also change the face of european history forever. From the spread of enlightenment ideology and the idea of true democracy, France was the centerpiece for radical political and social change in the 18th and 19th century.

When writing this training briefing, it was asked if officers have too much discretion, which leads to unethical behavior. An officer's discretion is a powerful. Police discretion is defined as the power to make decisions that allows them to decide rather or not to pursue police procedures. Proper use of discretion is very important. If the decision to remove this discretion is made, offenses would d result in many unnecessary arrests. While "must arrest" offenses may be considered harsh. Creating” can’t arrest" offenses may result in people disregarding the laws of the town. Those gullible to unethical behavior use their police discretion to abuse the system in many ways. Engaging in corrupt behavior such as gratuities, bribes and disruptive

As a law enforcement officer, their standards should be higher. They should be constant checking a validation of all actions right or wrong. As much as I hate to say this, unless the current law enforcement system is removed completely and made from scratch their will never be the change required.

Driving a vehicle under the influence impedes the capability of an individual to drive safely. The people in the vehicle as well as on the streets are considered to be at risk. This indicator directs the link between transportation and negative health outcomes. This measure supports the policies and laws against alcohol impaired driving. The annual estimated cost of alcohol related motorized crashes in the United States is more than $59 billion (Blincoe et al., 2014). In the year 2012, a total of 10,322 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, which is around (31%) of all traffic related crashes in the United States (U.S. DOT, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2012).

When an officer does something completely wrong in the field he or she is given a punishment. Examples of these punishments include a fifteen-day suspension for the threat to beat a pregnant woman after calling her the N-word, but the report that followed points to most cases of police misconduct going unpunished (Podesta). In the Vanity Fair article when the Justice Department did their thirteen-month investigation on the CPD they also pointed out that the city’s discipline process is ‘toothless’ and lacks integrity. The same article also commented on the poor use of proven crisis-intervention techniques, so not only are they not using these tactics that they have been trained to use but they also are not being punished when they do not use

“Playing dress up begins at age five and never truly ends” was once said by a famous designer, Kate Spade. Kate Spade is the co-creator of the handbag brand Kate Spade, she is a self-empowering woman with a mind of her own, somewhat like myself. I am very goal oriented and believe that if your dreams do not scare you then they are not big enough. I have a main goal of owning and running a fashion boutique of my own. A large interest of mine, like any other typical girl, is clothes. However, unlike other typical girls I take my interest whole heartedly by turning an interest into a successful career.

As being a police officer becomes more and more scrutinized by the community and the media, it is difficult to find citizens to fill these positions. When a lot of what officers do day to day currently is continually watched, it makes it hard to please the community and also keep the safety of everyone, so it is ever more excruciating that officers stay safe. With our ever changing world police officers have to keep up as well to learn and adapt to how the world works to keep everyone and themselves safe. The Greeley Police department should provide more extensive training on educating officers to stay safer because it will keep officer safety a priority, create a better understanding as to why they should have body cams and dash cams, and learn to properly deal with mental health patients.

When it comes to police officer disciplinary actions, the lines becomes thin and more difficult to read between. It is not such a black and white situation and when it comes to properly disciplining a police officer it can become difficult to do so especially when that officer has either been on the force a long time so there is an established relationship, or the inappropriate act they committed happened just once and they claim it will never happen again. These types of things make it much harder to decide what the right discipline may be for that officer.

Discretion is defined as the authority to make a decision between two or more choices (Pollock, 2010). More specifically, it is defined as “the capacity to identify and to document criminal and noncriminal events” (Boivin & Cordeau, 2011). Every police officer has a great deal of discretion concerning when to use their authority, power, persuasion, or force. Depending on how an officer sees their duty to society will determine an officer’s discretion. Discretion leads to selective enforcement practices and may result in discrimination against certain groups of people or select individuals (Young, 2011). Most police officer discretion is exercised in situations with individuals (Sherman, 1984).

Police officers with a minimum education are likely to use poor judgment. They will follow their instant before making a better

I selected the introduction to ethics as it is a requirement prior to applying to the nursing program. Even if it were not a requirement, this class I feel should be the foundation of continuing education no matter your major or area of study. For many years I worked for a large insurance company, almost daily my morality was tested. Customers asked me often if claims could be documented to make it appear as though they were not at fault for an accident they did indeed cause. They hoped by documenting the claim in such a way it would keep their rates down, and money in their pockets. While it would have been much easier for me and my client to document the claim as fault free, ethically it was wrong. It would have done more harm than good and

Training is one of the most important roles at a law enforcement agency. It is never-ending as “concepts, theories, philosophies, practices, procedures, and techniques are constantly changing to meet social needs” (Iannone et al, 2009, p. 60). Without training, even the best officer will turn into one that is not respected by his peers or society. Gone are the days when an officer is sent to the training academy and has no more except for yearly inservice. This can be accomplished with field training after the academy, roll call training, inservice, emailed updates from the training staff, and outside the agency training. It does not always have to be expensive. Most think that the effectiveness of training can’t be measured, but successful training can easily be seen through “higher morale, less job stress with its high economic cost, greater esprit de corps, a lessened need for punitive discipline, greater effectiveness, in crime suppression, increased public support and confidence, fewer errors, better