Discretion In Law Enforcement Essay

"Proper use of discretion is probably the most important measure of a police officer or department." -- Rich Kinsey (retired police detective)

In this essay a discussion will be explored about the benefits and problems associated with police use of discretion. Which current policing strategies have the most potential for controlling officer discretion and providing accountability, and which have the least, and why is that the case? And finally, how might these issues impact the various concerns facing law enforcement today?

Law enforcers are supposed to hold the ideals of honesty, integrity and responsibility at all times in the line of duty. This is even more profound for police officers whose work should always inspired confidence among the communities they serve and protect. In fact, one of the core values that police officers ought to uphold at all times is inspiring public trust. A huge percentage of police officers use their positions and authority to serve the public while upholding the highest standards of ethics at all times. However, on most occasions, just like in any other profession, law enforcers are faced with a multitude of ethical dilemmas. Ethical dilemmas occur when an officer faces a situation where he does not know the right course of action, when the course of action considered as right is difficult to follow or when following the wrong course of action was very tempting.

The book says that police have “awesome” discretionary power to use force, to remove freedom, or even take someones life. Calling the the ability of the police to use discretion “awesome” seems inappropriate because even though police officers need to make judgment calls on the courses of action they take daily. It can also be a heavy burden,not just “awesome”. The “power” to take someone's life isn’t awesome. Discretion is the authority of officers to make professional choice on what actions to take in order to handle daily duties.

Criminal justice system has three main subsystems: police, courts and corrections. Each subsystem has its particular duties, but they work together to meet the goals: doing justice, controlling crime and preventing crime (Cole, Smith, & DeJong, 2015). Although this system had been built for a long time ago, continuously, some of its policies need to be reconsidered and reformed to suit the society with various situations. One of the characteristics that exercised by different levels in the criminal justice system, from police to correctional officials, is discretion. This characteristic also receives both supports and oppositions. In this paper, I will focus on an aspect of discretion in police. I believe that police discretion is very important, hence, it needs to be reformed by expanding its level.

First one must know what police discretion is, discretion is the freedom to decide what or how something done in a particular situation. So police discretion is when the Cop decides what to do in a dangerous or non-dangerous situation. There are a number of factors that influence this discretion the first being characteristic of the crime, meaning the cop is going to act differently when called to a more violent crime like a bank robbery were the offenders may be armed, than being called to the mall for a shop lifter. Another factor includes how the offender acts meaning body language, are they more nervous/acting weird meaning that he/she could possible do something or are they claim/normal. This could mean differences in police action

Police discretion by definition is the power to make decisions of policy and practice. Police have the choice to enforce certain laws and how they will be enforced. “Some law is always or almost always enforced, some is never or almost never enforced, and some is sometimes enforced and sometimes not” (Davis, p.1). Similarly with discretion is that the law may not cover every situation a police officer encounters, so they must use their discretion wisely. Until 1956, people thought of police discretion as “taboo”. According to http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/ 205/205lect09.htm, “The attitude of police administrators was that any deviation from accepted procedures was extralegal and probably a source of corruption.

In the United States of America, law enforcement has the ability to make their own judgement, while encountering criminals. Although discretion is at all levels of the police department, law enforcement agencies can easily make unlawful decision. Researchers determined that police officers are prohibited from using offensive language or speaking discourteously, abusing their authority, and using unnecessary force (Carroll, Kovath, & Pereira, 2004). Law enforcement officers are expected to respect their community and ensure that all citizens are kept safe. Some police activity can occur in a private view without supervision from the public, which allow police officers to make a reasonable decision. Police often make quick reaction when it comes

Police discretion is defined as a vague term that police officers have the decision-making power to decide if they want to pursue police procedure. It is the officer's freedom to decide on what should be done in that particular moment. The officer must make a judgement call during different and many situations.

Law enforcement is an honorable profession, and requires everyone within the criminal justice system to have ethics, integrity, professionalism and public trust. It is our daily tests which reinforce our values and morals. Although, my example appears to be a very difficult moral dilemma for the police officer. However, it is honor, courage and respect which will help him to do the right thing, and doing the right thing is being

In this paper, I will be writing about Police Discretion. I will start by defining Police Discretion then briefly discuss the use of discretion in domestic disturbances, minor misdemeanors, and traffic enforcement. I will also discuss the application of police discretion, the provisions it uses and how it is currently practiced. At the end of these brief descriptions, I will then present the myth that exists in regards to police discretion. And finally, I will end this paper with my personal opinion as well as a brief conclusion.

Police possess more powers than the normal citizen so there is a need to provide guidance to the officers so that they do not overstep the boundaries of that power. By providing defined guidelines it guarantees that officers will perform their duties consistently to ensure that they enforce laws and protect the public fairly. Since officers have the ability to apply discretion while exercising those duties there is a need to provide a medium between rigid enforcement and unlimited freedom of discretion. Most police department today have a wide range of developed policies and procedures and are regular updated to ensure that they are up to date with changes in law and law enforcement procedures.

According to Gilmartin (2002), one of the greatest challenges facing law enforcement administrators today is the creation and maintenance of a values-based agency consisting of an ethical cadre of officers and supervisors that represent the values of society. It is through these strong ethics that a society can building on improving the stressed relationship. Having strong ethics, coupled with the transparency and accountability discussed, they can build on this in hopes of resolving issues and achieving the desired

Police integrity which is their trustworthiness and sincerity is a frequent topic throughout media, academia, and all law enforcement organizations. One controversy is that police training cause recruits to act against moral standards. The present study examined recruits integrity, which was measured at the beginning and end of police academy training. There were three different training formats that were observed, social desirability, and self-reported emotional intelligence. Results indicated that participants started with momentous higher than moderate levels of integrity, and training had no significant brunt on their integrity scores. Law enforcement organizations focused on ways to guidance their employees maintained high levels of ethical decision making.

“But they didn't have to beat me this bad. I don't know what I did to be beat up." Rodney King, March 3, 1991. Police Brutality has been a long lasting problem in the United States since at least 1903 when police Captain Williams of the New York Police Department said the phrase, "There is more law at the end of a policeman's nightstick than in a decision of the Supreme Court." In the 1920's the Wichersham Commission had a number of instances of police brutality. Many of these included the use of the "third degree" (beating to obtain a confession). This is a very effective way to get a confession out of somebody. However, beating the accused could easily elicit a confession from a scared and innocent person. Also, this puts the