The appropriate use of police discretion is an essential factor in policing. According to Merriam- Webster, discretion is “the quality of having or showing discernment or good judgment”. A police officer is in constant use of their personal knowledge and experience when dealing with situations. Conditions are constantly changing and officers are obligated to trust their instincts and do what they have been trained to do. However, there are instances where officers are tainted by personal experiences, in which can ultimately result in a negative experience with the community. This concept varies throughout each department and each officer. One’s discretion, may be different from another, making this notion fairly hard to control in the line of duty. …show more content…
Community policing is justly important as it creates a positive relationship between the community and the police. This relationship is important because it allows for there to be a certain amount of respect between the police force and the community. Being a police officer gives a person authority and then have the opportunity to make a difference and help build the community they are in. For example, when faced with the situation between pursuing a juvenile for marijuana possession and giving them a second chance to realize their mistake, an officer can use his discretion to lead the juvenile in the right direction, as opposed to potentially ending the rest of their life. This opportunity allows a juvenile to get a second chance and to fix their wrongs to potentially have a better
These outcomes are determined by the community and states. At times the community supports the police officers and at times they do not which that also depends on the state and the budgeting. The police discretion can also be limited depending on economic hardship, social services agencies for youth. Another important part that plays an important role in discretion would be changes in political climate and public
In law enforcement, discretion is left up to each police officer to make responsible and reasonable decisions on situations while in the field. A police officer will have no choice but to use discretion in certain situations and make decisions on what type of force or punishment is necessary for the situations. Many people in the society always believe that police officers can make any decision they wish to at any time while working. This is very wrong because there are situations whereby a police officer or even the chief of police has no other choice, but to follow the law in making decisions. The role of the police administrator is double challenging because, he/she must determine how best to use discretion as well as encourage or dissuade discretion by subordinate members ...
The degree of force that officers use is heavily influenced by police discretion in real-world situations rather than espoused by a certain agenda. Discretion can be classified into four different categories where administrators, the community, and the individual police officer exercise differing degrees of influence in decision-making. What is needed to help officer discretion is a central ethos that will guide discretion when all other rules fail to help.
Discretion is defined by Pollock (2010) as, “having the authority to choose between two or more courses of behavior. Law enforcement professionals have a great deal of discretion regarding when to enforce the law, how to enforce it, how to handle disputes, when to use force, and so on. Every day is filled with decision-some minor, some major.” (p.198) When I look at this definition of discretion I feel that these officers are faced with many different issues when it comes to making decisions that can be viewed as fair. This is when I feel that the officer has to make ethical decisions in order to be considered fair, creating trust in the public, while making a good name for the department.
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).
They went further to add that young officers want to get out there chase suspects, makec arrest, and move from call to call, “do the adredaline stuff.” Community policing allows the officers to get together with other officers of other shifts to workout a plan to address the issues of certain neighborhoods (Gardiner, 96, 2016). It’s a strategy that allows officers to be more proactive among the community, instead of just responding to calls. Furthermore, it provides officers with the ability to meet the citizens needs and what they view as important (Gardiner, 110,
Police discretionary practices vary from officer to officer and every officer is differently trained by departments. Without the proper use of discretion out on the field, police officers are left open for legal suit actions however, if the officers are trained and exercising the use of discretion in a good manner, each individual officer can be held accountable. The second disadvantage of use of police discretion is that it allows the police officers to have too much power on making decisions which can affect the life, safety or liberty of an individual (Bargen, 2005). Police discretion presents a clear danger to society because the average officer can make a poor decision and affect the life of a person or persons. If discretion in law enforcement is used in a wrongful manner, it has great potential for being abused out of the field. Discretion allows police officers to “perform a duty or refrain from taking action” (Gaines & Kappeler, 2003, p. 251). Police officers are supposed to enforce equality under the law, people in society all should have equal rights and should be treated the same. However, discretion allows police officers to misuse it by treating offenders of different genders, race, class, ethnicity, religion, age and more inappropriately (Pepinsky, 1984). Law enforcement officers are
I think police discretion is very common. Police officers exercise the choice of whether to question someone, arrest a suspect as well as several other duties and each of these decisions are made without the presence of supervision so perhaps this is the reason it exists. Discretion may be decreased but I don’t think it can be eliminated, even with supervision police officers together hold the authority to make discretionary decisions even if the public disagrees with their tactics. I don’t necessarily think police discretion should not be eliminated because, majority of the decisions that are made by them are made in the best interest of the public or victim.
Discretion is defined as the authority to make a decision of policy and practice while having the choice between two or more possible means of handling a situation. It refers to the authority granted to a police officer that allows him to decide how best to deal with a certain situation. In policing, this includes the decision at times of when, where, how, and what laws to enforce. 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. By exercising discretion, a police officer can keep juveniles out of the criminal justice system or intentionally involve them in it, by implementing various methods. Two major aspects of policing are the factors that influence police discretion and the ways in which police process juveniles who come to their
Community policing stresses the entire cooperation between members of the police force and the community. It necessitates that everyone in the police force, including both civilian officers and sworn personnel, understands that the focus is on resolving community problems, and in doing so, may challenge the everyday policing norms.
To conclude, Community policing represents a major development in the history of American law enforcement, but the extent to which this approach is a success and dominates contemporary policing remains a source of debate. In my point of view, community policing is good for communities. It has challenged the traditional concept of the police as crime-fighters by drawing attention to the complexities of the police role and function. In addition to the police officer hard work; citizens can also make a difference and contribute to make neighborhoods a better place to live. For instance, citizens can hold community meetings to talk about concerns and agree on solutions help organize healthy activities for children in your neighborhood, join or starting a neighborhood crime watch program, and talk to your community police officers and share information and concerns.
When officers investigate crimes they routinely and systematically have to look over the evidence before making an arrest. They essentially have to do the same when trying to solve problems. Officers need to regularly analyze problems before trying to solve them. For example, if officers are responding to a variety of calls around a specific area involving drugs and vandalism. In this element of community policing, officers need to work towards to the future and not the present. They should investigate and observe the area for a couple days, maybe a week to examine the conditions underlying the problem. In order for this to work, officers need to collect additional information, in which they need support from the local community. Tactics could include surveying the neighborhood residents, analyzing the time of day when criminal activity occurs, determining who the offenders are and why they favor that precise area, examining the areas where most of the criminal activity takes place and then evaluate the environmental ideas to fix the
The key aspects to community policing involve having officers working in permanent neighborhoods, the involvement of citizens to identify problems and have potential solutions, and the reliance on agencies to help locate issues. The cornerstone of the program is the citizen interaction with the police. It is reported that communities that receive community policing funds have reduced levels of violent and property crimes, also has a greater number of arrests. Successful partnership helps with the reduction of gang and drug activities, area crime rate, and the improvement of the relationship between law enforcement and
Community policing is a law enforcement strategy that encourages interactive partnerships between law enforcement agencies and the people they serve (Berlin, Michael M. "Encyclopedia of Community Policing and Problem Solving.") These partnerships help communities find solutions to problems with collaborative problem solving and improved public trust. Through this model, the public plays a role in prioritizing public safety problems (Berlin, Michael M. "Encyclopedia of Community Policing and Problem Solving.")
Police decisions can affect life, liberty, and property, and as guardians of the interests of the public, police must maintain high standards of integrity. Police discretion concerning how to act in a given situation can often lead to ethical misconduct (Banks 29).