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).
Discrimination can lead to legal problems for an officer of the law. If discrimination due to an officer’s use of discretion results in a violation of due process it is a violation of the law (Young, 2010). Due process is the constitutionally mandated procedural steps designed to eliminate error in any governmental deprivation of liberty, life, or property (Pollock, 2010). One of the main concerns with using discretion is the possibility of it leading to a violation of due process by racial profiling.
Types of Negative Police Discretion
Racial profiling occurs when a police officer uses a “profile” as reasonable suspicion to stop a person with the intent to obtain consent to search their belongings (Pollock, 2010). These stops are usually traffic stops and the officer is looking to obtain consent to search the individual’s automobile. The “profile” used is based on race. In these cases, an officer is using their discretion to target minority groups because they believe they are involved in criminal activities...
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...rsation among researchers. The problem I see with the topic of conversation is there is not a lot of research done on the actual affects of the individual discretion of each officer compared to a department that has been educated in following policies more than personal discretion. In fact, from what I saw there is not much research on the effects of discretion at all. It seems like it is a topic that is overlooked when researching the effectiveness of a department. I feel like before more solutions are found on how to correct the problem of discretion, more research needs to be done on how discretion plays a role in every day policing. Until this research is conducted, all the articles published are on theories of discretion causing problems, and all of the solutions mentioned are methods to correct a problem that has not even been proven to be an issue yet.
Racial profiling is the tactic of stopping someone because of the color of his or her skin and a fleeting suspicion that the person is engaging in criminal behavior (Meeks, p. 4-5). This practice can be conducted with routine traffic stops, or can be completely random based on the car that is driven, the number of people in the car and the race of the driver and passengers. The practice of racial profiling may seem more prevalent in today’s society, but in reality has been a part of American culture since the days of slavery. According to Tracey Maclin, a professor at the Boston University School of Law, racial profiling is an old concept. The historical roots “can be traced to a time in early American society when court officials permitted constables and ordinary citizens the right to ‘take up’ all black persons seen ‘gadding abroad’ without their master’s permission” (Meeks, p. 5). Although slavery is long since gone, the frequency in which racial profiling takes place remains the same. However, because of our advanced electronic media, this issue has been brought to the American public’s attention.
Before any argument can be made against racial profiling, it is important to understand what racial profiling is. The American Civil Liberties Union, defines racial profiling as "the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's race, ethnicity, religion or national origin"(Racial Profiling: Definition). Using this definition we can determine that racial profiling excludes any evidence of wrong-doing and relies solely on the characteristics listed above. We can also see that racial profiling is different from criminal profiling, which uses evidence of wrong-doing and facts which can include information obtained from outside sources and evidence gathered from investigation. Based on these definitions, I will show that racial profiling is unfair and ineffective because it relies on stereotyping, encourages discrimination, and in many cases can be circumvented.
discretion” is one that allows a police officer to make a judgment call during several
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, Racial Profiling refers to the discriminatory practice by law enforcement officials of targeting individuals for suspicion of crime based on the individual's race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, social economic class, sexual orientation, and so on. (American Civil Liberties Union) It is to say that authorities in charge of providing security and justice have taken this power to an extent in which discriminate people, especially the ones who are in disempowered groups.
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.
Over the years, this country has witnessed many cases of police brutality. It has become a controversial topic among communities that have seen police brutality take place in front of their homes. Officers are faced with many threatening situations everyday, forcing them to make split second decisions and to expect the worst and hope for the best. Police officers are given the power to take any citizens rights away and even their lives. With that kind of power comes responsibility, that’s one major concern with the amount of discretion officers have when to use force or when to use lethal force.
“Discretion is the availability of a choice of options or actions one can take in a situation” (Dempsey 143). Discretion is a huge part of being a police officer because you come across problems that give you many options to choose from and as an officer you must be ready to make a quick choice. Police officer must face tough choices that involve a small amount of thinking and can put their lives at risk. Discretion is not only used by officers but by every living person that has to make everyday choices, such as waking up for school or not waking up. Problems we see today concerning excessive force from police can be because of bad discretion and that can be because they’re afraid or just they just simply don’t care.
Police officers are seen under a microscope for everyone to see, all flaws in its entirety. We also have the media that makes things seem much more than they actually are. There are times where police officers are in the wrong and sometimes are in the right. It is up to everyone to make sure to research and look at all the facts before assuming one thing to make sure they are making the right judgment. Any discretionary faults can be remedied through counseling to emphasize the importance of decision making (Noble, 2013, p. 8). This also applies to officers who come into contact with civilians on a daily basis for most common traffic infractions to better understand decision making.
Police discretion is an extremely important aspect in the system of criminal justice. Discretion, in law, is defined as the power of a judge, public official or a private party to make decisions on varying matters based on their opinion that is within general legal guidelines ("Discretion"). There are several advantages to police discretion, but at the same time there are disadvantages as well. There is conflict with police discretion mostly because of the fact that discretion is based on the personal opinion of the authority figure instead of consistent, set guidelines. It lets police make decisions like to not make an arrest even if the offense is committed and the evidence is existent. There is conflict whether police discretion is a good thing or a bad thing to have, and there are many factors to discuss when arguing the pros and cons.
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
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
“Depart from discretion when it interferes with duty” says Hannah More, an English writer and philanthropist. Police officers are given discretion for their line of work; however, if there is a means of it interfering with their job, which protecting public safety, then discretion is inappropriate. Detectives, Jed Dineen and Ross Nemeroff, present their perspective on policing. One of the detectives mentions that officers, who are on patrol, have discretion to either look for crime or wait until crime to happen. They also mentioned that a police officer may use whatever force is necessary, based on the particular officer’s discretion, to conduct an arrest. These particular uses of discretion are inappropriate because police may not have enough initiative to finding crimes and the public trust of police is lessened.
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.
Discretion is a prevalent feature found within the Criminal Justice System; from prosecutors, judges to the sheer forefront of the organisation, with the police who act as the ‘gate-keepers’; having the freedom to act according to his or own judgment; a key feature of routine police work (Waddington 2008: 267; Jones 2009). Researchers of policing have identified that police work is intrinsically discretionary in that it encompasses exercise of choice and judgment at “every level of police work, especially at the micro level” (Finanne, 1990: 218). Low policing exercises of discretion (stop and search, investigation, arrest, etc), have absorbed scholars’ attention who have recognised that officers “on the beat” make proportionately unsupervised decisions; where challenges arise when achieving efficient accountability for their implementations of discretion.
When it comes to the subject of ethics, if one does not have a strong moral and ethical character before entering law enforcement, it is a subject that can rapidly become a gray area as their career continues. The importance of reinforcing ethical training and its prominence in the daily lives of an officer goes unattended and forgotten. One of the commonly misused acts of authority is discretion. One may think they are doing the right thing, and that may even be the case, but if it does not coincide with department regulations, then the officer could unknowingly be breaking the law. Discretion is not only about helping a civilian out in a way that seems best for them; it is the way that the officer can best serve the civilian according to