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Factors that affect police discretion
Police use of discretion
Police use of discretion
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The Police Chief must exercise extreme discretion. Discretion can be described as the use of choices that initiate a deliberate decision. These decisions can often later be questioned by the nature of the decision. The nature of the decision used for making decisions can be related to protocol, accepted verses unaccepted behaviors, and even if an alternative could have been made in lieu of a better decision. Discretion can be very dangerous when ridiculed or judged in the eyes of the public.
A police chief representing a community and acting on behalf of a police department must use extreme caution and thoughtfulness in the deliberate choices he makes at his own preference. Failure for the leader of such a department to make sound, sensitive, moral, consistent decisions can cause public uproar and negative media attention. The concept of discretion via two situations will be examined and how it affects the very unique role of the police chief. Police chiefs’ use many types of administrative and operational discretion and the manner that they may use that discretion can affect the officers who work in the department and in the field under them as well. The situations that will be discussed that require the Police Chiefs discretion will be considered using operational and administrative environments.
The emphasis on discretion and it is used and how it is allowed to be used is demonstrated by the Chief. Patrol Officers use discretion the most. Everyday officers are faced with different situations and some of them the same. The deliberate choice to arrest one person and let another go can be considered discretion. It is important that there is consistency in decision making and consistency in discretion. Most of the daily operati...
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...e problem. If such a situation would occur there is a public potential for outrage and backlash on the entire department. There must be an investigation along with elimination of the problem if findings develop that the reports are true.
The intent of this project was to illustrate the importance of the Chief of Police’s use of discretion for operational and administrative duties. There were situations noted and how it affects the head of the department in different aspects of operational and administrative environments. The way the head of the department uses discretion to handle these issues affects the department greatly and even trickles down to the amount of discretion used for officers on administrative and operational duties. The way situations are handled and the amount of discretion used in the choices that are made are important to Department personnel.
How prevalent is police discretion and why does it exist? Can discretion be eliminated? Should it be? Due Date March 11 2005
Discretion does have its advantages. Philip Howard puts forward as an argument that discretion is an essential and inevitable element of public administration. According to Howard discretion is needed to make certain that benevolence is in the manner of governing. He suggest that in an effort to attain conformity with the rules or fairness, more than is normal limited the discretion of public officials in some principle of action adopted by government areas.
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
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.
As a result of the recent rise of the use of excessive force cases against police and law enforcement, I have chosen to research the definition of that excessive force. When is it considered justifiable? What training do officers receive? What liability issues are there? In an ABC news article, Sascha Segan states there is no specific definition of excessive force. A part of everyday police work is to subdue criminal and suspects. Another everyday task of police officers is personal discretion - making the right decision based on the specific situation. It has been documented in multiple viral videos that law enforcement officer’s discretion is not always favorable in the public eye and is quick to be judged. Yet shouldn’t we be asking if the officer’s actions were justifiable within the court system and if
Police officers have a significant level of discretion when ethical decision making is incorporated in deciding how to respond to a domestic violence call. For example, officers exercise discretion by deciding how to respond to domestic violence when a situation involves a fellow officer. America is a country in which many believe in privacy within the household and often choose not to be involved in a domestic dispute because families should resolve their own problems. However, discretionary powers abused by an officer are used to dissuade the victim from filing charges against the officer’s colleague. Officers often do not choose to arrest in a domestic dispute because they believe the family, not the justice system, should resolve the problem. If the police officer abuses his discretionary power by persuading the victim to not file charges, then he is going against community policing. This is because, he is not serving the interests of the community, but rather the code of silence within a police department. This discretion is exercised even more when the domestic violence situation involves an off duty police officer. When police officers commit domestic violence against their spouse it is usually explained by the fact that police officers deal with difficult citizens on a daily basis on the streets and as a result of the high levels of stress on the job bring their frustrations home and spouse becomes the scapegoat for his feelings (Wetendorf, 1998:3).
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.
“Before new chiefs can set a path for a new vision, they must have a clear understanding of the past. A police department’s organizational culture is a deeply ingrained, personal aspect of its functioning that must not be trivialized. Years of hard work and dedication by scores of individuals went into the creation of that culture, and it must be respected. However, if the culture is no longer in step with the expectations of the community, then changes must be made. Changes for the future must be carefully crafted to achieve the desired goal without disregarding the past. New chiefs can best accomplish this task by first listening to the variety of individuals that represent the stakeholders for their departments. Gaining input is important to obtaining an understanding of the values and expecta...
Police discretion. Police discretion is defined as the decision-making power afforded to Police Officers that allows them to decide if they want to pursue police procedure or simply let someone off with a warning. Police discretion can be also defined as the individual’s ability to make a decision based on the principle of courses in the actions. Police officers are usually in the position of having to make decisions on how to handle a specific situation alone, or without immediate supervision. In other words, police discretion is the choice the officer has on how he or she enforces the law. Discretion in law enforcement includes whom to arrest, whom to investigate, whom to talk to, and whom to interview (Pollock, 2014). Use of discretion
Police officers use discretion in a broad manner. Depending on a situation I can issue a verbal warning, a citation, or an arrest. However, when taking a course of action in a situation I want to make sure I have a reason as to why I gave them the punishment that I did. Discretion in the criminal justice system is based off of efficiency, safety, and justice.
The focus is on the issues of police accountability in modern society, and in particular why their accountability is more important than other professions. This is not surprising considering the amount of power and discretion police officers have, and the level of trust that the public holds with these civil servants. Police officers accountability is the biggest thing in their profession which has been an issue of concern they have to be accountable to the police department who want the officer to be an effective and responsible person, to people in the community who have best expectation from an officer and being accountable to themselves for their acts. An ordinary citizen of a country cannot obtain the powers that police officer’s have.
In this essay, I will examine the ethical issues surrounding police corruption and discretion in the criminal justice system. I will also define legality and equity and how they relate to police corruption and discretion. Police corruption and discretion are ethical issues that have been negatively impacting the criminal justice system for years. Police corruption weakens the public 's confidence in law enforcement officers. It also hinders the effectiveness of law enforcement officers whose job is to serve and protect. I will also define police corruption and discretion and the reasons behind police misconduct.
A common style of police leadership is a more bureaucratic style where the leader manages “by the book”, everything must be done in accordance with pre-written policies and procedures (Cordner & Scarborough, 2010). When a certain problem or concern isn’t covered by the book the leader refers to the next level for a decision. This style removes the ability of the leader to manage and forces a strict accordance to the “book”. This style can be very effective when dealing with dangerous situations which can be a common occurrence in police work.
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).