The Importance Of Discretionary Decisions

Police discretion is the power to make a decision on a police officer’s own judgement. These decisions can range from how serious they think a domestic violence complaint is or if they should pursue a minor offence such as racism toward themselves. The ability to make decisions like these leaves a clear indicator as to why Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are over represented in the Australian criminal justice system. Many factors related to discretionary decision making are responsible for this representation. Firstly the history of Indigenous Australians in relation to white Australians must be understood, how decisions that were made 200 years ago are still felt by their community. Although there have been attempts are reconciling,

Doomadgee approached the officer in an inebriated manner whilst he was dealing with another person; Doomadgee was not aggressive although he did use volatile language in their exchange, expressing his dislike of the police and what they were doing. He was not arrested at this time. Once Hurley had finished with his first incident Doomadgee had moved on, it was his decision to track down Doomadgee to press charges for their prior altercation. It is argued that due to the incident being minor and in the past that Hurley’s discretionary decision to pursue Doomadgee was based on racist ideals. Once finding Doomadgee further decisions were made that led to his death. Hurley arrested Doomadgee for their prior altercation even though it was so small and when Doomadgee resisted Hurley used his massive size to overpower him. These decisions plus other forms of corruption and police neglect directly led to the death of Mulrunji

In the Northern Territory especially the Indigenous Australians are given separate laws that they alone must follow. Laws exist in the NT that limit Indigenous Australians basic human rights and freedom of expression; although from a white man’s stand point it may seem like a positive move, by restricting the lives of another human the decision is being made that white man knows best and they should do as we do, much the same as the assimilation movement in the 1800’s. Not only do these laws make it easier to target the Indigenous population, it also violates their basic human rights. An example of this is compulsorily weekly health checks for Indigenous children; in theory is a great idea, but with threats such as loss of welfare payment or even removal of children from their parents a great pressure is placed onto these families. It would be completely unacceptable for such a notion to be invoked into a white community; this is but one of the many racially profiled laws that are in place throughout Australia. This inequality in the justice system is felt among the Indigenous population of Australia, constantly feeling wronged and targeted, making it extremely hard to gain the confidence to change their pattern of living. Justice relies on an understanding of one’s everyday life, social justice and the acknowledgement that people live different lives. When Mick Dodson was