Bounded Rational Choice Theory

With such a broad volume of discretion apparently in nearly every aspect of police decision making what strengths does this level of discretion have? Police work and the work environment require the use of discretion. Decisions must be made very quickly, usually without time for input from another source. This is despite the fact that a bureaucratic structure exists for the department as a whole. Moreover, communities cannot agree on what constitutes criminal behavior or the level to which criminal behavior should be sanctioned or ignored. A prime example is that of the skid-rows areas. The approach taken by most police in dealing with the skid-row “problem” or

First, having discretion in the police department can have numerous positive attributes. This can lead to a positive outlook from the community. The officer has many chances to use discretion for the people, meaning understanding the situation and acting based on that situation not going straight to the rule book. Rather use the rule book for a stricter guideline. An example would be if someone were to violate the law, the police officer could rather warn them then give them an expensive ticket or arrest them leaving them with a positive idea of the police and giving them a chance to correct their ways without paying heavy court costs. In Matthew Taylor's article “ Police discretion can reduce crimes and save lives” while talking about the positives of discretion he

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?

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).

In this paper, I will be writing about Police Discretion. I will start by defining Police Discretion then briefly discuss the use 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.

By accepting the role as a police official, you have to use discretion. Discretion is defined as the availability of a choice of options or actions one can take in a situation. Discretion involves making a judgement and a decision to your best ability. Police discretion is exercised by performing the following actions: arresting; stop, question, or frisk; the use of physical and or deadly force; the documentation of traffic summons; investigating a crime; reporting a crime; and using certain enforcement tactics such as moving loiterers, warning, and etc. Discretion is exercised to enforce laws and maintain order and protect life and property.

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. When it was finally

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 &ump; 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 situational situations with individuals (Sherman, 1984).

Discretion, undoubtedly plays a massive role and is implemented in various aspects of the system. But what is discretion? Discretion, as defined in Canadian Criminal Justice: A Primer, is merely the freedom to choose among different options when confronted with the need to make a decision. As significant part of the criminal justice system in Canada, being a police officers “involves the use of a significant amount of discretion” (McKillop & Pfeifer, 2004) . Due to the portrayal of the police by the media, the general public believes that there are certain methods and procedures that officers have to follow where it is clearly stated that if this happen you have to arrest them or if that happens you have to detain the person. In reality, police officers have to put forth their own judgment based on all the other surrounding circumstances which include the presence of a weapon or what the aggravating or mitigating factors were. This act of making a decision based off of the surroundings is also known as the totality of the circumstance. For example, if a police officer stops a vehicle that was speeding and finds out there is a toddler on board, the officer now has the decision to either arrest the driver and take custody of the toddler or to just let the driver go home safely with a warning involves their own judgment. Nevertheless, discretion does not mean that the officers can completely depend on their judgment; they still have to follow certain guidelines the Canadian

Discretion is used in many different ways in the criminal justice system. It is used to balance the rights of victims, offenders and society. Discretion allows law enforcers, attorneys, judges, correction officers and probation officers the opportunity to make some decisions based on their own opinion whilst still acting within the law. There are many areas in the law that use discretion, for example police discretion in the investigation process, the judge’s discretion when sentencing and the decisions on whether or not to set bail. Discretion is very useful in ensuring that everyone’s rights are balanced but it can sometimes cause some issues which mean the rights are left unbalanced.

Police officers make numerous, complex decisions throughout the duration of their shift. Decisions such as, whether or not to stop a speeding car, write a citation, make an arrest, etc. Officer discretion is defined as “the exercise of individual judgement, instead of formal rules, in making decisions.” (Bohm & Haley 2014, p. 255)

Going back to Chapter Eleven, the textbook talked about police discretion and for our weekly discussion, we had to select a situation where law enforcement officers might use discretion in any action. Even though it was a few weeks ago when we talked about this, I thought this would be a great opportunity to talk more about police discretion and how some use it effectively and how some abuse it. Over the past few years, I’ve seen more police discretion or heard about it than any other type of legal action. To reiterate, police discretion is an action that is used in just about ANY situation that may arise as they happen.

Police discretion is a unclear term that has an appropriately vague explanation. It is stated as the decision-making ability given to police officers that permits them to determine if they want to engage in police procedure or just let someone go with a word of warning. How it seems in drill is altered from situation to situation.

In order to fully control police discretion, officers would have to uphold the laws in every situation they encounter (Pozzulo, J., Bennell, C., & Forth, A. 2013). This is the benefit for the needs of discretion for situation to take into account other life factors. The disadvantage is that there are several possible variations in how a cop might perceive a given crime; ultimately, allowing the law to be influenced by the personal factors that the officer uses to arrive to an decision (Pozzulo, J., Bennell, C., & Forth, A.

Discretion can be defined as the availability of choice of options or actions. We all use discretion each and every day with all the decisions we make in our day to day lives. With that being said police also use discretion but theirs have the ability to change people’s lives on the daily basis. They have to make those decisions each and every day not knowing how it will affect the person’s life. Discretion is something that is a very necessary part of police work. One of the reason it is mainly exercised is because of all the vague and ill- defined laws that we have in our country. Although most instances when police discretion is being used the violations are minor. Another why police discretion is much needed is because if