Police Discretion Case Study

Everyday police officers are faced with two difficult decision to make. Whether to intervene in the situation and how to intervene when they observe something suspicious or illegal happening. Police discretion is defined as having the power to make decision, and choosing how to respond to a given situation depending on the circumstances. Even though, there are law in place it is still up to a police officer own discretion. Ultimately, police officers have the choice to enforce the law and how to carry it out in public. In the text book “Policing America” by Ken Peak he states that there are two criminal law in discretion. “the formality and the reality. The formality is found in the statute books and opinions of appellate courts; the reality is found in the practices of enforcement officers” (82). He also, demonstrate when should each criminal law be use. However, there are negative and positive aspects of police discretion. Also, there are pros and cons of allowing patrol officers to make discretionary decisions.

Discretion is defined as “ power of free decision or latitude of choice within certain legal bounds” ( merriam-webster dictionary ).Police have discretion in most jobs they take on while out in the field. This could range from a wide variety of choices from drawing his weapon to shooting his weapon, or just issuing a traffic ticket or smaller violation. With such a wide gap between little choices to life or death a policeman’s discretion can either make or break himself, his department, and how the citizens look at policing today. Regardless discretion must be used in a lot of the police officers day, and when it's used right it gives the officer and community to have a more just society.

The other sniper is situated on a building on the other side of the street as the Republican Sniper. On top of being shot at, an armored car, of the opposing side, drives up near the Republican sniper’s position. He believes that his position was given up by a local woman who was walking around. The Republican sniper must kill this woman or his life will be in jeopardy. The Republican sniper takes the shot, and kills the woman. However, even after killing the woman, the Republican Sniper is still being shot at. He has to shelter himself, so, making his way to the top floor of the building, he situates himself. The Republican sniper proceeds to have a shootout with the other unknown sniper. The Republican sniper needs a way to kill his opponent, so he devises an ingenious plan. He fakes his death by pretending to be shot in the head. The opposing sniper, thinking he had killed the Republican sniper, makes his way out of his hiding spot. This exposes him, and the Republican sniper has a clear shot. The Republican sniper takes the shot, and sees the body of his opponent falling to the ground. The Republican sniper then goes to examine the dead body of his opponent, and to his horrifying realization, discovers that the man he had just outwitted and killed, was really his brother.

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.

say anything after being shot, but was conscious although he did not indicate he was in

Police’s lack of evidence made the investigation harder and the hints received did not contributed in accelerating the process. The only evidence at first was a “death card”. Also, people started to give misleading statements that they saw the murderer escaped in a white van. A guy was arrested for giving false information to the police by saying that he saw the sniper escaped in a white van with one tail light broken. Going back to the phone call, the sniper mentioned an unsolvable murder committed in Alabama. It was a liquor store robbery and it was the place where investigators found the first major evidence to show the murderer’s identity; a fingerprint of Lee Boyd Malvo, which later led to his guardian, John Allen

This paper is being submitted August 11, 2013 for Professor Sheryl Prichard’s Criminal Law and Procedure course at Devry University by Jonah Colombo.

Today, police discretion is a very important aspect to the criminal justice field. There are different substances where discretion is not discipline enough or not monitored enough even though having discretion is not always bad. There are still ways to abuse it and today police officers have their own way of using police discretion for different situations. Discretion can be defined as someone having the power or authority to make a decision based on what they feel should be done in a certain situation. Police officers are taught how to handle certain situations according the law. But when the officer is on duty no one is there to make sure that they are making the right decisions that follow the law and according to the law, there are not set guidelines in the law for police discretion which give the police officer an advantage. Discretion is used by police officers when they are facing a decision with a bunch of results that could handle the situation but the officer has control to pick which result they would want to choose.

The reality of discretion in some cases is very possibly discrimination. As indicated above, the problem lies within the enforcement side of the issue. How can one hope to show discrimination when it can be legally explained in some instances, as the execution of discretion by the officer involved in the situation. Discretion is and always will be a very important part of the criminal justice system. Even though there may be those instances as the writer described above where justice does not seem to prevail, society must acknowledge the necessity for discretion as a tool to be used by law

The topic of discretion in police work has been extremely enlightening for me. I never fully grasped the depth in which officers have to make such serious decisions in such intense and alarming situations. I believe from our chapter and from the lecture that Police do have a considerably fair amount of discretion that they get to exercise. But I do understand that it is an incredibly subjective topic. There are so many different situations that call for different reactions. While I do believe that force, weapons and those kinds of tactics need to be used only when warranted, I also believe that the officer should have the power to protect themselves and those around them in dangerous situations. I don't think that most people understand the hard work and diligence it takes to understand what to do and how to react in every situation that officers have to face. The ability to have the strength and intelligence to use discretion in a positive and ethical way, takes a lot of emotional intelligence, quickness and good judgment.

Discretion is defined as an official action by a criminal justice official based on that individual’s judgement about the best course of action (Walker and Katz, 2013, p. 351). Police make important decisions during every shift that affect the public, these include anything from making a traffic stop to arresting an individual. There are factors that limit the police officers discretion. These include legal factors, administrative factors, and organizational culture factors.

His enemy had been hit” (O’Flaherty 4). This shows that the Sniper is a good shooter. 50 yards is quite a ways away, and he was injured with only a revolver left, a gun that is not meant for long ranges, and it is in the middle of the night, so he cannot see the enemy very well either. The Sniper is still able to hit his target well, and this is impressive and shows that the sniper is dangerous because of his abilities. The Sniper is able to come up with a plan that is risky, and then he is also able to execute the plan as well. The plan would go to waste if he was not able to hit the enemy, but he does hit him and that makes the Sniper very dangerous, he is able to come up with magnificent plans and is able to execute them to.

Bohm, R. M., & Haley, K. N. (2014). Introduction to Criminal Justice (8th ed.). New York, NY, USA: McGraw-Hill Education.

Police play a critical role in our legal system and form part of the executive arm of government. Police have a range of roles. According to Fitzroy Legal Service (2016) ‘the core functions of the police include enforcing the law, keeping the peace and protecting life and property.’ In order to maintain these functions, I believe the role of discretion is key to exercising how and when to invoke the law (Broadhurst & Davies 2009:2).