Police Discretion

Research Paper # 101843

Criminology > Criminal Justice and Corrections
Public Administration

Police Discretion

A discussion on the mythical aspect of police discretion, its sources and suggestions for how it may be controlled.

1,666 words () | 3 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how discretion is a certificate of authority which gives police officers a vast amount of freedom and how it gives officers authorization to act freely and use that authority in carrying out the rights and responsibilities of policing. The paper further discusses how, in order for police officers to exercise good discretion, there must be guidelines and proper training to apply this discretion successfully. The paper concludes that, without using this unspoken practice, an officer's job would be burdened with another layer of complexity that they would have to overcome.

From the Paper:

"There are a number of strategies that could be implemented for controlling discretion. First and most important is for law enforcement to hire officers who exhibit use of good police judgment and this comes from having good character. Law enforcement should take more time in hiring officers to be able to assess if they have common virtues of character as honesty, modesty, and empathy. After they determine these features, then the other police requirements for using discretion can be learned from on the job training. Another strategy for controlling discretion is for officers to be properly trained on how to use discretion. With the denial of this practice, discretion training is not part of the academy's program, but it should be incorporated into the procedures of when and where an officer can use discretion. "

Sample of Sources Used:

Dantzker, M.L. (2003). Understanding Today's Police (3th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc..
Walker, Samuel., & Katz, Charles. (2002). Police in America (4th ed.). Columbus, OH: McGraw-Hill Higher Education
Moskovitz, Dianna (2008). Fla. deputy stops rape in progress. Retrieved February 15, 2008 from http://www.policeone.com/patrol-issues/articles/1660577/