· Essay, Pages 11 ( words) Views. Police Discretion Should Be Enhanced Police discretion can be defined as can be examined in many ways. A police officer’s belief system consists of his or her beliefs, attitudes, values, and other subjective outlooks. Regardless of any factors, there is always room for improvement and police officer’s discretion should Estimated Reading Time: 11 mins Police Discretion Essay. Words 6 Pages. Show More. Police Discretion is at the core of policing, allowing officers to approach different situations with different approaches. Discretion is seen as the most essential element of policing, yet discretion is also the source of many problems. Over the year’s discretion has become a more prominent issue amongst the public, · Police discretion allows for this discrimination to occur. Skogan and Frydl () concur that police discretion is an increased concern, in relation to racial profiling and discrimination. The authors surmise that pro-active special units often make street stops and searches, in location oriented patrols of high crime areas
Police Discretion Essay | Bartleby
Police Discretion Should Be Enhanced Police discretion can be defined as can be examined in many ways. Officers realize they are constantly in the public eye and every move they make is watched by someone. Officers who have made mistakes in the past can vouch that they should have used better discretion in their decision-making.
Proficient in: Criminal Justice. He completed it prior to its deadline and was thorough and informative. And they make far more discretionary determinations in individual cases that any other class of administrators; I know of no close second. Wilson were aware of the possible abuse by police but understood the certainty of discretion and the innate opportunities for problem solving it offered police and agencies.
Wilson Police officers can be synthesized into five types of police officers: the professional, the top cop, the clean beat crime fighter, the problem solver, and the avoider. Other factors related to police attitudes can include human nature, role orientation, legal restrictions, and clientele. Some police officers focus on processes, others on outcomes.
Their attitudes also vary regarding selective enforcement, organizational context, job satisfaction, supervision, their peers, promotions, police discretion essay, and coercion. Most of the policing innovations been tried in an effort to address rising crime along with an and police budgets have in common an increased level of individual police discretion and the encouragement of leadership and decision-making at all levels, particularly in the field. These approaches include team policing, the use of civilians for some positions, police discretion essay, and crime prevention programs requiring community involvement.
In effect, police are increasingly being allowed to approach true professionalism. Although Police have long considered themselves to be professionals, they have lacked two crucial elements: adequate training and freedom of discretion. Pratt They have been trained to make few decisions on their own and are trained to perform in accordance with prescribed standards to ensure they treat everyone the same, police discretion essay.
Metzgar In a research study by Criminologist, George L. Kelling, police discretion essay, he took a special interest in Police Discretion and how it was used in the enforcement of the law.
Remington and Goldstein advocated for the development of guidelines that helped shape police discretion, police discretion essay. They basically helped to shape the formation of police discretion essay importance of discretion as law enforcement has progressed through the years.
Management can provide policy manuals, rules and regulations to no end but it is almost impossible to be with an officer to explain or help an officer make a police discretion essay in a seconds.
Ohlin For decades the United States Supreme Court has issued decisions to limit police discretion police discretion essay a central part of police methods. Courts have repeatedly ruled that police officers have both training and experience not common to others, based on which they should use increasingly wide discretion. Therefore, police supervisors should encourage the increased use of discretion, which is crucial to police effectiveness. Ohlin In a study that took place in Boulder County, Colorado, police discretion essay, a study of police discretion examined the perceived appropriate response to a variety of petty offenses depicted in the vignettes among the police officers of varying ranks in 8 police agencies, 11 probation officers, 21 prosecuting and 52 defense attorneys, 16 judges, and citizens.
The respondents we asked to specify the appropriate reaction from among options ranging from take no action to arrest intake to jail. Reiner In most cases, differences among groups and within groups were minor. The differences were largely among the options of, take no action, obtain warrants, or refer to a social service agency. Secondly, they chose to issue a summons and arrest. And in not one case did significant portion of any group surveyed choose the option of take no action while another chose the option of summons or jail.
In general, police responses reflected the desires of citizens in their communities. Court personnel were more likely to differ from police, being more lenient in some cases and more punitive in others. There police discretion essay many studies done on police discretion and most of them have the opinion that discretion should be enhanced.
Officers are often being onfronted with the decisions as to whether to make an arrest on the complaint of a person and figure out who is in the best judgment of the investigating officer as a non-credible witness. Officers are responsible for making a judgment if there is enough probable cause or not.
Without experience or knowledge of the law, a police officer would not be able to make any decision of discretion. A discussion of the impact of training on the use of police discretion recommends formal training derived from the experiences of effective veteran officers, police discretion essay.
Another article considers the value of empirical studies of the consequences of various police uses of discretion for three distinctive conceptual models of police decision-making. Klinger Past and current police administrators have shaped police work through the development of command and control, recruitment, training, supervision, rules and regulations, rewards and punishment, police discretion essay, specialization, and other tactical training.
Most officers are encouraged to participate in as much training at the state level as possible. Wilson As a supervisor for approximately eight patrol officers, a lot of weight falls on my shoulders. As a department we have our own set of policy and procedures but it is up to the officer to understand them and utilize them. It is always the goal of a good supervisor to have good policy in place and help officers to understand the policy.
As a veteran officer and supervisor I do my best to maintain a relationship with my officers with an open door policy. It is impossible as a supervisor for me to be present at every call for service.
Therefore if an officer has a problem with making a decision then they will call a supervisor to assist them. I talk with the officer about what the call for service involves and ask the police discretion essay what decisions can be made.
This tactic helps the officer to think for himself rather than depend on me for an answer. With this tactic it will help the officer with the confidence to make his own decisions and rely less on a supervisor unless needed. It begins linking the best solution and weighing out the best tactical decision to the solution as well. Our jobs are all about officer safety and public safety, police discretion essay.
All of these things are a part of discretion, because it is easier to call a supervisor with experience to help make police discretion essay decision than to make the wrong one. It is easier to address a mistake before the decision is made than to address the mistake after an arrest. During any event that an officer requests assistance it is an opportunity for me as a supervisor to educate the officer on the correct method or procedure.
At times it is after the officer has made a decision using inappropriate discretion that the officer is forced to fix the problem or face a complaint. These opportunities also assist me as a supervisor to educate the officer to interrupt future discretionary issues. These opportunities also allow me to talk to the officers about their professionalism and safe practices in a way that shows their current experience police discretion essay, their wisdom and values that go sometimes unacknowledged police discretion essay police work.
An officer who is often reprimanded is the officer who avoids responsibility and breaks the rules. Through these factors it is easier to identify behaviors that can sometimes be corrected before it is too late, police discretion essay.
I find these attitudes fall under the lines of complacency and laziness within officers. They do not realize the importance of their decision making. This is where education also comes into play even with veteran officers. If education is not put into place then the younger officers will follow the lead of the complacent veteran officers. In most police calls that officers respond to the decision making process does not even fall under the lines of discretion. Other calls are responding to assist homeless people, intoxicated individual passed out near the street causing a public nuisance, juvenile issues, traffic accidents and many police discretion essay. Officers have the right to turn a blind eye to the situation but mostly they have to respond with the appropriate action that is necessary, police discretion essay.
The officer may not want to take the appropriate action but they know they must make the right choice or weigh the consequences. The public relies on officers to make the right decisions and maintain order and peace. As a department and society we trust every officer to carry a deadly weapon and to protect and serve his or her community. We must also trust them to use their own discretion to take care of any problems they encounter, police discretion essay.
They are the one who are trained in law enforcement to make the best decisions possible. In any field of work there is always room for improvement. In police work there is always room for further education and improvement, this will only better the quality of discretion. Discretion is limited. Officers and departments cannot do certain things. Officers may use discretion in whatever way they deem necessary as long as it falls under the guidelines of their policy and procedures.
There will always be limits in discretion and through policy and procedure there are hopes that officers will make the right decisions. We cannot continue to fall back on how we do our jobs and our effectiveness, police discretion essay. We can use this statement as an example of helping younger officers and even some veterans understand the importance of making the right decisions in police work.
As officers if our discretion is not improved and enhanced then we have no guidelines to remain consistent in our work. The decisions we make affect everyone. There is always room police discretion essay improvement no matter what job you are doing. It is all about giving your best and doing the best job you can do to keep the public safe and your department proud, police discretion essay. Works Cited Klinger, D. Journal of Research in Crime and Deliquency Pratt, C.
Ohlin, L. Police discretion essay, R. Sanders, F. Walker, S. Taming the System: The Control of Discretion in Criminal Justice Boston: McGraw Hill : Worde, R. Klinger, David A. Negotiating order in patrol work: An ecological theory of police response to deviance. Criminology 35 2 : Police discretion essay, James Q. Police Discretion. Accessed October 7, police discretion essay, Police Discretion Categories: Criminal Justice Discretion Justice Police.
Dear Cops: Discretion in Difficult Times
, time: 7:42Police Discretion Essays: Examples, Topics, Titles, & Outlines
Police Discretion Essay. Words 6 Pages. Show More. Police Discretion is at the core of policing, allowing officers to approach different situations with different approaches. Discretion is seen as the most essential element of policing, yet discretion is also the source of many problems. Over the year’s discretion has become a more prominent issue amongst the public, · Police discretion allows for this discrimination to occur. Skogan and Frydl () concur that police discretion is an increased concern, in relation to racial profiling and discrimination. The authors surmise that pro-active special units often make street stops and searches, in location oriented patrols of high crime areas Reddit logo. LinkedIn. LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp. WhatsApp logo. Police discretion is a constant consideration within Police services. It is seen by many to be both an essential part of policing as well as a constant source of issues. Issues such as the potential for racism, sexism and socialism are ever-present in everyday policing. This essay will look at both the over policing
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