Discretion

Discretion

Introduction

This paper has been written with regards to the concept of discretion, which is described as something that involves conscious and can be referred as normative behavior. Similarly, in criminal justice system, the decisions that have to be taken should be ethical. This is also important because the role of a police administrator is very challenging and he has to opt for his discretion and encourage or dissuade discretion by subordinate members of the agency. Moreover, two discretionary situations for police chief have also been described in the paper, and the focus has been laid on an operational issue and administrative issue.

Discussion

Ethics is a moral philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and unethical behavior. Ethical theories have been defined by the philosophers into three areas, which are metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics on the basis of which ethical choice can be determined (Morris, 2007). Metaethics reveals the traces where the ethical principles come from and what they mean to an individual. They refer to the actions that are considered as a universal truth such as “stealing is wrong”. However, a more practical task is involved in normative ethics because they refer to the moral standards that determine right and wrong such as our habits and duties. Specific, controversial issues come under applied ethics while includes operational issue and administrative issues that needs to be handled by the police chief. Theorists have also formulated ethical theories that help us in making ethical choices. One such theory is the natural law ethical theory (Crank & Caldero, 2010). This is extremely helpful in aiding us to understand the human actions that are morally right or wrong. Every human has some sense that enables him to understand what is right or wrong. Similarly, with reference to abortion and ...