Police Discretion

Table of Contents

Introduction1

Discussion2

Discretion and judgment2

Discretion and choice2

Discretion and discernment3

Conclusion4

References6

Police Discretion

Introduction

Very often we are forced to make critical decisions without fully encompassing the situation or factors that may affect others. Similarly this conflict can be seen in the Police department of United States of America. Such cases have been reported by the civilians who have been victims of some situation of violence. Discretion is defined as freedom to act or judge one one's own, more over it is also the trait of judging wisely and objectively however, when talking about police discretion different aspects needs to be considered. This is because no law or policy can for-see every possible situation the police officers may encounter in the field, officers have flexibility in dealing with such situation. These situations can be grouped into different categories such as arresting a criminal for a felony, arresting someone for a minor felony as they may be a danger to someone or themselves and letting someone go after a severe lecture(www.nytimes.com).

Police discretion was a taboo until it was found by an American Bar foundation Study discovered it. Formerly, people did not admit that police discretion ever existed within the society and that it caused endangerment to the citizens. When it was finally exposed, it called for an abolishment by people like American Friends Service Committee (1971), and the police administrative department wanted to appropriately deal with this situation. However today it is viewed as the necessary evil which can help in bringing order in chaotic situations. The main concern is not the use of discretion but instead it is the abuse of such power.

Discussion

Ronald Dworkin state discretion as 'the hole within a doughnut' (doughnut theory of discretion) and “where the law runs out” (natural law theory). In context to both of these theories the hole in doughnut represents the area consisting of policies and procedures that one has to follow under any circumstances. However in certain situations these rules are not applicable. For such situation officers make individualized judgments by analyzing the situation. In this case the loose definition is the problem for which certain terms and analysis are helpful allowing a better understanding of the situation that the officials come across (Young, B. 2011)

Discretion and judgment

It is considered as the opposite of usual obedience. It encompasses the knowledge and skills to stand the unpredictable situations and be able to deal with the situation appropriately. However the police need to understand the need to be able to use reasoning and not follow orders blindly. They should be more competent of reasoning and applying the rules and adapting to them to circumstances (Young, B. 2011).

Discretion and choice

This term not only defines as realizing the matter when one is in the doughnut hole, which can also be termed as the grey matter, but instead it involves making decisions on your own, to have your own input and following your own conscience even if one is not able to apply it(Young, ...