Discretion is very important when it comes down to enforcing the law (police officer). Police discretion benefits the overall police function in support of the community goals because it is responsive to the needs of the environments in which police responsibilities function. It provides for the quick, sometimes split second, decision-making process that is involved. It allows for a certain amount of vagueness the law, thereby allowing officers to deal with marginal situations as best meets immediate needs of the situation. It also serves to reduce the number of resources necessary to provide a workable criminal justice system. This benefit exists so long as the use of discretion does not become uncontrolled. The uncontrolled use of discretion is likely to lead to the infringement of important individual rights protected by the Constitution and laws of the United States and the various States. The relationship between the police and community is thereby harmed. The best methods of controlling discretion are found in the establishment of policies and procedures and the enactment of laws that put reasonable restraints on the use of discretion. Discretion should not, in fact, cannot, be eliminated for many of the reasons cited as benefits of police discretion. Further, human nature itself the personalities and characteristics of officers and their supervisors will stand in the way of complete control of discretion.
Police officers are faced each day with a vast array of situations with which they must deal. An officer on patrol (i.e., not responding to a call), sees a stranded motorist. Stopping to assist the motorist would be a service duty. The officer can exercise discretion by deciding whether or not to stop to assist, the amount of time spent in assisting, or the nature of the assistance. No two situations they encounter are ever the same, even when examines a large number of situations over an extended period of time. The officers are usually in the position of having to make decisions on how to handle a specific matter alone, or with little additional advice and without immediate
Police Discretion April 20th , 2008 One aspect of the criminal justice system that has been debated for many years is that of police discretion. Police discretion is defined as the ability of a police officer, a prosecutor, a judge, and a jury to exercise a degree of personal decision making in deciding who is going to be charged or punished for a crime and how they are going to be punished. This basically is saying that there are situations when these law enforcement officers have to use their…
(i) submitted a timely and complete Invention Disclosure that was accepted as to form and substance by the Patent Committee (“Committee”) in its sole discretion; (ii) had a patent application filed; or (iii) been awarded a patent, and in each case explicitly approved for an award under this Patent Award Policy (this “Policy”) by the Committee. 2. ELIGIBILITY All regular full-time and part-time employees of the Company are eligible to participate in this Policy. In the event any Committee member…
Lily Heller Zierra Lyons Chris Rojo Osman Satar We the People Essay # 2 The fourth amendment prohibits the unlawful searches and seizures of the American public. It enables the people the right to ensure that they have privacy and are able to maintain the protection of themselves from the government. Although there are restrictions and ways that allow officers and law enforcement to use their discretion of authority, the public will always have the Constitutional right to maint…
of policing can be found when one examines how women and ethnic minorities have achieved equality in law enforcement. Finally, policing culture can be analyzed when looking at the internal and external mechanisms that influence and control police discretion. Police culture continues to puzzle the average citizen; not belonging to “the brotherhood.” Police officers command a certain respect simply by donning the uniform and carrying a badge. The police culture provides many benefits to individuals…
Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts v. EPA required that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) make a decision and not simply defer a decision, sharply limited the reasons an agency could cite in deciding not to regulate . At issue for agency discretion is whether a lack of financing is an allowable justification for declining to promulgate a rule. The Supreme Court’s deference to agencies appears to imply that agencies could still decide not to regulate if it bases its decision on considerations…
interact daily has been scarce. Furthermore, the small body of existing empirical research is written primarily for social scientists, rather than legal practitioners and lay audiences seeking to comprehend the aggregate effects of prosecutorial discretion on the racial compositions of our defendant, prison, and jail populations. PRJ conducted this literature review to distill the current empirical research and provide a readily accessible reference guide. It is our hope that this document will serve…
Exam 2 Exam 2 Sean McBride Onondaga Community College CRJ-101-950w Justice System Professor Owens Exam 2 1.Federalism can be described as a system of government that is divided between a central governing authority (federal) and smaller political units (states). Federalism in law enforcement is very important because it allows federal agencies to focus on the bigger picture, protecting our nation. While smaller State and Local agencies are able…
a description of the crime will be noted from the reports of different media, the role of attrition, the criminal justice processes used in the case, How the participants in the criminal justice process influenced the case in terms of discretion, when was discretion used by a party or parties, and at other points, if any, might this case have been pursued. Also, would the defendants in the case benefit more from a bench trial or from a jury trial and to explain the advantages and disadvantages as…
Chapter 2 Key Term Questions 1. What is meant by a task environment of criminal justice? 2. What is meant by the dark figure of crime? 3. Discuss the role of criminal injury compensation programs and describe the various ways crime victims may seek redress through the courts 4. what is restitution and how is it related to the needs of crime victims 5. what is the crime rate and what is meant by the dark figure of crime? 1. Task environment is the cultural, geographic, and community setting…
This work of CJA 374 Week 2 Discussion Questions and Summary consists of: DQ 1: Do police have too little or too much discretion in their decisions on how to handle specific situations involving juveniles? Include examples and explain your response. DQ 2: Among the principle figures, including family, church, schools, police, and youth organizations, who has the most important role in the prevention of delinquency? Discuss each and explain your choice of most important. DQ 3: Discuss…
