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 own personal beliefs and make choices coming from their own morals and ethics. The subject of police discretion was discovered in 1956 by the American Bar Foundation and has been an important problem in criminal justice since that time. When it This subject can be broken up into three variables that influence the amount or type of police discretion. The three variables are offender variables, situation variables, and system variables. Offender variables go as follows: Police take adult complaints more seriously than those made by juveniles. Arrest and force is more likely to be used against African Americans. Citizens who show deference (good demeanor) toward police are treated more leniently. People in middle to upper income brackets receive more and better service from police. Gender and mental health status affect how police handle many incidents. Police sympathize with and only lecture some offenders (Kleinig 1996). For example, from personal experience I believe that teenage drivers get treated differently then adult drivers do. I think that police have a bad idea of what a teen driver is and that they have bad intentions when they are under the age of 18. The second variable I found in my research was situation variables which are: Police give serious (crime) matters more attention than minor (noncrime) matters. The presence of weapons or acts of resistance often result in police overreaction. The type of property involved in a property crime determines police response and investigatory effort. Activities initiated by police are followed up more than activities initiated by citizen complaint. Visibility
Police Discretion Police discretion is an action by a law enforcement officer based on that individual's judgment about the best course of action. Their ethics is to adhere to moral duty and obligation to their work. Discretion can be used to approach the law differently. One way this can be used is deciding whether or not to pull over a vehicle, and issuing a written warning instead of a ticket for a minor traffic violation. Police discretion can serve as an important trait. It allows the officer…
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…
Marshall Policing Culture The history of policing can be traced back to the beginning of time. When looking at the subject of police work there is a large culture and history that follows along with it. There are many topics that can be analyzed when identifying, and describing the elements and the significances that are associated with policing. A large element of the police job that plays a large factor in the work and attributes to the policing culture is the amount of stress that an office will…
Criminal Justice Process Explained Student: John Stevens American Public University System Instructor: Professor Clark June 10th, 2014 Introduction The criminal justice system is typically made of the judges, correctional services, police, prosecutors and juries. In the contemporary world, social control and order would be unattainable without the criminal justice institutions. The criminal justice systems, practices and institutions are usually government owned and they bring social…
no way to go forward. You would have to keep in mind that during the night, police have difficulty detecting the race of a suspect before they make a stop. The suggestion of the darkness that is the race distribution of drivers stopped during the day should differ from the racial distribution of drivers stopped at night if officers engage in racial profiling. Thus if travel patterns, driving behavior, and exposure to police are similar between night and day, then we can test for racial profiling by comparing…
ublic. 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 maintain and practice their right to privacy from the government. Each person has their own opinion about this amendment, but according to Justice Brandeis, he believes that “The makers of our Constitution…
maintenance". This is achieved through control of illegal and disruptive behavior of the citizens in the community. In comparison to the Legalistic Style, Exam 2 Watchmen use their discretion when making traffic stops or in taking other action. "Watchman style is characteristic of lower-class communities where police intervene informally into the lives of residents to keep the peace." (pg. 190, Schmalleger). The Legalistic Style of policing focuses on enforcing the very strict letter of the law.…
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…
The Office of Constable The bedrock of modern day British policing Foreword by Jan Berry, Chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales The Office of Constable has evolved over the centuries and the ‘British Bobby’ is recognised across the world, but what is it that makes it so special, so endearing, so different? There is, as this pamphlet seeks to set out, a legal status, being the holders of an Office, the coercive powers that come with that Office. There are also the…
much is reported to or discovered by the police vs. crime that happens and doesn't get reported. -victims don't want to be seen, think they will be killed act 3. criminal injury compensation -- victims can apply for financial compensation from government to cover expenses and damages related to crime, operate in all provinces -- they can seek redress fro their victimization from offender, third party(schools), or justice system (excessive force by police / wrongful convictions) 4. Restitution is…
