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However, when an officer exercises the discretion to treat these incidents as lesser-crimes, he reinforces the devaluation of the gang members and actually increases the validity of the gang culture. Furthermore, gang violence does not occur in isolation, and it is unfair to the non-criminal members of gang-afflicted communities for officers to fail to fully investigate such crimes.
One crime where officers, at least initial responders, should not be permitted to exercise any discretion is in the area of child abuse. Child abuse is a serious crime, but there is a tendency for adults to minimize complaints by children. Because the stakes are so tremendously high if the complaint is correct, officers should be required to respond to all reports of child abuse as true and zealously investigate them. If an investigation fails to yield sufficient evidence to support prosecution, then the alleged offender will not face prosecution; but that decision does not reflect the improper use of discretion, but the proper use of investigation in the criminal process.
Not all crimes where officers are called upon to exercise discretion are serious offenses. On the contrary, the area where officers are called upon...
Officers should be permitted to exercise discretion in traffic scenarios, because the traffic codes simply cannot anticipate all of the real-life situations faced by a driver. For example, when all of the surrounding traffic is exceeding the speed limit by 10-15 miles per hour, a driver who maintains the legal speed may actually be placing himself in great danger. To give that driver a ticket for driving with the speed of traffic would ignore that reality.
However, there are certain traffic offenses that are never justifiable, such as driving while intoxicated. A driver who knowingly places himself in a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs places every driver on the road in tremendous jeopardy. Although most officers can probably sympathize with someone who gets behind the wheel after having had a few-too-many, the fact is that the vast majority of drunken drivers are never apprehended. Only by rigorous and zealous enforcement of DUI laws can the police send a message that drunk driving will not be tolerated, which may have a positive impact on drunk-driving rates among casual drinkers and drug users.
706). Yet, this clearly does not eliminate the possibility of abuse of power and wrongful use of police discretion as the disproportionate application of justice upon those of lower class and of minority races is fundamentally present in both lesser and greater crimes. III. If you were a supervisor within a police department, how would you manage or control the discretionary practices of your officers? One of the most important aspects
By comparison, more proactive, crime-focused, or zero tolerance policing strategies make discretion more difficult to control administratively for several reasons. Specifically, proactive officers generally function more autonomously in choosing where to initiate police action; consequently, they are involved in much higher proportions of serious criminal matters, requiring many more spontaneous opportunities to exercise discretion. As a general rule, proactive police officers engaged in crime prevention-focused administrative strategies encounter more dangerous situations and
police discretion in connection with mandatory arrest and domestic violence. What Constitutes Domestic Violence The term 'domestic violence' refers to an abusive behavioral pattern in a domestic relationship, utilized by a partner for gaining or maintaining control and power over the other intimate partner. It may be emotional, sexual, physical, psychological, or economic threats or actions that one individual in the relationship uses for influencing the other. Domestic violence covers all
Police Administration; Structures, Processes, And Behaviors 8th Edition The Evolution of Police Administration Over the centuries, police administration has evolved in several important respects including how police have been organized and what they considered their core strategy for providing value to the communities they serve (Perry, 2001). It is argued that the present police work is not very different from previous police work performed by the London Bobbies in 1829 and the
As this study points out, these encounters can lead to negative situations and even to death, injuries and legal issues. In essence, the relationship and involvement of the police from a formal point-of-view is based on two common law principles. These are, the facility and the responsibility of the police to protect the safety and welfare of the public, and secondly the principle of parens patriae, which dictates protection for
The fact that it is neither arbitrary nor motivated by atavistic animosity in a vacuum distinguishes this type of infringement from those that are absolutely impermissible in principle. Conclusion: In a wider perspective, the issue of police profiling is merely one type of constitutionally impermissible tactics that may require re-evaluation under the exigent circumstances posed by the prospect of continued domestic terrorism. More than one renowned legal authority (Dershowitz 2002) has