Police Discretion Essays (Examples)

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 of managing and controlling police discretion has to do in part with staffing, recognizing who has the valuable knowledge to use discretion effectively and who would be better suited to stand back and learn this knowledge from those who are more adept with it. Perhaps those who have had more time in a given community or who have worked in many areas of the department and seen a greater variety of regional and community crimes and criminal behaviors should…

, Skolnick and Fyfe, and Walker, that conclude racial discrimination has been found in several policing duties, facilitated by police discretion, including shootings, use of force, arrests, street stops, offense charging, search and seizure, and equality of coverage. Police discretion allows for this discrimination to occur.

Skogan and Frydl (2004) concur that police discretion is an increased concern, in relation to racial profiling and discrimination. The authors surmise that pro-active special units often make street stops and searches, in location oriented patrols of high crime areas. This results in the civil liberties of innocent citizens often being impinged upon, due to the officer's misuse of their discretion in this strategy. This further gives rise to the mistrust of officers, among the greater community.

Authors' Positions - Which Agree and Which Disagree:

Bayley and Nixon (2010) discuss police discretion in regards to it's effects on racial discrimination and continuing concerns regarding…

Police Discretion

The execution of discretion in judgment among police officers has been studied for decades (De Lint, 1998). efore the 1960's,

For some three decades now it has been established knowledge that police officers use discretion (De Lint, 1998). Through the 1960's, officers were expected to use "common sense," with little attention paid to analyzing situations where discretion was called for or for applying specific training to improve the kinds of judgments made in such situations. Obviously, police will have to use discretion, but one response to the problem of discretionary judgments, some of which led to clear abuses of police power, was to make the training of police officers more academic. The assumption was that better-educated people make better judgments. However, research on the outcome of this approach showed marginal improvement at best (De Lint, 1998). While no one is opposed to having well-educated police officers, the other…

olice and Juvenile Delinquency

According to the numbers published on the National Institute of Justice, in 2010, the number of arrests of juveniles was down by a little over half the same number in 1994, when it reached its maximum. The reasons for this "recession" in juvenile arrests in the U.S. may be attributed to better results in the work of juvenile delinquency prevention as well to increased police discretion when it comes to taking decisions related to the arrest of the juveniles caught in "action." Obvious legal factors, such as "the seriousness of the offense, the amount of evidence available to the officer, whether or not the juvenile appears to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and whether or not the victim requests that the police take, or not take, some kind of action" (http://law.jrank.org/pages/1664/olice-Handling-Juveniles-Explaining-police-decision-making-outcomes-with-juveniles.html) will be the first to influence a police officer's decision to act…

Therefore, it does not seem logical that a police department could exist without at least some form of discretionary decision-making.

Discretion is used at just about every level of a police department, from the officers on patrol to detectives and even management. Another expert notes, "Police encounter a wide range of behaviors and a variety of situations that the law hasn't even thought about yet. One of the most amazing things about policing is not who they arrest, but who and how many they let go (nonarrest options, leniency, underreaction)" (O'Connor, 2004). Thus, discretion lives at every level of a department. An officer lets a speeder go with a warning, a supervisor lets an officer off with a warning about behavior, a detective chooses not to prosecute a domestic violence suspect where an ounce of marijuana is discovered on the premises, and a police chief chooses to suppress information about…

police discretion? How do the internal and external mechanisms influence police discretion? Is there a better solution to improving police discretion?

Police discretion is when the officer will have the responsibility to make their own determinations as to how they should be enforcing the law. The way that this is accomplished is through giving them the flexibility to decide how much emphasis they should place on dealing with specific situations. For example, assuming that someone is speeding three miles per hour over the speed limit is considered to be a gray area. Technically speaking, the patrolman has the right to pull the driver over and give them a ticket. The discretionary part takes place if it appears as if other crimes could be committed during the process (such as the driver of the car is swerving radically). This will give the officer the power to pull the vehicle over based…

Limits to Police Discretion

Just as every law environment situation is unique, so too are the police officers that make the decisions concerning how these situations will be resolved. Some police officers appear to have a natural-born knack for knowing how to amicably resolve even seemingly intractable disputes while others routinely incarcerate their suspects with little or no effort made to determine if alternative dispositions might have been more appropriate. The level of discretion afforded police officers has also been the focus of interest following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and officers on the beat are now expected to be active participants in the war on terrorism as well. In this environment, identifying optimal levels of discretion for police officers who are confronted with an infinite number of different types of threats to their own safety as well as the safety of the general public therefore represents a…

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 also come into contact with more minor crimes in dealing with individuals suspected of involvement in serious crimes. Experience (as well as intuition) suggests that officers involved in the more dangerous pursuit of serious crime are less amenable to administrative control where official policy contradicts what the officer perceives to be a matter of officer safety in the field (Klinger 1997). Likewise, greater exposure to serious crime naturally increases the officer's tolerance level for less serious crime, 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 behaviors that serve to daunt, scare, force, manipulate, sequester, humiliate, blame, threaten, terrorize, wound, hurt, or injure an intimate partner. Domestic violence incidents may be experienced by any individual irrespective of age, race, age, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. It impacts individuals belonging to all educational categories and socioeconomic backgrounds (Domestic Violence -- OVW -- Department of Justice, n.d). Furthermore, it can occur in same-sex as well as opposite-sex relationships, and may occur with married, dating, or cohabiting couples.…

These individuals instead argue that race is used as an excuse, and that more African-Americans commit crimes, so it only makes sense that they are arrested in higher numbers. While there may be some truth to this argument in some areas of the country the number of African-Americans, specifically African-American males under 25, that are arrested is still highly disproportionate to the number of African-Americans living in this country today (Smith, Visher, & Davidson, 1984). Until this is recognized by law enforcement and steps are taken to adjust this discrepancy, nothing will change. ecause of this it appears that race will likely always be a factor, at least for some officers, when it comes to determining whether to make an arrest.

ibliography

Harrell, S.P., Ph.D. (2000). A multidimensional conceptualization of racism-related stress: implications for the well-being of people of color. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70(1).

Smith, D.A., Visher, C.A., &…

This alternative essentially redistributes some of the power within the department in order to facilitate more successful service in individual communities. This clearly makes discretion appropriate based on the individual needs of the community. Police Chiefs need to develop "new concepts to better satisfy the demands and needs of the citizens they serve," and as such, may have to use discretion in how the approach and interact with unique communities as they encounter them (Meese, 1993, p 1). Discretion on behalf of a police chief allows for greater success in implementing community policing methods.

Police chiefs also find themselves using various types of administrative discretion as well in regards to how they operate their police department and the officers in the field under them. A police chief's administrative discretion could even influence the discretionary actions of other officers in the field. For example, in 2010, a police chief in the…

Discretion on the Beat: Working in the Best Interests of the Community

The mandate to "protect and serve" is translated in a number of different ways across the country, but in many jurisdictions, community-oriented policing methods are replacing the traditional beat police approach and this shift has had an effect on how altercations and incidents are resolved at the local level. The level of discretion that is available to police officers on the street varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, of course, but there has been an expansion of the concept in recent years that has also affected the administration of law enforcement across the country. For instance, according to Skogan and Hartnett (1999), "Historically, police discretion was misused in many of the situations that officers are now being asked to handle flexibly, creatively and without firm guidance from the laws of criminal procedure" (p. 13).

Although every situation will be…

In places such as Richmond, that have an already checkered past in their relationship with the public, the public perception is further damaged by the rise in crime. This is true of the police department in the rest of the country as well. The rise in crime affects the perception of the public with regard to the police department, and not the government. In actions such as racism and extralegal searches the police department and not President Bush is implicated. Many of the harmful effects of current police actions and policies are the result of government policies. The police has thus become somewhat of a scapegoat as a result of the latest government policies.

The profile of violent crimes has also changed dramatically and dangerously. Fewer police officers mean more violent criminals, which raises the crime rate.

Government policy, rising crime rates, and police actions have therefore combined into a…

Attitude and Personality:

Most police organizations have in-depth policy and procedure manuals, rules and regulations, or standard operating procedures. Since all organizations are formed for the achievement of specific objectives, they have well-designed structures and clearly established functions. Police organizations are generally highly interactive and dynamic since police officers need to deal with various situations. These officers are expected to work always in accordance with legal provisions despite of the kind of situation they are dealing with. However, for policemen to effectively handle the situations based on the law, they need to have specific and clear instructions for handling the situations.

Police manuals are developed and made available to officers to enable police officers to function lawfully and discharge their various duties effectively ("Indian Police: An Introductory and Statistical Overview," n.d.). In-depth policy and procedure manuals, rules and regulations, and standard operating procedures act as guidebooks to police officers when…

Policing Policies Analysis

This study seeks to strengthen the practice of policing by demonstrating the effectiveness of the problem-oriented policing. The information provided herein is useful to practitioners as it compares problem-oriented policing against community-oriented policing. Practitioners will be able to create much robust policing intervention when addressing real life situations within the field by grasping the theoretical mechanisms (Hess & Orthmann, 2011). In addition, by linking academic theories to policing, this review helps theoretical criminologists ponder about the most useful concepts for practical police level.

Zero tolerance Policing

Zero-tolerance policing lacks a specific definition; it can be understood in various ways. The recent definition entails non-discretional and strict enforcement of law regardless of the magnitude or circumstances of the crime. While this approach involves positive police actions, it does not equate to automatic arrests of trivial crimes. This is the most aggressive policing approach and cannot be equated to…

Regardless of the fact that no serious criminal activity transpired in most cases, it detracted from the quality of life of some residents of buildings immediately adjacent to such congregations (Conlon, 2004).

In other situations, such as peaceful gatherings of small groups of students outside bars every weekend night, residents of buildings overlooking the bars were subjected to loud conversations, cigarette smoke, music from vehicles until well after typical closing times of 4:00AM every weekend night, at a minimum. Giuliani's zero-tolerance approach to "unlawful assembly" of the type previously and ordinarily ignored as a technical violation not worth enforcing prohibited these gatherings for the benefit of residents who wished not to be disturbed all night long three or four nights a week in many "trendy" neighborhoods. Furthermore, the broken windows analogy also applied to those situations, by virtue of the frequency with which altercations and brawls break out in conjunction…

Discretionary Situations for a Police Chief

Discretion in the Police Department

Discretionary Situations in Criminal Arrests: "Stop" and "Frisk," acial Profiling

The expectation is that public administrators apply a balancing act in the decision making process. Focus for this study is on law enforcement administrators, especially police chiefs, on their responses to their officers' discretion to criminal arrests. The argument put forth is that police discretion is limited by managerial and information technology monitoring methods, which direct police officers to adhere to set up procedures (Chan, 2003; owe, 2007). Given that police officers usually have the opportunity to make a decision on whether to apply laws. This concept paper finds that there is a close relationship between management decisions and use of discretion. It is on this basis the research will focus on the police chief's management decisions and the use of discretion in two major scenarios.

A police department…

Disadvantages of police discretion

The blanket use of discretion can result in repressive tactics being utilized against suspected criminals. If the police department refrains from guiding and controlling the use of this authority, abuses as well as extreme disparities can occur. Where, various individuals could become corrupted from the large amounts of authority they are given. As they could begin seeking out special favors (bribes / kickbacks) or they could use severe tactics when dealing with suspects. This is because police officials often operate in environments, where they are mostly alone. While at the same time, they are in contact with people in who live in different social / economic conditions. (Goldstein 1977) When you put these various elements together, this means that the use of discretion must be limited (due to the fact that possible abuses could occur).

Factors that influence an officer's decision-making process

There are a number…

resonse . writergril1 avail? Does exercise discretion signify a return rule men (,, women)"? Or,

Discretion in Law Enforcement

There are a number of important considerations one must take into account when determining the use and effect of discretion in the part of police work. The fundamental question that any preponderance of the place of discretion in police work has is this: does the exercise in discretion signify a return to "the rule of men (and, now, women)"? Or, is it, rather, an important dimension of the rule of law? (Kleinig, 2008, p. 72). A prudent examination of some of the most eminent factors related to this issue unequivocally finds that all processes of law establishment and enforcement contain innate requirements of discretion to preserve the spirit in which such laws were conceived.

One of the most convincing forms of evidence that reinforces the fact that discretion is an intrinsic…

Community Policing

The History and Concept of Community Policing in the U.S.

Community Policing Origins

Community Policing Philosophy

Community Projects

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

Community policing is as much a philosophy as it is a practice. At the heart of the concept lies a deep level of collaboration between the community and the police. However, to form such a relationship many intermediary goals must first be achieved. Most likely, one of the primary values that must be established is a sense of trust between both the community and the police force. If the community perceives the police force as corrupt or ineffective then will generally remain apathetic to the goals of community policing. At the same time, if the police force is not fully engaged with the public then are not likely to benefit from the communities assistance. Therefore, to establish effective community policing efforts a balance between…

Eras of Policing

According to most experts there are three distinct eras of policing, the political (1840-1930), reform (1930-1970) and community problem-solving era (1970-current). During the political era policing was focused on making politicians happy, was loosely based and had limited civic ties or regulatory bodies. The reform era of policing began to normalize policing in the civic sense, with stronger connections between bureaucratic agencies and the police, moving away from political motive and toward the needs of the community. It was during the reform era of policing that police agencies and departments began to be governed by a hierarchy, in a more militaristic style, began to wear uniforms reflective of a more professional level of policing and began to answer to a less political body, i.e. The public. After the 1970s a demand began to make police more accountable to the public and the community-problem solving era began. This…

City Police Department

Police departments are professional organizations comprised of men and women who are empowered by society to serve as the guardians of society's well being. Organizations of professionals are characterized by extensive and continuing professional training, shared and understanding of and commitment to the values of the profession, and the desire to improve their communities. This paper discusses a city police department that has demonstrated great success over the years -- the New York City Police Department (NYPD).

Founded in 1845, the NYPD is the biggest municipal police force in the world, the oldest in the United States, and the model on which the other city departments have patterned themselves (Larder and Reppetto, 2000). From a population of about 33,000 in 1790, New York City rapidly became a city of nearly 400,000 by 1845. The old constable system, which had policed New York since the days of the…

Based on the foregoing considerations, it is suggested that the DCMP restructure their existing training programs and administration so that a more unified and centralized plan is in place, as well as providing for better instructor qualifications, evaluation, learning retention and more efficient and effective use of resources which are by definition scarce.

These broad general issues were refined for the purposes of this study into the research questions stated below.

esearch Questions

What is the background of the District of Columbia area policy and community relations since World War II?

What are some major problems preventing positive relations between communities and the District of Columbia Metropolitan area police?

Can training programs of the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department enhance community relations?

What training modules can be used to enhance relations between surrounding communities in the District of Columbia Metropolitan area law enforcement?

Significance of the Study

esearch Design…

This is one of the reasons that the United tates upreme Court has noted the difficulty in distinguishing common crime from the "gray zone of socially acceptable and economically justifiable business conduct.

Prosecutors are not eager to 'overcriminalize' and the practice of too readily extending criminal law to areas of which it is not suited is known as "overcriminalization."

For these reasons, the statues of white-collar crimes are broad and fuzzy. And the task, therefore, of defining crime and penalties falls firstly to the prosecutors and then to the court. In the 1980s, the prosecutors read the white collar statutes broadly and the courts were expected to set the perimeters of criminal labiality. There is wide scope however of criminal liability under these white collar statutes.

Is this fair?

For decades, academicians have been calling for change in this, what they see, as unjust and partisan system. To them, the…

In addition, today's police officer faces different challenges from police officers of even two decades ago. One of these 21st century problems facing law enforcement is terrorism. Almost every community across the nation has some building or government location that could be considered a target of terrorism, and large metropolitan areas have many of these targets within their boundaries. Because of this, police models may have to change to be more involved in preventing terrorism from occurring, rather than responding once a terrorist act has been committed. Community policing can aid in this by allowing community police officers to become familiar with their neighborhoods and citizens, and knowing exactly what targets lay in their area. To create better police officers, training in terrorism and how to recognize typical terrorism suspects must be stepped up and addressed in all communities.

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing many officers is the use of…

police and law enforcement officers have more or less discretion? Why? Give an example of a specific discretionary power in your answer. What parameters may be used to set the limits to discretion, apart from the provisions of applicable laws? Consider the role of ethics in society and discuss how those ethics are funneled to policing and law enforcement. What impact do varying ethical norms of the increasingly diverse American society have on policing? As the police force itself becomes more diverse, would we see different police responses to similar situations?

Although the Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, the police have considerable latitude in determining what constitutes probable cause. In general, "courts ordinarily suppress evidence obtained during an unreasonable search or seizure and offered against the accused" and a warrant must be obtained (Fourth Amendment, 2013, Cornell University Law School). However, exceptions to the Fourth Amendment include…

ole of Discretion in Law Enforcement

Human civilization has always been defined by the establishment of ethical codes, laws which individuals must obey for the greater good of society, and for every rule that mankind has devised there have been those willing to transgress. Criminal misconduct has remained a pervasive and prevalent issue across all cultures and historical eras, spanning the spectrum of age, gender and socioeconomic status, and the invariable commission of illicit acts demonstrates one of humanity's most enduring social dilemmas. Public officials, police forces and private citizens alike have routinely attempted to mitigate the consequences of crime through preventative measures, by anticipating offenses before they occur and incarcerating those who are most prone to engage in criminal activity. While the predictive power of personality profiles and prior behaviors is well documented, other attributes like religious affiliation, ethnic identification and racial background are increasingly being used to extrapolate…

Potential Topics:
Police Brutality and Race

Police Violence and African Americans

When Does the Use of Force Become Police Brutality?

Police Brutality and the Black Lives Matter Movement

Police Brutality and the Blue Lives Matter Movement
Alternate Titles:
The Use of Violence: Is there a Limit to the Amount of Force Police Officers Should Use on a Suspect?

Why Just Comply Is Not the Answer to Police Brutality

Are Minorities the Victims of Higher Rates of Police Violence?

Police Brutality: Is there a War on Cops or a War by Cops?
Outline:
I. Introduction - Definition

II. Body
A. Definition
B. Racial Disparity in American Criminal Justice
C. The Black Lives Matter Movement
D. Subsequent Killings
E. Delrawn Small on July 4, 2016
F. Alton Sterling on July 5, 2016
G. Philando Castile on July 6, 2016
H. Blue Lives Matter
I. Police Brutality and Attacks on the Police are…

departments, police officer a generalist. Discuss inconsistent Max Weber's theory division labor? 2) Police departments written protocols including general orders procedures.

Max Weber promotes the idea of specialized division of labor, thus meaning that his theories are against instances such as a police officer taking on generalist roles. By carrying out specialized roles, individuals are more likely to assist the community as a whole in achieving positive results. This would also make it possible for the system to be better organized and for the idea of hierarchy to be less problematic.

Police departments need to encourage officers to take on open minded attitudes in spite of the fact that their role is to enforce laws whenever this is required. Officer discretion involves a law enforcement agent being able to properly understand the situation that he or she is in. Decision space is the information concerning the options that he or…

S. Supreme Court's decisions in Escobedo v. Illinois (Escobedo v. Illinois, 1964) and Miranda v. Arizona (Miranda v. Arizona, 1966). These two cases dramatically altered how police treated criminal defendants subsequent to their arrests and forced police agencies throughout the United States to develop new procedures. The reading of what have become to be popularly known as Miranda rights has become a routine part of every arrest. Like it has in many areas of criminal procedure, the U.S. Supreme Court has narrowed the application of Miranda and gradually chipped away at the rights originally granted by the Court that decided the case. Two of the more significant cases were decided in 1984 when the Court allowed an exception to Miranda in the case of New York v. Quarles (New York v. Quarles, 1984) so that police can use Miranda statements in situations involving public safety. Additionally, in a companion case…

Identify examples of problems dealing with educational levels, pay scale, and seniority.

Problems with educational levels, pay scale, and seniority are also issues with merged departments. Smaller departments may not have had the training opportunities that larger departments had, and their officers may not be as prepared or well versed in some areas, such as detective work or gang activities. This can affect pay scale, and different departments may have different scales that do not mesh into one overall scale. Benefits may be cut to save costs during a merger, too.

Which hiring standards related to the different departments in the merged cell are affected?

Hiring standards such as recruits from the police academy, educational requirements, and seniority are all effected by a merger. Each department may have different standards, and some officers may not meet requirements of more stringent agencies.

Polygraph and psychological exams are not required for some…

local police agencies at the local, agencies, local, state, and federal level organized to identify principal roles and functions of the police organization in the application of law.

Various Types of Police Agencies

Various levels and types of policing agencies exist including local, state, and federal policing agencies. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in its Occupational Outlook Handbook: Police and Detectives (2010-11 Ed.) individuals who are qualified are those most likely to have favorable job option. Competition for State and Federal agency jobs in State and Federal agencies is great. (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010-11)

Uniformed police officers are reported to be those with responsibility for enforcement of general law through maintaining regular patrols and providing response to calls and spending a great deal of time completing paperwork and responding to calls for assistance. Urban police are active in what 'community policing' stated to be a practice "in…

Protections Against Improper Police Behavior

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is important to note that in seeking to detect and prevent crime as well as when it comes to the apprehension of lawbreakers, you need to be mindful of the various protections accorded to the citizens of this country against improper police behavior.

To begin with, you need to be aware of the various protections the Federal Constitution accords the citizens of this country against any police behavior regarded improper. A good example of the said protections can be found in the Fourth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment according to Travis III (2011) "protects the homes, papers, and possessions of the citizenry from unreasonable searches." Towards that end, in addition to being judicially suctioned, any warrant should be supported by what is referred to as probable cause.

Further, still on the protections accorded to citizens by the constitution against improper police behavior,…

11. What is community policing? How does it differ from traditional policing?

Community policing emphasizes positive situational contacts between police personnel and the general public and de-emphasizes enforcement-based approaches to policing. It differs from traditional policing mainly in that it is a means of reducing crime through enhanced public involvement in communities and in that it strongly promotes the initiation of police-civilian contacts outside of the enforcement realm (Caruso & Nirode, 2001).

12. What is the nature of the drug problem in the United States? Is today's drug problem any different or worse than the drug problem in the past?

The most important drug problem today is the questionable value of criminalizing private recreational drug use, particularly in relation to marijuana, which cannot be justified or logically distinguished from the permissive approach to cigarette and alcohol consumption. Evidence from Europe suggests that even enforcement of criminal laws prohibiting the use…

In reviewing some of the studies done on the impact of community policing on officers' attitudes, Lurigio and Rosenbaum (1994) isolated many of the specific techniques used in community policing programs. These programs are generally marked by the use of foot patrols to engage with citizens and establish a tangible presence, storefront police stations providing visibility and accessibility to the public, and the use of targeted police units designed to develop roots and tailor themselves to the specific communities they serve.

Like problem-oriented policing, community policing often requires a fundamental change in both the attitude and organization of police departments. As Dennis Nowicki (1997) points out, these changes are often difficult to implement consistently. The empowerment need by individual officers to adapt to individual situations within their community "clearly runs counter to the paramilitary structure of police agencies" (Nowicki, 1997, p. 365). In addition, the establishment of close ties between…

Law Enforcement Practice, Procedure, Training, and Administration Standards:

Local police departments range in size from those employing fewer than ten officers to those employing over 30,000 officers, as in the case of New York City's

NYPD, the largest local police agency in the country. With absolutely no existing national standardization for police training, state and local police department training ranges from six-month long, live-in police academies such as those of the largest state police agencies and much smaller, independent local police academies with much shorter training programs. At some of the smallest local sheriff departments, officers may still be sworn into their positions by direct Sheriff's appointment, without prior training of any kind. In between those two extremes, police training and certification in different states range from four-week long, self-sponsored community college certification programs to independently run police academy training programs run by municipal police departments themselves.

Just as pre-employment…

History Policing, the Law Enforcement Industry America, Police ole Society and the Functions Policing America; a critical analysis

A critical analysis: History Policing; the Law Enforcement Industry America; Police ole Society and the Functions Policing America

History of Policing

Formalized local government-based policing in America began in the late 1820s in the largest American cities. Early police officers were not considered to be professional with respect to social status. In fact, the terms professional and police were not likely to appear together. Policemen in this historical period were typically not much more than watchmen. It wasn't until the turn of the 20th century that professionalism began to characterize American police. It is mostly agreed that the professionalization of the police in the United States began with the efforts of August Vollmer. (Douthit, 1975).

Vollmer was the first Chief of Police of Berkeley, California, elected as the town Marshall in 1905.…

Michigan, in which police officers had failed to satisfy the knock requirement of a "knock and announce" search warrant before obtaining incriminating evidence. The Court decided that technical violations of proper warrant execution in "good faith" of the nature described in Hudson would not trigger the exclusionary rule (Schott, 2006)..

Ultimately, as constitutional criminal procedure developed since Mapp, a balance arose between the need to safeguard the constitutional rights of the accused with the need to preserve the admissibility of evidence when violations associated with its procurement do not rise to the level necessitating its exclusion. More than any other factor, this balance also allowed police the appropriate freedom to perform their assigned function of preventing crime, apprehending criminal suspects, and collecting evidence without having to compromise their ethics and violate their sworn oaths to do so effectively.

eferences

Cloud, M. (1994) Emory Law Journal, the Dirty Little Secret. Accessed…

While the actions of Kato are more serious in principle, I would recommend informal reprimand absent specific reason to believe that informal addressing of the matter might be insufficient to achieve the desired result in the future.

Officer Ramos did not violate any ethical or legal standards. His excessive detail in his police report is a routine matter of report writing proficiency common to young officers. Nevertheless, Ramos could be counseled informally as to the need to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant facts, particularly when unnecessary details could potentially expose the department to civil liability or other officers to unnecessary formal departmental scrutiny when informal counseling off the record would suffice to resolve apparent misunderstandings or miscommunications in the field.

Why are cases such as the one described here of importance to the public?

Discuss the competing interests involved in this case.

Cases such as the one described here are…

The most common modern incarnation of this style has evolved into "community policing" including the establishment of specific units within police agency dedicated to public contact and community relations. Typical examples of the community relations element of service style approaches include making officers available to grade school presentations and the establishment of child safety seat checking facilities, inviting citizens to have their child safety seats inspected by officers to ensure correct use and optimal occupant protection.

According to many crime theorists (Ellison 2006), service style and community-oriented policing styles are not appropriate to all communities. In particular, high-crime communities are better served by more proactive, legalistic styles.

Surprisingly, while middle class communities provide the optimal environment for implementation of service style policing and community. On the other hand, more affluent communities manifested a definite preference for a more watchman-like policing style, preferring little or no direct involvement with police functions…

(1990) Municipal Government Involvement in Crime Prevention in Canada. This work provides insight into the way that municipal government interacts with the police in the organization of crime prevention structures and the delivery of crime prevention services and activities. (Hastings, 1990, p. 108)

The idea of municipal government interaction in crime prevention is shown to have been spurred on in Canada by "....the successes of locally organized and community-based initiatives in North America. In both cases, the involvement reflects a sense that, whatever crime prevention is, the police cannot do it alone." (Hastings, 1990, p. 108) This again attests to the prevailing theme in the literature that there is a general consensus that the police force faces problems that are complex and which require the interaction and the assistance of other local community and municipal structures.

Hastings emphasizes this sense of interaction in the field of community policing and particularly…

police adopted intelligence-Led policing? What are the problems associated with its implementations?

Over time, policing methods have advanced, with the most recent strategy in improving response time of police being intelligence-led policing (or ILP). ILP is still in its initial developmental stages, is still not wholly understood, and has not yet been adopted by all agencies (Taylor, Kowalyk and Boba 2007). Studying police managers' views and attitudes can help recognize obstacles. Depending on findings of research, when initiating this strategy, top police officers obtain the information required for foreseeing problems and understanding supervisors' mind-set. Strategy transformations spring from shifts in objectives. For instance, London's Metropolitan police was organized by Sir obert Peel for focusing not on response, but on prevention of crime (Johnson 1988). Improvements were generated through technological advances like automobiles and telephones. These improvements served to lessen response time, as well as expand an officer's patrol coverage (Phillips…

Research has shown that people who experience high stress remain more at risk for alcohol abuse (Violanti, Choir Practice:..., n.d.).

A prevention approach has the long-range potential to reduce alcohol abuse. Police departments should note that proactive prevention strategies designed to prevent alcohol abuse are more economical and practical than curing those who abuse alcohol.

ibliography

Jared. (2008, October 28). Substance abuse among public safety officers. Retrieved April 4, 2009, from Treatmentsolutionsnetwork.com: http://www.treatmentsolutionsnetwork.com/blog/index.php/2008/10/28/substance-abuse-among-public-safety-officers/

Law enforcement wellness association. (n.d.). Retrieved April 4, 2009, from cophealth.com: http://www.cophealth.com/index.html

National Crime Prevention Council. (n.d.). Workplace substance abuse. Retrieved April 5, 2009, from Philadelphia police department: http://www.ppdonline.org/prev/prev_work_abuse.php

Page, D. (2005, September). Drug screening of police: on the high road. Retrieved April 5, 2009, from officer.com: http://www.officer.com/print/Law-Enforcement-Technology/Drug-Screening-of-Police -- on-the-High-Road/1$26,232

Violanti, J. (n.d.). Choir Practice: Alcohol abuse in policing:. Retrieved April 5, 2009, from Central Florida: Police stress unit: http://www.policestress.org/choir.htm

Violanti, J. (n.d.). Dying from the job:…

Future ole of the Juvenile Justice System in the United States

Young people are naturally prone to experimentation and impulsive behaviors that frequently result in their involvement with the law enforcement community, and police officers today generally enjoy wide latitude in resolving these incidents. In fact, in some if not most cases, police officers can release young offenders into the custody of their parents or guardians without the further involvement of the criminal justice system. Even when young offenders are arrested, though, the juvenile justice system tends to afford them with more leniency than their adult counterparts, due in part to the view that the role of the juvenile justice system is to rehabilitate rather than punish. These enlightened views of juvenile justice, though, are being replaced with "get-tough-on-crime" approaches in some states, and there remains a paucity of standardized models for states to follow. To gain some fresh insights…

Community Oriented Policing

Today's society is characterized by a drastic increase in gangs, crime, and drugs. Studies focusing on crime detective and rapid response are now criticizing the effectiveness of traditional policing practices. The perception that the core police function involves arresting law violators and combating crime has been slowly fading. These studies have convinced the American police unit to re-examine traditional policing practices considered as unsuccessful. This has led to the birth of community policing, which is currently making a significant contribution to the United States policing strategy.

Components of community policing

Community-oriented policing (COP) consists of two essential components. They include problem-solving and community partnership. Community partnerships are created through developing positive relations with the community (The United States & Community Policing Consortium, 1994). This requires the police to involve community members in the pursuit of better crime prevention and integrate their resources with existing community resources to…

law enforcement agents do better?

The key to improving the efficacy of law enforcement agents is changing the organizational culture to one built on accountability. Walker and Archibold offer a new and potentially revolutionary framework for police accountability. The new vision for law enforcement centers on the PTS model, in which policy, training, supervision, and review are the core parts of organizational change. The current organizational culture of law enforcement has several dysfunctional features, values, and norms. Viewing police culture from anthropological and sociological perspectives, as Kappeler, Sluder and Alpert suggest, shows how norms, values, structures, and institutions create dysfunction, misbehavior, and corruption. Problems like excessive use of force and abuse of power can only be controlled through systematic changes in the organizational culture of policing.

Changing organizational culture requires more than just altering departmental policies and procedural guidelines. After all, most departments will have codes of ethics and guidelines…

This is important, because it shows how law enforcement needs to be given a certain amount of discretion surrounding the use of force and its application. As the different situations they will face, will require having enough discretion to appropriately control the situation. ("Police Discretion," n.d., pp. 83 -- 88)

How might this Discretion be controlled?

To manage discretion, you would need to have an effective program that would determine how and when the use of force is applied on the street. Where, young police officers must adapt their academy training, to the realities of the real world. During this process is when they are exposed to how this should be applied. If you can control the way these young officers are being taught this principal (by veteran cops), it will control how and when it is applied (by changing the culture inside the department). (Hunt, 1985, pp. 315 --…

Policies Central to unning a Criminal Justice Agency

A criminal justice agency, specifically the police department relies very heavily on its organization to fulfill its duties to society, which is to protect from crime and to serve justice. This type of organization also requires the police chief to discern when he or she is to take hold of a matter, and take authority or hand it over to the right person (Kenney & McNamara, 1999). This is why a certain type of organization within the members of the department is needed; it includes 26 individuals which make up a police department. This type of organization is seen as hierarchal and shows a chain of command, with the Police Chief at the top (Langworthy, 1986).

Also important in the organization of a department is the geographical location where a particular group of officers are responsible for. The beats or posts is…

(Harris, 2002, p. 8)

Terrorist acts are both crimes and forms of warfare, and in both respects are unlike what we are used to." 2 Understanding the larger possibilities, such as warfare, law enforcement will be able to make informed decisions on matters concerning data collection. When gathering information it is important to document and standardize every step of the process. This will alleviate any complications when categorizing behaviors or activities and will ensure that all participants in the process are on the same playing field. (onczkowski, 2004, p. 72)

Following the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. which is an example of foreign terrorism, though domestic terrorism has been present in the U.S. For decades, many individuals accepted new standards of security that might infringe upon their rights as citizens to freely travel, assemble and speak, yet more recent protests have been leveled against law enforcement and security measures as…

aker reviewed three landmark Supreme Court decisions on capital punishment and concluded that the death penalty is capriciously imposed on lack defendants and thus serves the extra-legal function of preserving majority group interests. He viewed discrimination in capital sentencing as deliberate and identified the primary reasons why lack defendants with white victims have been denied fairness in capital sentencing. These are prosecutorial discretion in the selective prosecution of capital cases, prosecutorial misuse of peremptory challenges to systematically exclude lacks from juries, judicial overrides by trial judges, prosecutorial misconduct and the ineffective assistance by defense counsel (Emmelman).

Helen Taylor Greene used a colonial model to explore the effectiveness and limitations placed on the police in the past and in the present (Emmelman, 2005). This colonial model showed that the police, regardless of color, were an oppressive force in many communities. Lately, lack political empowerment and ascendancy in many law enforcement departments…

Stop and Frisk: The Efficacy of This Technique

Stop and frisk is one of the most controversial techniques used by the NYPD to reduce crime. Stop and frisk, as its name suggests, is when police officers stop pedestrians on the street and frisk them for drugs, weapons, and other illegal substances. On the surface, it might seem as if this is a violation of the Fourth Amendment which prohibits searches and seizures without probable cause. Almost by definition, stop and frisks are conducted without adhering to usual standards of probable cause since they are usually made relatively randomly at police discretion with only minor evidence of an infraction. Furthermore, the NYPD's specific stop and frisk program was recently declared unconstitutional but not primarily based on the Fourth Amendment. According to the district court judge the policy was "discriminatory, and showed little regard for the requirement that stops be based on…

Racism in the Arizona Community

Do members of the community look like you? In what ways do they look the same or different?

I remember once sitting in a Chris Rock open mike when he cracked a joke about how he viewed the U.S. To be the rich relative in his family who financed your education after assaulting you for years. Even though I couldn't stop laughing at that; in hindsight however, living in Arizona for over 20 years and in light of the new immigration law I cannot help but agree with that completely. Even though I have gotten the best out of the best and yet I have been slapped down all my life too. I grew up in the pre-civil rights movements when my neighbourhood was the home of jazz and blue centres and breakthrough entrepreneurs who paved the way to better lifestyles making in-roads for the…

Drug Sentencing in the U.S. Criminal Justice System

The objective of the research proposed in this document is to examine the issue of drug sentencing in the U.S. Criminal Justice System in order to determine if the sentencing used is effective in bringing about a reduction in drug offenses and the rehabilitation of prisoners in successful return to society following incarceration.

(1) Is drug sentencing in the U.S. Criminal Justice System effective in reducing repeat offenses?

(2) Are individuals successful returned to society following incarceration and rehabilitation programs?

(3) Is the U.S. Criminal Justice system succeeding or failing and are drug sentencing laws negatively or impacting the success of the U.S. Criminal Justice system in regards to drug sentencing laws?

Significance of the Study

The significance of the study is the additional knowledge that will be added to the already existing knowledge base in this area of study.

Methodology

The…

Discretion in the Legal System

Discretion arises any time an actor in the criminal justice system has a choice about how to treat a suspect. At a very basic level, even witnesses to crimes exercise discretion, because they choose whether or not to report those crimes. Crime victims exercise discretion, by choosing whether or not to pursue prosecution. However, the discretion most people consider when looking at the criminal justice system is that discretion exercised by police officers, prosecutors, juries, and judges, which determines the fate of an accused in the criminal justice system. Police officers determine whether to arrest a suspect, and, in the case of lesser crimes, whether or not to initiate charges against the suspect. Prosecutors determine whether to prosecute a suspect, and the crime with which the defendant will be charged. Judges and juries exercise discretion regarding guilt, but also in terms of sentencing. All of…

Police

In this scenario of what may be an instance of domestic violence, the officer has the option of simply talking to the couple, determining what is wrong and issuing a warning-or pressing charges against both or one of the participants for disorderly conduct. The police officer can simply use his or her presence to influence the couple's behavior or can use the actual weight of the law. The officer will have to use his or her perceptions of the relationship between the couple as well as the information the couple offers. As part of assessment, the officer should speak to both members of the couple separately to determine if one or more of the participants is at risk of suffering further physical violence. The officer should also determine if alcohol or drugs are potentially involved, which can affect the participants' judgment. It should be noted that merely because the…

Judicial discretion enables judges to make sentencing decisions within specific statutory limits. As with prosecutorial discretion, judicial discretion is built into the system as a means of enabling flexibility, accounting for special circumstances and rapidly shifting norms, and also increasing efficiency. Although judicial discretion has been widely and voraciously accused of fostering racial disparities, it has also been presented as the means to reduce sentencing disparities and promote justice (Bunin, 2009).

Federal sentencing guidelines provide the structure and limitations of judicial discretion. The Sentencing eform Act of 1984 followed on the heels of similar legislation, and heavily restricted judicial discretion in federal sentencing. The pendulum swung in 2005, when the Supreme Court decided United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220. In United Stats v. Booker, the court ruled that federal sentencing guidelines are to be guidelines only and not mandatory. The post-Booker environment enables judges to account for situational and…

Drugs at a Friend's House

The ethical dilemma of this scenario revolves around the question of what an officer's duties are when he or she is technically 'off-duty.' There is little question that when someone's life is at stake, such as during an armed robbery, that an officer has a moral obligation to intervene. However, the terms of this scenario are far more ambiguous. There is no immediate, obvious risk to life but persons are engaged in illegal drug use.

In this situation, it is unlikely that the officer's friend knows there is drug use going on at his house -- he would probably not invite a police officer into his house and allow his friends to use drugs. However, making an arrest would be profoundly disruptive and embarrassing to the friend's party. According to police protocol, "remember, you have NO LEGAL O DEPATMENTAL obligation to get involved, especially if…

Criminal Justice System

Australian Criminal Justice System

"When all is said and done, the current criminal justice system is about as fair and effective as we can reasonably expect"

Overview of the Criminal Justice System: Fair and Effective - Penal Populism

The Democracy at Work thesis proposes that politicians have been properly responsive to public concern about crime by putting into place the more robust responses to offending which people want. An alternative perspective is that politicians have been populist in advocating these tougher policies. "Penal populism"; a term equivalent to Bottoms's (1995) "populist punitiveness"; is defined here as a punishment policy developed primarily for its anticipated popularity. Penal policy is particularly susceptible to populism, because there is a great deal of public concern about crime, and low levels of public knowledge about sentencing practice, sentencing effectiveness, and sentencing equity. This combination of concern and lack of knowledge can present…

duty of any state to provide its citizens security and without doubt the police are the face of this security. Time and again efforts have been made to find ways to fulfill this obligation, community policing being one such step. Community policing, often known as 'foot patrol', has become a dominant process and adheres to the idea of collaboration between the police and the community to identify and solve problems. This concept involves the community to ally the police in its efforts to ensure safety in any particular neighborhood. This concept focuses on creating a partnership and a foundation of trust which enables the community to voice their concerns, give their valuable suggestions and assist the police to address the problems. The output in any case is one; to enhance the quality of life for the community.

Community policing should not be regarded as a substitute for all other needed…

Hot Pursuit Policy

The hot pursuit policy to be used by this department will follow the definition established by the Model Policy published by the International Association of Chiefs of Police for vehicular pursuits which defines hot pursuit as: "An active attempt by an officer in an authorized emergency vehicle to apprehend fleeing suspects who are attempting to avoid apprehension through evasive tactics" (quoted in Kenney & McNamara, 1999 at p. 158). The steps to be followed pursuant to this definition and policy are as follows.

1. The use of hot pursuit in this jurisdiction will be authorized when the apprehending officer has reason to believe that the suspect(s) involved represent a danger to the public irrespective of the seriousness of the originating offense involved. This approach is congruent with the findings of a Bureau of Justice Statistics survey of large law enforcement agencies (e.g., those with more than 100…