Is the use of police discretion effective? The aim of this essay is to critically discuss the use of discretion within routine police work, arguing that it is a useful but problematic feature. To successfully achieve this, a brief overview of the topic of police discretion and details of relevant guidelines will be provided such as PACE 1984 (Home office, 1984). The next few paragraphs will provide reasons, facts and case studies for the usefulness of police discretion and why it is problematic. Themes such as Cop culture and Accountability will be addressed. Concluding with a clear overall summary of this essays findings.
To begin a clear definition of police discretion must be acknowledged. One of the most cited definitions of discretion …show more content…
He draws attention to the fact that discretionary powers are necessary in the police as it enables them to provide an appropriate and realistic solution within situations. Reiner further supports this argument by highlighting that the laws cannot be mechanistically applied to every enforcement decision (Reiner, 2011). Focusing on the fact that the law needs to be subjectively interpreted. The British Crime Survey further supports this fact. It shows that police discretion is desirable as it ensures that the law is not applied heavy handily (Office for national statistics, 2015). It is important that the police consider each specifics and seriousness of each situation allowing the police to act more fairly and realistic. This is found to lead to greater public satisfaction. Public satisfaction further enhances the effectiveness of the police as it results in greater public confidence in turn leading to greater connections and an increase of crime …show more content…
This is since it varies the law allowing it to be applied unevenly and in a discriminatory way. The first issue is the fact that the law is applied unevenly as highlighted by Stenning (Stenning & Bronitt, 2011). Stenning argues that the use of discretion is seen to vary over time in response to changing attitudes. He points out that in the past the police viewed domestic violence as a private matter and therefore not in need of police intervention - despite it being a criminal offence. Highlighting how the use of discretion is open to bias. This is further evident in Becker’s book Outsiders (Becker, 1963). Becker explains this through labelling theory in which social control agenises tend to label certain groups as more deviant than others. He then points out that boys who came from a middle-class background would not proceed as far in the criminal justice system as those from a poorer area. Thus, discretion allows the law to be applied unevenly and unfairly to individuals.
Unfortunately, this varying discretion is found to be much worse for black people throughout English history. The Scarmans report was the first to highlight the fact there is a disproportionate and indiscriminate use of stop and search powers by the police towards black people (Scarman, 1983). Although he did specify that successful policing depends on the exercise of discretion in how the law is enforced. He further
To begin a clear definition of police discretion must be acknowledged. One of the most cited definitions of discretion …show more content…
He draws attention to the fact that discretionary powers are necessary in the police as it enables them to provide an appropriate and realistic solution within situations. Reiner further supports this argument by highlighting that the laws cannot be mechanistically applied to every enforcement decision (Reiner, 2011). Focusing on the fact that the law needs to be subjectively interpreted. The British Crime Survey further supports this fact. It shows that police discretion is desirable as it ensures that the law is not applied heavy handily (Office for national statistics, 2015). It is important that the police consider each specifics and seriousness of each situation allowing the police to act more fairly and realistic. This is found to lead to greater public satisfaction. Public satisfaction further enhances the effectiveness of the police as it results in greater public confidence in turn leading to greater connections and an increase of crime …show more content…
This is since it varies the law allowing it to be applied unevenly and in a discriminatory way. The first issue is the fact that the law is applied unevenly as highlighted by Stenning (Stenning & Bronitt, 2011). Stenning argues that the use of discretion is seen to vary over time in response to changing attitudes. He points out that in the past the police viewed domestic violence as a private matter and therefore not in need of police intervention - despite it being a criminal offence. Highlighting how the use of discretion is open to bias. This is further evident in Becker’s book Outsiders (Becker, 1963). Becker explains this through labelling theory in which social control agenises tend to label certain groups as more deviant than others. He then points out that boys who came from a middle-class background would not proceed as far in the criminal justice system as those from a poorer area. Thus, discretion allows the law to be applied unevenly and unfairly to individuals.
Unfortunately, this varying discretion is found to be much worse for black people throughout English history. The Scarmans report was the first to highlight the fact there is a disproportionate and indiscriminate use of stop and search powers by the police towards black people (Scarman, 1983). Although he did specify that successful policing depends on the exercise of discretion in how the law is enforced. He further