Police is discretion is an essential part of the law enforcement agent, discretion allows officers to make judgment calls on scene. Officer use their common sense, training, tactical expertise, knowledge of the law, and situational awareness to make and appropriate and informed decision based on the current scenario. At time the calls are bad, and that’s part of the job; other times their bad because it’s a corrupt individual making that call. For the most part however, officer exercise discretion in a positive and professional manner. What is discretion? Walker and Kat define discretion as “an official action by a criminal justice official based on that individual’s judgment about the best course of action.” (Walker & Katz, 2012, p. 351)
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Wilson accurately states that “discretion increases as one moves down the organizational hierarchy.” True enough, the “street-level bureaucrats” (p. 352) as patrol officers have come to be known exercise the greatest amount of discretion in their performance of their duties. For example, in cities where a curfew for juveniles is in effect, an officer who sends a group of teenagers home from the park after hours instead of citing or arresting them is exercising positive discretion within the scope of his duties. (Walker & Katz, 2012) Inversely, officers who abuse their discretionary powers often exercise discrimination, deny citizens their due process rights, systematically under-enforce the law, and lack effective personnel management. (Walker & Katz, 2012, p. 352) Prime examples are evident throughout history; from the nationally televised beating of Rodney King (Kleinig, 1996) – to the more recent shooting death of Philando Castile (Raguse & Thiede, 2017). These incidents serve to remind us that the abuse of discretion can also severely damage police-community relations if improperly …show more content…
Without them, history has proven that the police subculture protects internal corruption and misconduct. James R. Hudson argues that “those who see a need to redress the balance of power and responsiveness in municipal police departments cite evidence of a general loss of confidence among large segments of the population in police operations and the effectiveness of departmental procedures for review of police conduct.” (Hudson, 1971) In short – the people do not trust the measures with which police are held accountable nor do they trust police leadership to acknowledge the complaints of citizens and address the issues
Wilson accurately states that “discretion increases as one moves down the organizational hierarchy.” True enough, the “street-level bureaucrats” (p. 352) as patrol officers have come to be known exercise the greatest amount of discretion in their performance of their duties. For example, in cities where a curfew for juveniles is in effect, an officer who sends a group of teenagers home from the park after hours instead of citing or arresting them is exercising positive discretion within the scope of his duties. (Walker & Katz, 2012) Inversely, officers who abuse their discretionary powers often exercise discrimination, deny citizens their due process rights, systematically under-enforce the law, and lack effective personnel management. (Walker & Katz, 2012, p. 352) Prime examples are evident throughout history; from the nationally televised beating of Rodney King (Kleinig, 1996) – to the more recent shooting death of Philando Castile (Raguse & Thiede, 2017). These incidents serve to remind us that the abuse of discretion can also severely damage police-community relations if improperly …show more content…
Without them, history has proven that the police subculture protects internal corruption and misconduct. James R. Hudson argues that “those who see a need to redress the balance of power and responsiveness in municipal police departments cite evidence of a general loss of confidence among large segments of the population in police operations and the effectiveness of departmental procedures for review of police conduct.” (Hudson, 1971) In short – the people do not trust the measures with which police are held accountable nor do they trust police leadership to acknowledge the complaints of citizens and address the issues