1.Topic: Police Discretion
Thesis Statement: Police discretion is a very important aspect of law enforcement, however, there is controversy surrounding whether law should be enforced to the latter or to it's spirit. Although what defines police discretion can be unclear, it is necessary, as every situation has a different context and therefore a should have a different consequence.
2. The percentage of crime offenders by race very closely matches the race percentage of those who are incarcerated. (“California: The Color of Crime”; Inmate Statistics) These figures speak for themselves and people attempting to making an argument against police discretion due to racial profiling should be fully informed of the statistics. “Police discretion is a vague term that has an appropriately vague definition. It is defined as the decision-making power afforded to police officers that allows them to decide if they want to pursue police procedure or simply let someone off with a warning. How it looks in …show more content…
Therefore, it cannot be used in every aspect of law enforcement as strict guidelines are in place and must be followed by officers. For example, a woman claims she has been the victim of domestic violence and has been severely wounded, there is very little space for discretion in this situation compared to if the woman had no physical evidence of the abuse. Traffic violations are where police discretion is most commonly used. In order to come to a rightful decision, likelihood to commit given infraction again as well as impact to a persons life are taken into account when an officer is exercising discretion. Everyone at one point or another will commit a traffic violation, however, there are certain groups of people that are statistically more prone to committing certain violations, as well as groups that are less likely. This statistical view point will be taken into account when an officer is exercising discretion.
Thesis Statement: Police discretion is a very important aspect of law enforcement, however, there is controversy surrounding whether law should be enforced to the latter or to it's spirit. Although what defines police discretion can be unclear, it is necessary, as every situation has a different context and therefore a should have a different consequence.
2. The percentage of crime offenders by race very closely matches the race percentage of those who are incarcerated. (“California: The Color of Crime”; Inmate Statistics) These figures speak for themselves and people attempting to making an argument against police discretion due to racial profiling should be fully informed of the statistics. “Police discretion is a vague term that has an appropriately vague definition. It is defined as the decision-making power afforded to police officers that allows them to decide if they want to pursue police procedure or simply let someone off with a warning. How it looks in …show more content…
Therefore, it cannot be used in every aspect of law enforcement as strict guidelines are in place and must be followed by officers. For example, a woman claims she has been the victim of domestic violence and has been severely wounded, there is very little space for discretion in this situation compared to if the woman had no physical evidence of the abuse. Traffic violations are where police discretion is most commonly used. In order to come to a rightful decision, likelihood to commit given infraction again as well as impact to a persons life are taken into account when an officer is exercising discretion. Everyone at one point or another will commit a traffic violation, however, there are certain groups of people that are statistically more prone to committing certain violations, as well as groups that are less likely. This statistical view point will be taken into account when an officer is exercising discretion.