Police Discretion

According to police discretion definition, police discretion is the power to make decisions and practices. The police can choose to enforce specific laws and their enforcement methods. "Some laws are always or almost always enforced, some laws never or never have been executed, some laws are sometimes enforced, sometimes not enforced" (Davis, p. 1). Be sure to judge carefully because it is also self-determination that the law does not cover all the circumstances encountered by the police. It was not until 1956 that police's discretion was regarded as "taboo".

In this article I will write articles on police discretion. I start with defining the police discretion and then briefly discuss the use of discretion in family riots, mild contempt, and traffic enforcement. It also describes the scope of application, usage rules, and current implementation of the police discretion. At the end of these brief explanations, I will introduce myths related to police discretion. - In this article I will explain the influence of police organization culture on the ability of police officers to make independent decisions. Each culture is made up of four elements: "value, norms, beliefs, and expressions" (Peterson, 1979, p. 137). During the training period, each police officer was influenced by the culture of the police organization. After graduating from the police officer school, the staff was influenced by the experienced staff of the department.

Detailed explanations on the reasons for the police discretionary rights were purchased in the years since formal discovery of the discretionary powers of law enforcement through empirical research. Interpretation of police actions including factors influencing their decision and the most frequent exercise of discretion were examined. Moreover, positive and negative usage of discretion is documented, as well as sufficient evidence to support the two opposing claims. Because people do not believe that police can at their discretion maintain a fair balance between crime prevention and justice procedures, the exercise of discretion in law enforcement agencies is controversial (Gaines & Kappler, 2003).