Introduction
The use of police discretion is a major challenge to the police today. Police discretion is the availability of a choice of options one can take in a situation. Discretion involves making a judgment and a decision, Dempsey J. (2009). The criminal justice system involves various amounts of discretion. A police can sentence a defendant on bail or order the defendant incarcerated until trial. In police, there are huge cases of discretion because the crimes committed by the people are not always the same. The police have to perform broad discretion behind a façade of performing in ministerial fashion. The police use discretion to arrest, use deadly force, to stop, question, frisk, write traffic summons, to take report on a crime or to investigate a crime.
Police discretion is an extremely necessary part of police work. Police must use discretion because it helps in the maintenance of law and order. Due to political realities, legislators pass some laws that they do not intent to have strictly enforced all the time. According to Dempsey J. (2009), discretion is also used because full enforcement of all the laws would overwhelm the courts, jails and prisons. Moreover, most violations of law are minor and do not require full enforcement hence the use of discretion.
Various factors influence police discretion. One of these factors is the characteristic of the crime. For example, a serious crime will automatically give the police less freedom or ability to ignore it. A close relationship between the alleged criminal and the victim can also make the police use discretion, Dempsey J. (2009). In addition, the relationship between the police and the criminal can also influence police discretion.
Discussion
A police stop is the seizure of an individual by a police officer, Gregory H. (2004). A police stop can either be for a show of authority or a show of force. In a show of force, the police officer has to lay his/her hands on the suspected person with an aim of detaining that particular person. On the other hand, the show of authority involves the police officer looking at the suspect and displaying authority while persuading the individual to surrender to authority. Various factors influence stops. According to Gregory H. (2004), the characteristic of a person stopped is not a significant factor in police stops.
Lawfulness and legitimacy of stops
Officers can make stops of male or female individual irrespective of color and socioeconomic status. For a police stop to be lawful and legitimate, various factors are considered. One of the factors that make a stop to be legitimate is whether the person appears not to fit the time or place. In addition, the stop is legitimate if the person involved matches the description of a wanted person. A police stop is also lawful if a person is found present in a crime area because he/she can help the police in investigations. Moreover, if the person acts strangely, the police stop can also be considered lawful. In this connection, a stop can be lawful if there are clear rules on how the stop was exercised.
Gender biases
Police officers have to avoid gender biases in stops. Police make stops of both male and female people in criminal suspicion cases. Some previous researchers felt that male people are more likely to encounter police stops as compared to women. They believe that police are more suspicious of men than women in criminal cases. On the contrary, everybody is liable for police stop regardless of his or her gender. Gender is not a significant predictor of police stops in any criminal case suspecting, Gregory H. (2004).
Racial disparity
Race does not determine police stops in any way. The police can stop any person regardless of his/her race. Sometimes, people think that police tend to stop people of one tribe more than those from another. On the contrary, the police make stops of people from any race because crimes are not only committed by people of specific races. Therefore, it is wrong to point at racial disparity as a significant determinant of police stops.
Citizen interactions
Police interact with citizens in three main ways. These are consensual, detention and arrest. Under consensual interaction with citizens, a police can approach an individual and interrogate him/her. The main aim of police interrogation may be to a friendly conversation but sometimes it may arise from suspecting involvement in crime. In this connection, the police can interact with the citizen to get fine details that can lead to detention and arrest.
Detention is a form citizen interaction with the police that requires the individual to be detained, John K. (2006). The police may detain a person if they have reasonable suspicion of the person’s involvement in crime. Finally the police can interact with the citizens through arrests. The police can only arrest a person if they have probable cause to believe that the person was involved in a criminal activity.
Domestic violence
The police also get involved in matters of domestic violence. In most cases, citizens are supposed to report instances of domestic violence to the police for assistance. When the police are alerted of cases of domestic violence, they have to take action in order to end the violence. In such cases, the police can stop the suspected individuals and this may eventually lead to police arrest if the individual is found guilty.
Juvenile arrests
In cases of juvenile arrests, the police can stop them if they are suspected to be involved in criminal offences. Juvenile delinquencies can be stopped by the police with proper knowledge of the requirements of the youth justice system. When a police makes a stop to a juvenile, he/she requires to follow the demands of the youth justice system in order to properly deal with the child.
People with mental health
On the contrary, it is difficult for the police to stop people with mental health problems. For a police officer to stop and interrogate a person with mental health problems, they should have good skills of handling people with mental problems, John K. (2006). The police are also required to consult doctors specialized in mental health problems to determine the mental state of mental health of any criminal who is suspected to have mental problems before arresting and detaining the person.
Positive uses of discretion
Police discretion is a crucial police practice that requires to be used positively for the benefit of the society. In this connection, there is a need to regulate the use of discretion among the police officers. For discretion to be positively used, good rules and regulations are required. The use of rules can be in statute, administrative or case laws. The regulation of the police use of discretion is a good method of ensuring positive use of discretion. Establishment of rules regarding the use of discretion promotes positive use of discretion, Williams G. (2004).
According to Williams G. (2004), the various problems associated with the use of discretion require controlling mechanisms to promote positive use of the practice. These mechanisms can include the implementation legal policies and procedures concerning the use of discretion. In addition, it involves limiting the police use of discretion in various circumstances. A police officer has to make use of discretion on how to deal with a criminal offence. In addition, discretion can also be made regarding the amount of force a police officer can use in a particular criminal offence.
Proper exercise of professional judgment
Positive use of discretion helps in proper exercise of professional judgment. For this reason, rules and regulations should be set to regulate police use of discretion in order to promote professional judgment, Groeneveld R. (2005). The establishment of proper police supervision and control can help in exercising professional judgment among the police officers. Moreover, proper use of discretion encourages the right use of deadly force among the police and this also helps in promoting proper use of professional judgment.
Effective use of scarce resources
Proper use of discretion helps in effective use of scarce resources. This includes the time that a police officer can spend in handling a criminal case. The police officer has to make right judgments and decisions in handling criminal cases in order to maximize on the effective use of scarce resources. Police discretion is a good way of minimizing the cost of criminal case investigations hence ensures effective use of scarce resources, John K. (2006).
Individualized justice among the police
In most times, discretion requires the use of individualized justice among the police. A police officer should know the right of each individual before deciding to make a stop. The police officer should use discretion well to avoid violating the rights of the person, Groeneveld R. (2005). The police must protect the individual from unnecessary stops and seizures and this will promote individualized justice.
Sound public policy
Lastly, sound public policy is essential in promoting proper use of discretion among the police. Sound public policy entails the use of good public policies. The police must ensure the use of sound public policy in order to promote proper use of police discretion. In this connection, police discretion must always involve sound public policy in order to promote proper use of police discretion.
Conclusion
Police use of discretion is an important practice in the general police function. It helps the police in responding to the needs of the community in the best way possible. Police discretion helps in quick decision making processes among the police officers. This helps in fastening the process of crime investigations in the community. Moreover, it also reduces the amount of resources spend in investigating criminal cases. The benefits of police discretion can only be achieved if the process is well controlled. Rules should be made to regulate discretion among the police. Lack of proper regulation among the police can lead to infringement of human rights and this harms the relationship between the police and citizens. In this connection, discretion should be used in the right way in order to promote law and order in the society.
References:
Dempsey J. (2009). An introduction to policing. New York. Cengage publishing
Gregory H. (2004). The law and politics of police discretion: contribution in criminology and Penology. New York. Greenwood press
Groeneveld R. (2005). Arrest discretion of police officers: the impact of varying organizational Structures. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press
John K. (2006). Handled with discretion: ethical issues in police decision making. Canada. Rowman publishers
Williams G. (2004). The law and politics of police discretion. New York. Rutledge publishers
