Examining “Police Discretion” in America
Examining “Police Discretion” in America
Philosopher, Ronald Dworkin and H.L.A. Hart refers to discretion as "the hole in the doughnut" (doughnut theory of discretion). In this standpoint, discretion is the vacant area in the middle of a ring consisting of policies and procedures. To be able to make choices freely is called a strong sense of discretion. Discretion lies within the hole of the doughnut. Individualized judgments are often made by police officials, everyday. However, the loose definition often seems to be a bit of a challenge. According to the researched website, the definition of police discretion is broken down into five categories: discretion as judgment, discretion as choice, discretion as discernment, discretion as liberty and lastly, discretion as a license. Discretion is not doing how you please. Police put to good use their power of discretion everyday and different issues involve different discretionary actions and some, none at all. It is the responsibility and the privilege of police officers to render or implement discretion upon their will.
Authors Senna and Siegal, agree with this website’s definition of discretion and the information the website offers. The authors describe discretion as the use of personal decision making and choices in carrying out operations in the criminal justice system. Police discretion can involve the decision to make an arrest and prosecutorial discretion involves acceptance of a plea bargain or lack thereof. The textbook provides factors that influence the power of discretion that police officials hold. Factors contributing to police discretion are legal factors, environmental factors, departmental factors, situational factors, and extralegal factors.
Legal factors of police discretion involve the seriousness of certain crimes. Less personal discretion is available when police confront a suspect in a case involving murder or rape than there is with an assault, domestic issue or trespass. Research suggests that police are less likely to act quickly on a complaint of domestic violence in hopes that the problem will be solved before they get there or shortly after. Environmental factors of discretion include working or dwelling in a community that either tolerates eccentricities and personal freedoms or expects conservative, professional, no-nonsense behavior on the part of the civilians living in that area as well as social climate, alternatives, attitudes of the community, and treatment facilities. Discretion plays a role in that an officer holding personal values in opposition to members of the community has the ability to...