Katie Covieo

July 10, 2018

Term Paper / ePortfolio: CJ-1010-504
“Do you believe that police officers should exercise discretion”?
Police discretion refers to the ability of a police officer to make the decision when on the

scene of a crime, or on a call out in the field. When the police officer makes contact with a

suspect or person suspected of an infraction or crime, it is then up to them if they write a ticket,

arrest the individual or individuals, give a warning or just let somebody go. The police office has

a choice when the situation is a minor infraction. When the situation is a more situation one,

such as a felony, they officers are expected to make an arrest or take further action. In

considering how I felt about police officers using discretion, I first decided to take a look at the

pro’s and cons of this topic.

With knowledge, skill and insight it is expected that police officers are competent

enough to make decisions without interfering with the laws of the land. Police discretion also

gives the police officers on the force some independence and the ability to make decisions,

unlike the military where they are expected to strictly adhere to all rules and orders. I believe

that this also gives each individual police officer the courage to make decisions, and essentially

earn trust as well as build trust within the community and the police force. The decision made

may later be reversed or revoked by their superior but it still allows them that leniency to make

decisions on their own.

Discretion also allows individual police officers the privilege of going against what their

peers and superiors would do, without breaking rules or disobeying the laws. This also helps the

police officers stay accountable and develop of a sense of action and reaction. I believe that

most of the time police officers learn and become seasoned on the police force by trial and error
and experiences. Going into the job, they will be faced with many firsts. They may not know the

outcome of any situation until they have the experience and find out first hand how it is going to

go. Allowing police officers to have that free agency and use their own discretion, whatever that

may look like for each individual officer, is an important part of getting the hang of how the force

is going to be.

One of the biggest downfalls that I see with officer’s using discretion is that in some

cases potential law breakers will be let off the hook and may re-offend. The re-offenses could be

detrimental to society and may not have happened if they would have been arrested or held

accountable the first time around. A lot of the time, in regards to the public, there is a belief that

law enforcement officers should always be cautious about using excessive force and in turn be

soft and gentle. Because of this, individuals have disobeyed officer’s orders and been defiant and

disrespectful when asked to do something. Of course, this will lead to the use of excessive force,

and the end result can be traumatic or fatal.

On the other hand, police discretion can be abused and people in the community may

see this as a way to do whatever they want. I believe that there are over-empathetic police

officers that allow their empathy for people to control how they enforce the law. Some officers

may easily be manipulated by people and fall victim to letting someone off the hook when they

truly should be cited or arrested. I believe that many women use their sexuality to manipulate

male police officers into not giving them a traffic citation, or even go as far as talking them into

not arresting them.

Police discretion may also lead some officers into believing that they can do whatever

they want, and that they have unlimited authority to do what they want. Some of this

responsibility falls on the shoulders of supervisors and superiors. When supervisors fair to
property supervise their crew and follow up on responsibilities, this leads police officers into

believing and thinking that they are left to their own devices and allows them to make decisions

they should not be making.

Police discretion is necessary for any police department to exist and function. If police

officers weren’t allowed to use discretion, they would be required to arrest or cite any law

breaker that they come in contact with. Every single person, regardless of how minor or major

the offense, would be arrested, taken to jail and await court to be seen on the alleged charges.

This would cost the tax payers more money because we would have to pay for the costs to house

the accused until they could be seen by a judge. This would also increase the number of people

in jails, and we would have to expand the justice system to serve the community.

When you first think of police discretion, it is easy to think of the police officers that are

out on the streets patrolling and interacting with members of the community. Police discretion is

known and practiced through all levels of policing. For example, within the highest levels of

command a captain or sergeant may have to make the decision on which area of crime they will

focus the most on or focus on at first. Another situation may arise where a member of the police

force is placed in the situation to where they may need to decide how the county our cities

money is spent. They may have the influence of government officials; however, they are still

faced with choices they must make with the best interest of the police department at hand.

Most police discretion is used out on the streets because there are an extremely high

number of offenses committed by drivers and pedestrians. Some examples of where the police

may have to use discretion would be: a driver speeding, a driver running a red light, or a

pedestrian that decides not to use a cross walk and jay walks. At this point the officer is allowed

to use their best discretion on how to handle the situation. One factor that I believe helps them
to make a decision is the past record of the individual they stopped or pulled over. If the

individual has a track record of speeding or running lights, the police officer may then decide to

write them a ticket instead of just letting them off with a warning. If the individual happens to

have warrants out for their arrest, then of course the decision will probably be made to arrest

that person, and book them into jail. They may or not be charged with the traffic ticket or

pedestrian infraction, but they will be held in jail on the charges that initiated the warrant. It is

easy to see why police officers need the ability to practice discretion while on the job on the

police force.

In regards to detectives, and those that are responsible to investigate a crime or alleged

crime they must also use police discretion. If a victim claims they have been raped, many

decisions then need to be made. Although a female victim may have been drinking, or they are

dressed suggestively this doesn’t mean that the rape was deserved or brought on by any outside

factors. Detectives must also use discretion when explaining laws and cases to victims of crimes.

It needs to make sense to individuals in the public.

A question that may come up is where do you draw the line between police discretion

and corruption within the police department? There have been situations come up where a

police officers pull someone over for drunk driving and discover that it is a friend or family

member. Police officers are then faced with the decision as to whether or not they arrest them

and take them to jail or let them off the hook and drive them home. Police officers have the

ability and freedom to make these decisions. A police officer may see it as discretion, however

the public will most likely see it as corruption. The concern is, is that corruption within the police

department has always been a problem and always will be a problem. There truly is no solution
to corruption within police departments and it affects everyone whether we are civilians or law

enforcement officers.

It is very easy to see how police discretion can easily lead to corruption within the police

department leading to a very unsafe community to live in. Once some community members

figure out which police officers are lenient, then problems may begin. I believe this to be true in

regards to the war on drugs, and dirty police officers participating in drug activity.

Corruption can exist in any level in the police department from the officers that patrol,

to the chief of police and up. There are also many different forms of corruption including:

bribery, drug use, the exchange of money or something else between the alleged criminal and

the police officer, police officers participating in theft and burglaries by stealing money or drugs

that would be considered evidence, or even stealing from people that are drunk or high without

their knowledge of. Another method of corruption within the police departments is sexual

harassment, threatening victims with arrest and prosecution if they don’t comply with their

sexual advances or requests.

Police brutality has also been at the forefront of the news recently and that is another

form of police corruption. Police officers have been known to unlawfully assault a civilian

without cause or reason. Body cam’s have helped alleviate a lot of situations like this from

happening, but nonetheless it is still happening worldwide. Unfortunately, because whole police

department can be corrupt, the alleged police officer accused of assaulting someone usually gets

off and is not held accountable.

A really good example of both police discretion being used in the wrong way, coupled

with corruption is the situation with nurse Alex Wubbel from the University of Utah. Detective

Jeff Payne used horrible police discretion and felt entitled to mistreat the nurse after she refused
to allow him to draw blood from a patient. The officer was told no, and I’m sure they aren’t used

to being told no. The nurse knew what her rights were and stood firm in what she believed. After

telling the detective no, he then mistreated her and unlawfully placed her under arrest. This was

an ongoing investigation for many, many months and finally a resolution was made in her favor.

The police officer (detective) was in the wrong, and he was fired and held accountable.

Some people in the community don’t think that the police use enough discretion and

some think that they use too much. I personally believe that we should be able to trust the

judgment of the police officers that are out in each of our communities, but I know that will

never be the case. There will always be a police officer that favors people, even when they

should be cited or arrested.

Because of my history, I have had interaction with law enforcement. I am in recovery

from substance use and have been arrested more times than I care to acknowledge. There were

police officers that let me "off the hook" when they shouldn’t have, and thus my problems

continued and continued. Then there were the officers that expressed their concern and desire

for me to get help and arrested me to help me save myself. And of course you have the officers

that don't have any compassion and put me in jail with no questions asked. I am sure they all

have their reasoning for doing what they did. I understand that they have a job to do, and that

was their goal while on the clock every day. However, I do remember the officers that took the

little extra time to talk to me and tell me that they wanted to see me get help. Either way, I

helped shape me into the person that I am today.

Yes, I do believe that police officers should be able to use police discretion within the

police force, and out in the field. Police officers are typically the first ones on the scene of an

accident or the first ones to resond to a home when domestic violence occurs. They have the
responsibility and opportunity to assess the sitaution and make a decision as to how to proceed.

Many people rely on police officers to help them and potentially save their life. There are more

pro's than cons regarding police discretion.

Link to ePortfolio

https://www.weebly.com/editor/main.php#/