The Utah police shot a young man who had a golf club and thought his home was being burglarized. Although, the suspect could have been on drugs during the raid, the officers had the discretion to talk the gentleman down or to use force. In the video, it clearly shows that before the roommate could get out of the hallway, shots were fired. You can clearly see that the roommate did not have a gun, but that he had a golf club in his hand. In this case the police could have shot the man with a taser gun instead of a gun, or if they had fear of weapons used, they could have shot the man in a non fatal area. The second video shows the officer shooting someone who had a knife. The suspect was asked by police to put down his knife and within seconds the man was fatally shot. The officer could have given the man more time to drop his knife, no matter the area of where the man had the knife on him. Although the police camera did not record the visual aspect of the confrontation between the man and the officer, the officer decision cost a man of his life. In the recording the officer was asked by a woman who was near the scene why did he shoot the man. The officer responded and stated that he did not put the knife down as requested. The officer was cleared of any charges in this case. The officer could have given more time for the man to put the knife down or tased the man, or used pepper spray to ensure officer safety. The last video, although had no fatalities, showed that they officers were unethical in their decision making. The last video records officers joking and singing in a suspect’s musical equipment, after they enter the home believing drugs were sold out of the home. The homeowner did have personal use marijuana in the home not and enough to sell as mass distribution. After the officers realized that the musical equipment was expensive and exceptional the officers started…
Please read Problem 3 at the end of Chapter 17 regarding the lawsuit by alleged thief Mr. Mapp against Gimbels Department Store. Under what theory might Mr. Mapp argue that Gimbels is liable for the assault committed against Mapp by Mr. DiDomenico, an employee of J.C. Penney's? Would Mr. Mapp be successful under the theory you chose? Why or why not?…
Research shows that discretion can be when an officer uses legal sanctions. This can be when an officer is on a traffic stop, giving a ticket or making an arrest. The time when an officer is most at odds to use discretion is in a case of use of force: weather the amount of force or weather to use any at all. (Hunter 1985; Terrill et al. 2002.) One other broad use could be when an officer has to make a decision on dividing the amount of services or various duties that are to be performed. (Engel 2007). A prime example would be when on patrol and answering a call, assisting a stranded motorist, the amount of time spent assisting , and a third would be non-sanction, and non- service that an officer will perform such as community…
In law enforcement, there are two words that have been the center of controversy for centuries which is police discretion. Discretion is defined as, “the ability to make responsible decisions, individual choicer or judgment, power of the free decision or latitude of choice within certain legal bounds” by Merriam-Webster Dictionary. The people of the United States has been a part of this concept for the creation of the Unites States Constitution. The Constitution allows police officers to have the authority to make a sensible and accountable decision while on a call for service. There are internal control mechanisms, external control mechanisms, control of the citizens, legislative control, and control of the courts that put limits of police…
Police discretion allows officer the power to make decision to purse police procedure or to simply give a warning and let someone go. An example of police discretion would be if an officer pulls over a teenage driver for running a stop sign. Once the officer approaches the care he notices a roach “end of a joint” in the passenger seat. The officer then has the option to either let the teen slide with just a warning or to follow police procedure word for word. In my opinion police discretion is beneficial. Giving someone a warning allows you to explain what could happen to him or her if caught next time. If every person who broke the law or did something wrong was arrested or charged our jails would be packed and officer would have stacks of…
Why is being discreet, communicating, and respectful important? These three things help make life a lot easier. Having these three things will make you a well-rounded person. Discretion is a state of being tactful and inconspicuous. Communication skills are a trait that everyone should posses. These things will make people take you seriously. When you have these theses things you should show it everyday and night. It should radiate off of you like the sun. You should light up people faces when they see you coming their way. Being respectful is something that you should learn at a young age. So having all three traits causes you to have good characteristics trait.…
Police discretion is issued to officers for the purpose of maintaining a just society. Discretion is defined the ability to form decisions based on their own judgment. These decisions are concluded through copious reasons such an officer’s experience or through their own individual backgrounds. Police discretion has the ability to dismiss minor crimes, yet laws exist where discretion is invalid and officers must accomplish whatever means legally to punish the criminal.…
Discretion is the eminence of once behavior or the way of speaking in order to avoid any offensive occurrence or speaking up any private issues or information in public. It is the self-determination for someone to choose or think what should be better to be done in particular circumstances. Especially for a judge, a public official or other private party has the authority to make decisions on any legal matters or other big official subjects. Thus, a person who is authorized with the power of discretion often thinks about how to apply the given supremacy.…
Patrol officers use discretion each and every time while on shift. They will respond to a variety of calls and have to make a decision on scene whether to charge a subject or arrest them. Patrol officers also work traffic and enforce moving violations and equipment violations. Try to imagine if officers did not have discretion and had to fully enforce the law each time a violation occurred. This would have a negative impact on community relations and would also completely saturate our court systems that struggle already with caseloads. However, discretion allows the officer to make a judgment in the field based on the totality of the circumstances to decide which offenders should be tried through the criminal justice system and which should…
Do young people exercise choice when they engage in acts of crime or are young people constrained or forced to act in socially unacceptable ways?…
Police officers in the United States and around the world have an extremely hard job both physically and mentally. Police discretion is a tool that officers use every day on their jobs (Odom 2009). It is a decision making process where the officer deduces from the situation and observation the best solution. For example, an officer pulls over a driver for running a red light. The officer must decide whether or not to issue the driver a citation. If the officer feels the driver isn’t intoxicated, or a danger to others, the officer may let the driver go with just a warning. The officer might pull over another car for the same thing, but issue the citation because the driver was a danger to other drivers on the road.…
Over the years, this country has witnessed many cases of police brutality. It has become a controversial topic among communities that have seen police brutality take place in front of their homes. Officers are faced with many threatening situations everyday forcing them to make split second decisions and to expect the worst and hope for the best. Police officers are given the power to take any citizens rights away and even their lives. With that kind of power comes responsibility, that’s one major concern with the amount of discretion officers have is when to use force or when to use lethal force. The use of excessive force may or not be a large predicament but should be viewed by both the police and the community.…
First, I will define Police Discretion. Police discretion is the power or authority that is given to a police officer to act officially in a manner that appears to be just and proper under the presented circumstances. In a domestic disturbance, the police officer has to use his discretion based upon the situation before him. The officer needs to make a decision that will make both parties involved be content with the resolution. This discretion that a police officer uses at the time of a domestic disturbance is the most difficult because his decisions ends up affecting either parties to a situation for the better or for the worse. In such situation, the officer can either mediate a peaceful agreement, can suggest counseling or if this doesn't work he can also make an arrest of the person that is not willing to come to a peaceful resolution to the problem.…
1. Identify any internal control weaknesses for the five areas mentioned by the Finance Committee. Discuss any weakness and explain how to improve each situation.…
Looking at the criminal justice system as a whole, I find that the police officers are the ones who exercise the most discretion. They maintain the ability to enforce the law at anytime and anywhere, in uniform and out of uniform. For example, they are the ones who make the decisions regarding who they will pull over and who they will arrest. They must make a discretionary decision on what to do about a crime in progress if, for instance, they are out of uniform shopping with their family. There can be quite a number of important decisions facing them everyday, especially if they are not in their uniforms.…