Police Officer Discretion

Discretion is a term that describes the flexibility that people like judges have when deciding the fate of offenders. They could choose to give someone the maximum penalty or be a little more lenient. This is all dependent on the situation and the amount of discretion they are given. There are many individuals involved within a case that have discretion. Three of the most prominent of these individuals would be police officers, prosecuting attorneys, and judges Police officers have a large amount of discretion. This stage of the crime is the most influential to a case. What a police officer decides to charge an individual for and whether or not they charge them at all can completely affect how a case is carried out. For example, let’s say that and individual was going 10 miles per hour over the speed limit and a police officer pulled them over for it. The individual breaking the law was speeding because a loved one was in the hospital. It is now the officer’s decision to either hold this person responsible and give them a ticket or let them off with a warning because of the
Their job is to decide if there is a reasonable certainty that a person committed the crime they are being accused of. The prosecutor also provides a recommendation to a judge for a bail amount, reviews evidence, conducts investigations, and enters plea bargains. There is a lot of room for discretion within this career. The prosecutor’s recommendation on bail can have a huge impact on an offender. A prosecutor could recommend that they have no bail. This is done to prevent criminals from committing more crimes or fleeing in between hearings. A prosecutor can also recommend that a plea bargain be offered. This could effect a case significantly because it causes the defendant to plea guilty but to a lower crime. Prosecuting attorneys provide all of these recommendation to a