Police and Discretion Essay Example

Police and Discretion Essay Example Police and Discretion Essay Police and Discretion Essay Police Discretion Police discretion is freedom or the power of state officers to exercise various alternative actions towards a person. A police officer may choose to give a warning, issue a ticket of violation or arrest an offender. Not all circumstances allow police to have discretion. According to a research by Carrington and Schulenber (2004), various factors affect police discretion. These factors include the seriousness and the nature of the crime, prior contacts with the police, injury to the victim, presence of a weapon, the relationship between the victim and the apprehended youth, group crime, age, and sex (Carrington Schulenber, 2004). They found out that the police charged 86 percent of the youths found in robbery case, murder among other serious crimes. External and  internal  mechanisms that affect police discretion One of the mechanisms that  influence  police discretion is the lack of consensuses on what criminal behaviors the police should exercise  discretion. First, there are no clear legal definitions of the offenses where  discretion  will apply. The  community  may not be able to  interpret  the laws in the same way as the legislatures. Secondly, there are no laws within the police force to  control  use of police discretion. Police exercise  discretion  differently. Apart from these factors, legal measures also affected police discretion. Thirdly, the close interaction between communities and the police influence  discretion. This allows for corruption within the police force. Solutions to improving police discretion It is not possible to eliminate police discretion. The best way to improve police discretion is the use of controlling mechanisms. Such  include  implementation of laws, policies and procedures on the use of discretion. The  establishment  and implementing of the Youth Offenders Act has influenced police discretion (Bergen, 2005). The Act has profoundly regulated police discretion. Secondly, there is a need to  establish  legislature on â€Å"zero tolerance offenses† Strict measures regarding the use of firearms by the police should be enacted. According to Bergen, further  promotion  an  education  of the police will  improve  police discretion. Curbing corruption among the police officers is  necessary  in regulating police  freedom.