Four Factors Affecting Police Discretion

There are a multitude of things that can affect a police officer’s discretion. The first big factor that they take into consideration is the suspects demeanor and how they carry themselves in the presence of the officer. A suspect that makes the officers job harder than it must be rather than cooperating with them are at a greater risk of getting arrested than not. Another big factor is the suspects records. The past charges and police run-ins will take a big toll on the officer’s decisions. In most cases if the officer is in a position where the suspects fate rest in their hands they’ll face stiffer penalties depending on their record and how extensive it is. Also, another thing that might sway an officer’s discretion is certain variables in the system that are out of their hands. For example, if the courts and correctional systems are backlogged
I say this because at the end of the day in cases of police discretion being the be all end all these factors already come into play and sway the officer’s judgement dramatically. With that being the case an extra set of special circumstances it would just overly complicate the officer’s duties and impede their chance to exercise discretion entirely. I know that my opinion may not be a popular one but it makes the most sense in my mind because after a certain point it makes me feel like the special circumstances may make things difficult for the officer. And in closing I’d just like to compare taking special circumstances into consideration to giving certain people a handicap. After the first time, it would make sense for the officer to possibly take the unique circumstances into consideration but after a while some people may possibly try to abuse the leniency the circumstances could possibly bring. So that’s why I feel the special circumstances should be tossed to the