Four Types Of Police Discretion

Law enforcers are individuals of a society who have been given special authority to help maintain social order. They are the civil force empowered by the national or local government to implement laws, protect property, and limit the civil disorder. Law enforcers, such as police officers are available 24 hours, 7 days a week. Police are available to handle civil complaints, burglaries, accidents, traffic stops, and even dangerous situations. There are no rules or laws to every encounter that they endure, so this is where discretion comes into play. Discretion is “defined as an official action by a criminal justice official based on that individual’s judgment about the best course of action.”(Walker & Katz, 2013, p351).
An individual’s discretion
can depend on a person’s past experiences, personal life, attitudes and beliefs, as well as perception of a situation. There cannot be full enforcement of every issue, so police are given the ability to fairly practice discretion. It is essential that an individual cooperates with an official, or the law enforcer holds the right to force you to do so. Through this act, they are able to practice the use of force. Force is a loose term used to define an act that an official performs to gain social order, if necessary. The National Institute of Justice, holds force to be a required amount of effort by police to compel compliance by an unwilling subject. (2014). Force varies depending on the law enforcement technologies, police department’s experience, and federal and state mandates, to name a few. (National Institute of Justice, 2014). Force can be abused, because this is a form of discretion. It is one the most undefined practices of policing.
Many of law enforcers encounters occur out of the public eye; therefore, there cannot be a sure way to monitor the practice of force. This issue is one of the most compelling, because it has resulted in citizen injuries and even death. The minimal amount of force is supposed to be used by a law official. Force ranges from verbal threats to physical contact. Physical contact can be anything from roughing up a noncompliant individual, to using a Taser. An example of force, can be a citizen using verbal resistance and the officer using strong language, or an individual resisting arrest and the officer performing a ‘take down’ technique.(Phillips, 2010).
Chemical agents, batons, dog attacks/bites, and vehicle ramming/pursuit, are four types of force.
(Gül Z, Hekim H, & Terkesil, 2013, p3). Chemical agents are less likely to cause permanent danger and are less costly as well. Batons are seen to be less dangerous than firearms, but Gul, Hekim, & Terkesil (2013) believe that officers should be trained appropriately, because these could cause serious harm if misused. Police dogs can cause physiological and physical damage. According to the article, Controlling police (excessive) Force: The American Use, Robinette v Barnes, 1988 a suspect was killed by a dog and in another Chew v. Gates, 1990, the dog injured the suspects arm. (p4). Finally, there is the ramming of a vehicle into another when on a pursuit. This can be deadly and research suggests that the pursuit of an escaping vehicle should be done for public safety, security purposes, but not done arbitrarily. (Gül Z, Hekim H, & Terkesil, 2013,
p4).
However, it is supposed to be used as the last resort to get a disorderly citizen to comply. In his article, Use of Force in Minority Communities Is Related TO Police Education, Age, Experience, and Ethnicity, Chapman (2014) asserts that “from the beginning of modern policing it was recognized that only the minimal force should be used, and only when necessary, but that the public trust in police reduces the need for force. (p1). It is believed that this fundamental approach has been ignored.
Throughout time, force has been undefined and unmonitored. What may be considered force for one officer, may not be deemed as a force for another officer. The amount of force that an officer exerts can depend on an individual’s initial attitude, appearance, and likeliness to cooperate. Issues that have come about with force, is the questions about: Are officers taking it too far? Are officers exhibiting the same amount of force to all individuals, regardless of ethnicity and age? Are officers more likely to use force in communities of poverty? These are questions and issues that have come about with the use of force. Force can be applied if the officer views an individual as a threat to themselves, others, or the officer themselves. There is no sure way to monitor someone’s internal thoughts of feeling like they are in danger, apart from them verbalizing it. There is much controversy on the topic of force. Force can be seen heroic in some cases, and seen as an overreaction in others.
It is often found that police in a minority community in the United States are resented, distrusted, and feared, thus hindering their effectiveness. (Chapman, 2014). Chapman (2014) noted, the public recognizes that greater force may be necessary to control increasing crime, especially violent crime. (p2) Some communities have higher crime rates, so there is most likely going to be more instances of force being used. In areas with higher homicide rates and disadvantaged neighborhoods, it was reported that police officers used higher levels of force with suspects, even when factors such as suspect resistance and the officer’s education were taken into account. (Chapman, 2014, p2). Through research of Terrill and Reisig (Chapman, 2014), police coercive force was not depended solely on race, but by the racial composition of the area in which the suspect is encountered.
An officer’s age can influence the use of force.
In a survey of 370 officers, younger officers’ were more likely to use force and make arrests, than older officers, but there was no relationship between age and number of citizen complaints. (Chapman, 2014, p3). The number of arrests and force were related because officers may have been in situations that caused immediate action. When it came to the race or ethnicity of officers and shootings. It was reported that Geller and Scott (1992) found that black officers were more likely to shoot civilians than white officers, based upon the black officer feeling threatened from living in a higher crime neighborhood. (Chapman, 2014, p4). On the other hand, a 2008 study was done that concluded that based on an officer’s gender, education, and age, white non-Hispanic officers were more likely to shoot than Hispanics or blacks. (Chapman, 2014, p4). This is why the use of force is so controversial. There is no sure way to determine if force was used inappropriately. If a neighborhood has high crime rates, then officers are likely to be present more frequently, and on negative
terms.
Studies have supported the idea that police often use more force than required. Police chiefs from major law enforcement agencies have expressed concern for excessive force in policing. The application of excessive or lethal force by a police officer falls into the hands of the trainers failure to train and can violate the constitution, amendment 4.
Moreover, it was not until the mid-nineties that the federal government interfered in the role of regulating police brutality at the state and local level. (Schatmeier, 2014, p1). Brutality is savage physical violence, or great cruelty. The federal government had little to no interference, until the various investigations of police brutality in the beating of Rodney King case. Schatmeier (2013) states, Congress enacted 42 USC to correct systematic unlawful force practices across the country. (p2).