Police Discretion
Police Discretion
Should all police officers of America be advised to enforce the law equally in all situations? Before a justifiable response, let’s create a scenario; a full grown man in his early twenties is walking in a residential neighborhood, carrying a baseball bat and smashing car windows. Authorities have been called and the man is obstructing both officers that arrived in a squad car- the man is swinging the bat in the direction of the officers and is creating a threat to their lives. Now let’s compare this with the same scenario, except it is an elderly woman doing the same thing. First, the age difference of the perpetrators should be taken into consideration. In both scenarios, technically the officers’ lives are in danger, but does that give them the right to use deadly force in both situations? A man in his early twenties is typically very strong and could create catastrophic damage to both officers, even if they were trying to take him to the ground, using martial arts take-downs. An elderly woman is typically very fragile and could be taken down more quickly using martial arts take downs. A young man is more likely to survive a gunshot wound to the body- an elderly woman is not. So should police officers truly be advised to enforce the law equally in all scenarios? The answer is, absolutely not, because it creates a zero tolerance policy.
It is also rational to believe, that it is completely reasonable for police officers to not enforce the law in certain situations. For example, if an officer is called out to a situation where it was reported that teenagers were drinking in the desert and playing music loud, it would be justifiable for the officers not to enforce the law. Sure the teenagers are creating a noise disturbance and drinking underage, but they could be doing far worse- they could be robbing people or attacking people. So, it is safe to say that they do not deserve to be booked into juvenile hall, with the juveniles who are far more
Should all police officers of America be advised to enforce the law equally in all situations? Before a justifiable response, let’s create a scenario; a full grown man in his early twenties is walking in a residential neighborhood, carrying a baseball bat and smashing car windows. Authorities have been called and the man is obstructing both officers that arrived in a squad car- the man is swinging the bat in the direction of the officers and is creating a threat to their lives. Now let’s compare this with the same scenario, except it is an elderly woman doing the same thing. First, the age difference of the perpetrators should be taken into consideration. In both scenarios, technically the officers’ lives are in danger, but does that give them the right to use deadly force in both situations? A man in his early twenties is typically very strong and could create catastrophic damage to both officers, even if they were trying to take him to the ground, using martial arts take-downs. An elderly woman is typically very fragile and could be taken down more quickly using martial arts take downs. A young man is more likely to survive a gunshot wound to the body- an elderly woman is not. So should police officers truly be advised to enforce the law equally in all scenarios? The answer is, absolutely not, because it creates a zero tolerance policy.
It is also rational to believe, that it is completely reasonable for police officers to not enforce the law in certain situations. For example, if an officer is called out to a situation where it was reported that teenagers were drinking in the desert and playing music loud, it would be justifiable for the officers not to enforce the law. Sure the teenagers are creating a noise disturbance and drinking underage, but they could be doing far worse- they could be robbing people or attacking people. So, it is safe to say that they do not deserve to be booked into juvenile hall, with the juveniles who are far more