72 lines
3.6 KiB
Plaintext
72 lines
3.6 KiB
Plaintext
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October 1990
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RESEARCH REVIEW
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POLICE USE OF DISCRETION:
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A COMPARISON OF COMMUNITY, SYSTEM,
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AND OFFICER EXPECTATIONS
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Research Conducted By
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Hal Hugh Nees,II
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Research Reviewed By
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David J. Icove, Ph.D.
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FBI Academy
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Quantico, Virginia
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Police officers display significant levels of discretion in
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how they handle various law enforcement scenarios, according to
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a research study conducted in conjunction with a doctoral thesis
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in Public Administration at the University of Colorado. For
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purposes of the study, the available choices were limited to the
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following: Take no action, warn the offender, refer to a social
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agency, issue a summons, or arrest an individual. The study also
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examines the officer's age, sex, ethnicity, education, geographic
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residence, marital status, and political orientation.
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The study entails the review of 20 incidents covering
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traffic violations, disturbances, drug and alcohol violations,
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prostitution, juvenile status crimes, vandalism, and gambling.
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All were misdemeanor offenses, with the exception of one
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involving the cultivation of marijuana. The sample groups of
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respondents included 1,077 police officers, probation officers,
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prosecuting attorneys, defense attorneys, judges, community
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leaders, and ordinary citizens in and around Colorado.
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The comparison of police officers to all other groups shows
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that officers tend to treat individuals more harshly when
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dealing with curfew violations, drugs and alcohol, prostitution,
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and vandalism. The survey groups generally thought that the
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officers need to act more harshly when handling traffic violators
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and gambling offenses. The study also points out that even
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members within each group do not always agree with each other.
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Officers handle intoxicated individuals differently,
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depending upon the suspect's attitude and demographics. It is
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more likely that cooperative individuals would be allowed to
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return home, while ``outsiders'' would be taken to jail.
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Educational level and the experience of officers have an
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impact on their decisionmaking process. Generally, the higher
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the officer's education, the fewer sanctions the officer would
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impose on an individual. However, the study implies that during
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the early years of police service, officers tend to act more
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harshly, tapering off during their mid-level years, and then
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gradually escalating their choice of sanctions in the final years
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of their careers.
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The results of this study recommend that law enforcement
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agencies can take significant steps in the area of ``discretion
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management'' the ability of a jurisdiction to uniformly and
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fairly exercise levels of discretion by their officers. This
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research reinforces previous studies that show that boundaries of
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discretion are defined too generally by many law enforcement
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agencies. The study also questions whether law enforcement
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agencies reflect the priorities within their individual
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communities.
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