Police Discretion - 1418 Words

Police discretion by definition is the power to make decisions of policy and practice. Police have the choice to enforce certain laws and how they will be enforced. Some law is always or almost always enforced, some is never or almost never enforced, and some is sometimes enforced and sometimes not (Davis, p.1). Similarly with discretion is that the law may not cover every situation a police officer encounters, so they must use their discretion wisely. Until 1956, people thought of police discretion as taboo. According to http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/ 205/205lect09.htm, The attitude of police administrators was that any deviation from accepted procedures was extralegal and probably a source of corruption. When it was finally†¦show more content†¦If an officer encounters a mentally ill person who is acting out irrationally and who is creating a disturbance, the officer has three options that they can do: (1) transport the person to a mental health facility, (2) arres t the person and take them to jail, or (3) to resolve the issue at hand informally; however this decision is up to the discretion of the officer on the call. Problems arise when police use their discretionary powers when they take into custody drunk drivers. According to http://faculty.ncwc. edu/toconnor/205/205lect09.htm, there are three types of police officers that will make driving under the influence (D.U.I.) arrests. These are (1) rate busters; (2) moralists, or drunk-haters; and (3) bounty hunters, who wish to collect the overtime pay. Then there are those officers that do not make the necessary arrests because they are lazy; have an opinion that D.U.I. s are not a severe problem; or have a lack of faith of the arrest in general. (http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/205/205lect09.htm) Davis says, Most arrests for disorderly conduct involve an abuse of power by the arresting officerÂ… Arrest of disorderly conduct usually is not synonymous with ‘invoking the criminal p rocess but is synonymous with imposing punishment (p. 14-15). For arresting people accused of disorderly conduct, ThreeShow MoreRelatedPolice Discretion1244 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿ Police Discretion Jocelyn Golphin University of the District of Columbia Criminal Justice System 2/21/2014 Golphin 2 Police discretion is a very important approach in matters concerning criminal justice. There has been a consistent problem between enforcing the law and the spirit of the law. Discretion in the broader sense can be defined as the individual’s ability to make a decision basing on the principle of courses of the action. During trainingRead MorePolice Discretion1050 Words   |  5 PagesPolice Discretion Police discretion is the ability to choose a course of action because of broad limits of power. It refers to the autonomy an officer has in choosing an appropriate course of action (The Police In America, 113). It includes authority to decide which of the various means of helping the helpless, maintaining order, and keeping the peace are best suited to particular circumstances (www.worldandi.com/specialreport/1989/january/Sa15878.htm). The police need to have discretionRead MorePolice Discretion1548 Words   |  7 PagesPolice Discretion David Gonzalez University of Phoenix Introduction to Policing CJA/370 Professor John W. Feltgen June 23, 2005 Abstract In this paper I will discuss police discretion and the use of these discretionary powers in the law enforcement workplace. I will explore the mythical aspects of police discretionary powers and the source of this myth. I will further discuss the control of discretionary authority. I will name instances of law enforcement officials using their discretionary powersRead MorePolice Abuse Of Discretion And Discretion2015 Words   |  9 Pages Police Abuse of Discretion William Powell Jr. American Military University Professor Robert Arruda CMRJ303 Criminology January 17, 2014 Abstract Utilizing the research from several sources and personal experience, this paper will discuss police abuse of discretion. The paper will begin by defining discretion. The paper will examine several types of discretion variables. The paper will discuss its use in the field and office settings. The paper will discussRead MoreDefinition Of Discretion And Police Discretion2054 Words   |  9 PagesThe term discretion has several meanings the liberty to decide what should be done in a specific circumstance is one general universal definition. But when dealing with criminal justice and police work the description changes a bit. The criminal justice definition of discretion is Police discretion discusses the authority given to a police officer that allows him or her to decide how to best handle a certain situation. This is designed at increasing the flexibility of the criminal justice systemRead MorePolice Discretion2131 Words   |  9 PagesDiscretion is defined as the authority to make a decision between two or more choices (Pollock, 2010). More specifically, it is defined as â€Å"the capacity to identify and to document criminal and noncriminal events† (Boivin ump; Cordeau, 2011). Every police officer has a great deal of discretion concerning when to use their authority, power, persuasion, or force. Depending on how an officer sees their duty to society will determine an officer’s discretion. Discretion leads to selective enforcementRead MorePolice Discretion2677 Words   |  11 PagesFrom a criminological perspective discretion can be defined as the authority granted by law to agencies and officials to act on their own considered judgement and conscience in certain situations; and each area of the legal system (judges, parliament and law enforcement) has its own discretion. Police discretion is the ability granted by the legal system to police offices, in certain situations, to act in a manner that allows authorities to make responsible decisions and individual choices or judgmentsRead MoreEssay on Police Discretion1425 Words   |  6 PagesPolice Discretion Discretion, uncertainly, and inefficiently are rampant and essential in criminal justice. Nobody expects perfection. That would neither be good nor fair. Justice is a sporting event in which playing fair is more important than winning. Law enactment, enforcement, and administration all involve trading off the possibility of perfect outcomes for security against the worst outcomes. Policing is the most visible part of this: employees on the bottom have more discretion thanRead MoreDisadvantages Of Police Discretion835 Words   |  4 PagesAssignment 2 Discretion can be defined as the availability of choice of options or actions. We all use discretion each and every day with all the decisions we make in our day to day lives. With that being said police also use discretion but theirs have the ability to change people’s lives on the daily basis. They have to make those decisions each and every day not knowing how it will affect the person’s life. Discretion is something that is a very necessary part of police work. One of the reasonRead MoreEssay On Police Discretion1053 Words   |  5 PagesPolice Discretion is one of the many tool officers have a choice to use when making decision in enforcing the law. Officer have the option to use discretion were the officers see fit. They do not have to issue a citation or arrest in many cases a warning many be justified. Many of the outcomes could be determine by several factors which include the subjects attitude, the crime and the person past history. In some cases, a subjectà ¢â‚¬â„¢s social status and financial status in the community have also have

Essay Greek Mythology vs. Ancient Near East Mytholgy

Greek Mythology played a monumental role in the structural development of ancient Greece, not only as a society, but as individuals. Surprisingly, their religion was not exactly one of originality. In fact, their religion was loosely based on earlier cultures’ religions. It bears many strikingly similar resemblances to some of the oldest recorded religions in history. Ancient Greek religion is a type of polytheism called â€Å"Monarchial Polytheism.† That is, they believe in several different gods and deities but there is a supreme ruler above all of them. In order to fully understand how similar the mythological systems of religions have been throughout the years, you must look back towards the earliest of recorded civilizations. Polytheism†¦show more content†¦Historian Jean Bottero, who is one of the most knowledgeable individuals on ancient Mesopotamian religion, believes that â€Å"their gods were not viewed mystically, who had to be obeyed and feared as opposed to loved and adored.† The city-states of Mesopotamia also had patron gods or goddesses much like the Poleis of the ancient Greek city-states. Each city would adopt a particular god or goddess who they would pray to and offer sacrifices in order to please them. They looked to all the gods with respect as their rulers but their patron god or goddess was of the utmost importance to please. They believed that all fortune, good or bad, stemmed from the deity that watched over their particular city. Even though there are so many similarities between these religions, the ancient Greeks did not just start out with an almost exact parallel to the Mesopotamians. The earliest of the ancient Greeks were agriculturalists living on the Balkan Peninsula. They used Animism and assigned a spirit to virtually every aspect of nature. When tribes north of the peninsula invaded and conquered them, the spirits of nature either fused with the new pantheon of gods based on power, battle, force and conquest or faded into insignificance. Although there are many similarities to these religions, the ancient Greeks went a little more in depth with their

Censorship and the Internet Essay Example For Students

Censorship and the Internet: Essay Freedom of speech has been one of the most important and fought over freedoms that this country has ever known. Since its commercial inception in 1992, the Internet, has been a topic of debate for the past six years. The wide spread argument has to do with the content that the Internet provides. So, when congress began its hellish quest of censoring one of the worlds fastest growing sources of information it was no wonder that an anti-censor campaign would begin. This bitter argument has been debated, legislated, and written about very extensively over the last couple of years. Although most people agree that the internet contains some content that children should not view, censoring the entire internet will cause more of a problem because it will infringe on the First Amendment and other civil liberties that Americans have fought and bled over for the past 200 years. Almost three years ago, Congress approved the Communications Decency Act, (CDA) which was designed to protect children by prohibiting indecent speech or images from being sent through cyberspace.(Quittner) This law seems somewhat harmless at a first glance until you begin to read some of its clauses. One of the biggest groups that combated this issue was the CIEC, or Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition. The CIEC soon began to find problems with this bill as the so maticulously stated on their web site It is also important to note that the CDA is not about child pornography, obscenity, or using the Internet to stalk children. These are already illegal under current law.(CIEC) The article then states instead, the CDA prohibits posting indecent or patently offensive materials in a public forum on the Internet including web pages, newsgroups, chat rooms, or online discussion lists.(CIEC) This law would prohibit texts of classic fiction such as the Catcher in the Rye, Ulysees, and th e 7 dirty words, and other materials which, although offensive to some, enjoy the full protection of the First Amendment if published in a newspaper, magazine, or a book, or in the public square.(CIEC) A very heated topic indeed for the CIEC and the rest of the Internet community who where baffled by the contradictoriness of congresss new law. One of the most concerned online and also published magazines in the world that has anything to do with the Internet is Hot-Wired magazine. This publication has been one of the most informative, if not the most informative, magazine published online and off. Hot-Wired, has received numerous industry awards such as Best Online Publication, Computer Press Award and Top Web Sites of 96, Time Magazine. It is also now attars more monthly readers than the Wall Street Journal Interactive, and ABCNews.com. Hot-Wired, now famous for rallying one of the most infamous protest against Internet censorship published an article describing the protest. Within minutes of last Tuesdays news that a House committee had voted to incorporate an indecency clause into the proposed telecom bill, a collective panic spread through San Franciscos Multimedia Gulch.(Irwin) The author of the article then stated Informed by word of mouth, a handful of pamphlets, and, most efficiently, the Internet, more than 500 protester gathered on the 14th of December in the heart of San Franciscos Internet community SOMAs South Park to collectively oppose indecency standards that could jail or substantially fine anyone who chooses to use certain profane words on the Net.(Irwin) One of the Internets most prolific advocates for freedom of speech in Cyberspace is Mike Goodwin. Mr. Goodwin is the founder of the EFF, (Electronic Frontier Foundation) a non-profit organization that deals with the protections of civil liberties in the information age. He was one of the many honored guests that attended the protest rally in San Francisco and was quoted as saying Take a mo ment now and listen. Goodwin ripped a copy of the First Amendment in half. Thats the sound of what the United States Congress has been doing to the Constitution in the last few months.(Irwin) Similar protests occurred in Seattle and New York on Thursday, following the December 12th Internet Day of Protest which flooded Congressional switchboards with thousands of pleas to halt Internet censorship.(Irwin)The many people who placed those calls to congress have now been working for a variety of Internet civil right organizations. Their goals are to stop congress from completely outlawing First Amendment rights over the Internet. Such non-profit groups as the CDT (Center for Democracy and Technology) mission statement states The Center for Democracy and Technology is a leading advocate for democratic values and constitutional liberties in the digital age. It goes on to say Backed by staff expertise in relevant law and technology, CDT seeks practical solutions to problems and is dedicate d to building broad consensus among all parties interested in the future of the Internet and other new communications media.(CDT) We are at the cusp of a new age-an age that holds out the promise for reinvigorating democracy and civil liberties, at home and around the globe.(CDT) What we decide today will ultimately effect the digital age in the future, whats at steak is nothing less than the future rights and responsibilities of individuals.(CDT) To understand the complexity of the problem you must begin to understand the number aspect as to how many people use the Internet. One Internet user described it best when he said Cyberspace, a common name for the Net, has been defined by one author as being made up of millions of people who communicate with one another through computers. It is not just people that make up cyberspace. It is also information stored on millions of computers worldwide, accessible to others through telephone lines and other communication channels that make up what is known as cyberspace. The same author went on to say The term itself is elusive, since it is not so much a physical entity as a description of an intangible.(Toball) Many people have this preconceived notion that the Internet is just a web browser pointing you to your favorite site. This is a completely incorrect thought. Toball continues to state The complexity of the Internet is demonstrated through its many components. The most readily identifiable part is the World Wide Web (WWW). This consists of web pages that can be accessed through the use of a web browser. Web pages are created using a basic programming language. Another easily identified section of the Internet is e-mail. Once again it is a relatively user-friendly communication device. Some other less publicized sections of the Internet include: Internet Relay Chat (IRC), which allows real time chatting to occur among thousands of people, Gopher, which works similarly to the WWW but for a more academic purpose, and File Transfer Protocol (FTP), which allows the transfer of files from one computer to another. Another service that is not Internet but is carried along with it in many instances is Usenet or News. In Usenet there are many newsgroups which center their conversations on many varied topics. For example, alt.music.beatles would focus the discussion on the Beatles. This would be done through posts or articles almost like letters sent into a large pot where everyone can read and reply. Many controversial newsgroups exist and they are created easily. It is possible to transfer obscene and pornographic material through these newsgroups. This is exactly what parents and congress feel is the heart of the problem. Yes, it is true that you can receive, view, down load, and listen to a variety of pornography, but on the same token you can also do the same with most other topics. There are many answers to the problem of Internet censorship; the only problem is that the answers require most peop le to become more computer literate. As one author stated While this theme might push some buttons for the many parents who recognize that their children are more computer literate than themselves and who fear their own ignorance.(Steele)There is a lot of commercial software such as Searchlight, and Surf Watcher that are available to parents so that they can restrict access to sites that they deem to be inappropriate for their children. Howard Rheingold is a journalist, editor and internationally recognized expert on emerging technologies. As a high-tech social historian and futurist, he has established himself as an effective translator of the long-term impacts of technology, computing and telecommunications. He also was one of the honored guests at the now infamous, San Francisco protests where he stated We can protect our own children. I can determine what is decent for my daughter to know. It is not for my neighbors to impose their standards on her.(Irwin) If we are to make the Internet a powerful resource for learning, we must give parents and teachers the tools they need to make the Internet safe for children.(President, Bill Clinton)Another solution that has been proposed is for pornographic related sites to impose a (. XX) Suffix. The debate on this choice has to do with it being unconstitutional, because it would force a business to one sector of the Internet thereby infringing on their rights to do commerce without being classified to a certain category. The opposite side of this debate is the fact that most things are separated by various suffixes such as, (. EDU), (. GOV), and (. COM) help the user know where he/she is going. By implementing such a standard would be a great victory for those who do not want their children visiting inappropriate sites because they would be able to restrict the end suffixes in the web browser. A Raisin In The Sun Essay American DreamBecause of the First Amendment, I am able to safely criticize our government about their tactics and doings. We elected these people to office to speak for us; we had better make sure that they are doing their job. I think that Justice, John Paul Stevens, said it best when he stated The interest in encouraging freedom of expression in a democratic society outweighs any theoretical but unproven benefit of censorship.In conclusion I would just like to add, the Internet is a powerful tool that can help a variety of people and citizens of this country and world. There is no doubt in my mind that the Internet is a valuable research and educational sources that can help students achieve what they wish. Parents must teach their children to filter out what they consider to be immoral and offensive, for this is the job of a parent not the government. As with all-powerful tools, we must learn to harness it and use it to better further our society as a whole. Taking away one of the United States most valued rights will never be the answer, but hopefully with the help and support of the Internet community and congress, we will be able to achieve a common goal. A goal that Im sure will help us achieve greatness in the Super Information Age.Works CitedBradford, Bryan and Mark Krumholz. Telecommunications and Decency: Big Brother goes Digital. Business Today Spring 1996 : 12-16. Gates, Bill. Searching for middle ground in online censorshiphttp://www.microsoft.com/corpinfo/bill-g/column/1996essay/censorship.htm. 27 Mar. 1996. Irwin, Heather. Geeks Take to the Streets http://www.hotwired.com/special/indecent/rally.html. Jefferson, Thomas. Bill Of Rights. The Constitution of the United States. http://Constitution.by.net/uSA/BillOfRights.html. 21 Apr. 1996. McCullagh, Declan. PLAGUE OF FREEDOM Internet Underground Aug 96 Issue 09 http://www.eff.org/~declan/global/reports/plague.073196.txt. 31 July 1996. Silberman, Steve. Defending the First Amendment. http://www.hotwired.com/special/lawsuit. Silencing the NetThe Threat to Freedom of Expression Online. Human Rights Watch May 1996, Vol. 8, No. 2 (G). Steele, Shari. Taking a Byte Out of the First Amendment. How Free Is Speech in Cyberspace? Human Rights Vol. 23, No.2. http://www.eff.org/pub/Censorship/human_rights_960420.article. Spring 1996. Sterling, Bruce. Short History of the Internet. The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction Feb1993. gopher://gopher.isoc.org:70/00/internet/history/short.history.of.internet. 17 Apr. 1996. http://www.eff.org/pub/Censorship/human_rights_960420.articleSteelehttp://www.hotwired.com/special/indecent/rally.htmlIrwinhttp://www.ciec.org/victory.shtmlCIEChttp://www.microsoft.com/billgates/columns/1996essay/essay960327.htmBill Gateshttp://www.cdt.org/mission.htmlCenter for Democracy and Technologyhttp://www.ciec.org/SC_appeal/970626_Clinton.htmlBill Clintonhttp://cgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/1997/dom/970707/nation.unshackling_n.htmlTime Magazine Joshua Quinttner