Police Discretion (Essay Sample)

Criminal Justice
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Police Discretion
Introduction
The role of the police is to maintain law and order in the society. This is applied through providing effective criminal justice services such as investigation, arrest and confronting crime in the society. The police are provided with executive powers to confront various crimes in the society. The effectiveness of the policing process entails holistic training and personal experience in dealing with various social and cultural issues in the society. This is reflected by the remorse state the police undertake during the policing process. Police discretion can be defined as the authoritative power provided to the police in the line of maintaining law and order in the society. The art of police discretion entails weighing of options, which facilitate sound judgement. The police have the mandate to arrest or give a warning to a crime suspect dependent on the magnitude of the crime (Murray, 2002). However, the process of policing must apply the rule of law in terms of respecting human rights. This is because the authoritative powers provided to the police are liable to be misused if a multidisciplinary approach is not undertaken in the police force. It is through the respect of rule of law that police process succeed in maintaining law and order. The code of ethics acts as a guideline to the police in the line of duty (Miller & Blackler, 2005). This is because the police must engage the society during the confrontation of crime issues. This is because the society is part of the policing process as they provide critical evidence to the police officers. The objective of this study is to evaluate the meaning of the concept of police discretion and the blue uniform.
Police Discretion and the Blue Uniform
The concept of police discretion can be termed as the holistic process that provides the police officers with powers to determine the direction of action to undertake in the line of duty. The determinant factor in the process of policing is making of effective judgement devoid of discrimination and exploitation (Tolley, 2012). The rule of law provides the police with authoritative powers to confront critical social issues in the community. The powers entail arresting, warning, investigating and maintaining law and order in the society. The effectiveness of criminal justice provision in the society is dictated by the concept of police discretion. This is because the process of policing is paramount to the implementation of law and order. Additionally, the policing process aids in the functioning of the judiciary through the provision of vital evidence of the crime offenders. The police officers are involved in ground investigation of the crime offenders before they are handed to the court for judgement. The judiciary entirely depends on the evidence provided to the court by the police officers (Dempsey & Forst, 2011). Therefore, the act of police discretion is paramount to the provision of criminal justice in the society. The discretion is part of the executive powers provided to the police. Therefore, effective judgement can be achieved through respect of rule of law and human rights. It is the role of the police officers in the society to implement the law in the grass root. The implementation of the law entails understanding and training in the line of knowledge acquisition. Therefore, the judgement the police makes during police discretion process entails the application of experiences and knowledge in the rule of law.
In addition, the rule of law states that the police should not abuse powers provided to them by the constitution. However, research indicate that the implementation of effective police discretion acts have got various barriers. These barriers include corruption, external influences and police management. The resultant of poor policing process can result to discrimination of certain people in the society (Wrobleski & Hess, 2005). Therefore, poor policing process affects the effectiveness and efficiency of the judiciary. This is because the police officers who engage in corruption and discrimination provide evidence inclined in one side. The judges make the ruling based on the investigation conducted by the police officers. Therefore, the poor police discretion can result to poor implementation and provision of criminal justice. This is because the criminal justice must entail transparency and integrity. Consequently, the police officers must uphold equality and transparency when undertaking the act of police discretion. Furthermore, human right groups advocate for people in the society to question the integrity of the police. Therefore, the act of police discretion must be conducted on a very definitive ground (Miller & Blackler, 2005). This is through providing proper explanation to the suspect of crime through the use of law. The policing process provides equality in the implementation of law in the society. However, research indicates that there is an aspect of discrimination by the police based on gender, economic status, race and age. A good example of abuse of discretion is depicted through political influence. The inclination of the police discretion on political influence affects the implementation of criminal justice. This is because the police will favour certain individuals with powers while discriminating others in the society. It is through the use of human activist that police discretion is managed. This is because the police department does not obsolete powers to work independently without help from other groups. The human activists and independent commission provide a guideline in the implementation of the law. Therefore, the concept of police discretion entails consideration of various factors such as magnitude of the crime, effectiveness of the judiciary and situation of the offender.
The uniformity and aspect of equality in the police department is depicted by mode of dressing. In Australia, police officers act as law enforcers. The effectiveness of the police officers in the implementation of the law is shown through the cooperation. The blue uniforms worn by the police officers in Australia have symbolic meaning of integrity and transparency in the implementation of rule of law (Murray, 2002). Additionally, the blue police uniforms provide...