Police discretion refers to discretion exercised by police in making decisions, including decisions as to whether to invoke the criminal process or not in a particular situation [1][2][3]. As police routinely face both non-criminal situations and serious public safety problems, both of which require considerable judgment beyond the application of criminal law, discretion is an unavoidable and ubiquitous part of policing. it has generated considerable debate[4]. Yet, haphazard use of police discretion can result in unduly limiting the extent of law enforcement, a power not explicitly assigned to them officially[1].
Joseph Goldstein who initiated a discussion on the topic in the beginning of 1960s, observed that police discretion is often of very low visibility and proposed that discretionary decision making by police should be under some subsidiary rules and the compliance to rules should be reviewed by an official agency[3].
Police discretion is intimately related to discretion in criminal justice and has considerable bearing on the operation of rule of law. Even as discretionary decisions in criminal justice, such as the judicial decisions, are subject to review, police decisions are often of low visibility and not available for institutional reviews. It is argued [1].
Police discretion can be deliberate, planned and transparent or it can be haphazard.
Studies have studied the impact of the characteristics of officer and organisation[5], the situational factors(such as the race and demeanour of the suspect, location of the stop, and other contextual factors)[6] on officers’ discretion.
How police discretion might be effectively regulated to reduce the influence of illegitimate considerations such as suspect-race on police behaviour[7]
Researchers have also explored how police officers and organizations should be held accountable when problems such as excessive use of force and biased policing exist. Some such scholars emphasize the limited capacity of regulators to anticipate the complexity of the situations officers will encounter, and argue for a more carrot-oriented approach to police regulation that draws on officers’ expertise and experience to develop flexible guidelines[8]
The implications of police discretion are many. Stemming from the breadth of criminal law or over-broad legal authority[9].
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Bittner, E (1970). THE FUNCTIONS OF THE POLICE IN MODERN SOCIETY A Review of Background Factors, Curren~ Practices, and Possible Role Models. Maryland: National Institute of Mental Health Center for Studies of Crime and Delinquency. p. 3.
- ^ Center, Susan L. (1984). "Police Discretion: A Selected Bibliography". Law and Contemporary Problems. 47 (4): 303–313. ISSN 0023-9186. JSTOR 1191695.
- ^ a b Goldstein, Joseph (1960). "Police Discretion Not to Invoke the Criminal Process: Low-Visibility Decisions in the Administration of Justice". The Yale Law Journal. 69 (4): 543–594. doi:10.2307/794445. ISSN 0044-0094. JSTOR 794445.
- ^ Katherine Beckett. 2016. “The Uses and Abuses of Police Discretion: Toward Harm Reduction Policing.” Harvard Law & Policy Review 10: 77- 100. https://journals.law.harvard.edu/lpr/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2016/02/10.1_6_Beckett.pdf accessed on 4 November 2025
- ^ Nowacki, Jeffrey S. (2011-11-08). "Organizational-Level Police Discretion". Crime & Delinquency. 61 (5): 643–668. doi:10.1177/0011128711421857. ISSN 0011-1287.
- ^ KOCHEL, TAMMY RINEHART; WILSON, DAVID B.; MASTROFSKI, STEPHEN D. (2011). "EFFECT OF SUSPECT RACE ON OFFICERS' ARREST DECISIONS". Criminology. 49 (2): 473–512. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2011.00230.x. ISSN 0011-1384.
- ^ Savelsberg, Joachim J.; Walker, Samuel (1994). "Taming the System: The Control of Discretion in Criminal Justice, 1950-1990". Contemporary Sociology. 23 (6): 862. doi:10.2307/2076090. ISSN 0094-3061. JSTOR 2076090.
- ^ Sousa, William H.; Kelling, George L. (2019-08-29), "Advocate", Police Innovation, Cambridge University Press, pp. 121–141, doi:10.1017/9781108278423.006, ISBN 978-1-108-27842-3, retrieved 2025-11-04
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link) - ^ Thacher, David (2016) "Channeling Police Discretion: The Hidden Potential of Focused Deterrence," University of Chicago Legal Forum: Vol. 2016, Article 13. Available at: http://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclf/vol2016/iss1/13 accessed on 4 November 2025