Читать книгу Police in America - Steven G. Brandl - Страница 24

Police officers often must use discretion, or their own judgment, in making decisions about how to handle situations. This discretion can affect people’s lives in dramatic ways. Whether the situation involves a decision to ticket or just warn a speeding motorist, what to do about a barking dog, how to resolve a dispute between neighbors, or whether or not to use force on a resisting suspect, the use of discretion is a critical part of the job and can raise all sorts of issues. For instance, the decision made could be an improper one. Since officers make a lot of decisions during the course of a work shift, there is the potential for many mistakes. It is very important to understand that with a critical decision comes the possibility of a critical mistake.

discretion: A police officer’s personal judgment of how best to handle a situation.

Another issue is that often discretion involves officers making moral or ethical judgments about who is right, who is wrong; who is the victim, who is the offender. Sometimes these distinctions are easy to make, sometimes they are not. Usually at least one of the parties involved does not like the decision that the officer has made. The reality is that officers seldom leave a situation being appreciated by all the participants. It is no wonder that citizens have strong and divergent feelings about the police, either positive or negative.