Professional discretion can be interpreted as the decisions that are made with lawful jurisdiction rather than those decisions made for inappropriate reasons. Law enforcement is the deliberate act by which the government system acts in an organized way to enforce the governing laws of the society, by ascertaining, dissuading, reforming or castigating people that breach the laws, rules and standards governing the society. It majorly encompasses of those who directly engage in surveillance and patrols to dissuade criminal activity and the investigation of crimes, a task mostly carried out by police officers or law enforcement agencies. Within law enforcement, professional discretion can be interpreted as the power granted, an officer that allows them to make decisions pertaining certain situations. Ethics in law enforcement are the set principles or guidelines of right conduct, a system of moral values and standards that govern the conduct of a police officer, as one is held responsible to a greater standard as compared to the public and to be above reproach on and off duty.
The application of discretion within law enforcement agencies, is very crucial to both the acting police department and to the relationship with the individuals they avail themselves to. It allows the officers to exercise flexibility in their role to perform the job they are intended to as punishment may not always be the appropriate method of dealing with criminal activity. Also, it allows the officers to briskly expound the practical constitutional law and adjudicate its resolution. Professional discretion helps in fostering of police and judicial economy. For instance, if the officers had to discuss with other magistrates every time they needed to make a determination on the task, it would lead to a draw off in the economy and the general law enforcement agencies and tribunals. When used appropriately, professional discretion can enable police officers to serve the public effectively and make wise use of public resources, protect the safety of the public and divert vulnerable populations from the criminal justice system.
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As much as discretion has benefits, it has its disadvantages too. It can allow abusive behavior by the law enforcers that may neglect the safety of the public, preventing the police officers from protecting the public. Discretion may also empower a police officer to overlook minor felonies giving the offender a warning and arresting another offender for the same felony, which does not guarantee that the felony cannot be committed again in both instances. One of the major places that police discretion has been observed as a con is in domestic violence where domestic violence is treated as a private matter that is left for counseling and cooling off periods. This may not solve the issue as there is no guarantee that it won’t happen again which may lead to a far much worse crime that does not even come close to the domestic violence reported. Using discretion may be at times be biased and prejudiced thus bringing out a negative impression and simplification of law enforcement mostly among races and ethnicity in society.
For good measure, there needs to be more training and development among law enforcement agencies and police officers, concerning the amendment and changing of laws, in accordance to professional discretion. Being familiar with such principles can prevent the occurrence of abuse and misuse of power, which undermines and over-steps the need for accountability when discretion is misused.
All the law enforcement officers are required to be fully aware of their ethical responsibilities which make them strive to observe and follow the greatest ethical standards of professional policing in order to enforce the law in a manner that upholds all the set standards of the laws and of the code of ethics. The code of ethics ensures that there’s limited abuse and misuse of power by the officers, and that they perform their duties properly with an aim of serving and safeguarding the interests and rights of the public. These codes of ethics though important, create dilemmas for those enforcing the law in upholding and enforcing the same law as they may set high standards that may be impossible to achieve at given circumstances. The use of professional discretion can cross ethical boundaries when a police officer accepts free gifts or services just because he or she is a police officer and feels entitled to it. This may seem or come out as a trivial matter but as a police officer, it is going against the code of ethics. To get around this type of offer, one should simply offer the money to pay for the gift or service and kindly decline without coming out as impolite.
Another way of crossing ethical boundaries within law enforcement is by conducting acts or using injurious language based on race, sex, color, political or religious convictions, civil status, age, social conditions and national orientation. Those enforcing the law should treat everyone equally and should not use offensive language regardless of the mentioned orientations or of how the public is opinionated when it comes to law enforcement. Being a law enforcer entails being able to help out members of the public without choosing who to aid and who to leave out.
Ethical problems may arise when a police officer abuses his authorities when relating with the public. Use of a greater force than necessary to accomplish what is required or granted in discretion is ethically wrong. Making threats, intimidating or harassing the public and knowingly charging a person with a crime a police officer released and gave only a warning to another without any ground whatsoever is not appropriate. Discretion should be founded on principles set ethically to guide law enforcement on how to handle criminal activities or felonies without abusing one’s power.
Also, professional discretion in law enforcement may cross what is ethically coded for police officers when they accept and take bribes. For instance, a police officer may arrest or detain someone on the grounds of breaking the law and he or she may be offered a bribe in order to extract the offender from the offence he committed against the law. The police officer should use his discretion in such a situation and decline the bribe. Accepting the bribe and cleaning off the offender’s criminal record is ethically wrong as releasing the offender may lead to him or her committing a worse felony which in no way protects the public, as a duty of the police officer to the public.
Many a time, police officers perform tasks that involve dealing with law breakers when they are alone and in such situations, discretion may arise where the officers are expected to use their own discretion to handle those situations. Such discretion may go against ethics when he or she wrongly misjudges and does not exercise care when using a weapon or other piece of equipment under his or her disposal. Showing of, pointing or handling a weapon without ground or any justification is ethically wrong, discretion not really withstanding on if the weapon should have been used or not. In mishandling the weapon, the police officer undermines his accountability in discretion, at the same time going against ethics.
According to ethics, a police officer or a law enforcement agency must perform his duties with discretion at all times and in doing so must act impartially. One of the requirements as a law enforcer is to act impartially. At some point when performing their tasks, it may be impossible to act impartially as most of these officers serve in small towns whereby they handle the similar crowd for as long as they serve in the town. An officer may be anticipated to uphold the code of ethics, but he may have be limitations in his power to uphold the enforced law by following particular processes thus leading him into crossing the ethics.
The off-duty life of a police officer requires to reflect the integrity of their positions in law enforcement. They are expected to maintain a good image since their duty has been bestowed on them by the republic. Therefore, they have to act ethically and professionally for them to keep their jobs. They may be faced with challenges of maintaining their level of social respect and adherence to the law every single moment which often puts them in situations that make them conflict with the law especially for those who have little respect for the law.
Each and every police officer or law enforcer swears to uphold the laws and defend the constitution. They may find it hard to uphold these oaths when they are sometimes contradictory which may lead to crossing an ethical boundary. An officer may at times be in the dilemma of whether to act in the best interest of the state rather than an individuals’. He or she cannot be able to consider the individual rights and the liberty issues because it would also mean that they are also breaching laws by failing to press charges on the law breakers.
It is very important for law enforcers to use their discretion and judgment in the determination of the best action to take when pursuing a case. In their line of duty, officers have just enough time to assess a situation and do not have time to internally break down the public’s belief systems that he may use to direct his behavior, which may cause false assumptions and stereotyping which may result to unfair profiling as the code of ethics of law enforcement requires them to do what is by the law and going against those set ethics would be them committing a crime against the law.
On the account of the above, professional discretion is a key factor to be considered in law enforcement and in the upholding of the code of ethics too as it allows police officers and other enforcers of the law to make decisions within a legal framework. It also comes with its merits and demerits whereby its merits include allowing law enforcement officers have the flexibility to perform their duties, interpret applicable statutory laws and act upon their determination and also, fostering police and judicial economy. Professional discretion generally helps police officers serve the public well, make proper use of public resources and safeguard the interests of the public and protect the safety of the public. Its demerits include allowing abusive behavior of law enforcers, overlooking of minor felonies that lead to neglecting of the safety of the public, preventing the police officers from protecting the public. This in turn leads to forming the wrong impression in the eyes of the public breeding negativity towards the law.
Ethics on the other hand, set guidelines and standards on how to uphold the laws of a state and professional discretion may cross its boundaries when law enforcers go about accepting free gifts and services by law enforcement officers, conducting acts or using offensive based on difference in the orientations of the public, abusing the law enforcing authority when relating with the public, accepting bribes in order to extract offenders of the law from charges or punishment arising from their felonies. Also, mishandling and lack of care when it comes to the use of equipment or weapons given to them, failure of acting impartially when performing their respective duties and tasks, misjudging in the determination of case-by-case situations, and failing to protect the public when it comes to doing things against their oath of office in defending the public and not reflecting his or her off-duty life in the integrity of their position in law enforcement. Ethics in law enforcement although important, set high standards that may be hard to accomplish to the law enforcement officers and the public should try understanding that the ethical issues that the officers face in order to push forward to a greater and better future.
References
7.1 The Ethics Surrounding Discretion – Ethics in Law Enforcement. (2018). Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/ethicsinlawenforcement/chapter/7-1-the-ethics-surrounding-discretion/
Ethics of police officers. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/criminology/ethics-of-police-officers.php
Law Enforcement Code of Ethics (1989) | Ethics Codes Collection. (2018). Retrieved from http://ethics.iit.edu/ecodes/node/3353
Mckenna, J., & Pollock, J. (2014). Law Enforcement Officers in Schools: An Analysis of Ethical Issues. Criminal Justic Schulenberg, J. (2015).
Moving Beyond Arrest and Reconceptualizing Police Discretion. Police Quarterly , 18 (3), 244-271. doi: 10.1177/1098611115577144 e Ethics , 33 (3), 163-184. doi: 10.1080/0731129x.2014.982974
