CJS/241: Introduction to Criminal Justice Week 3 Presentation

Internal and External Mechanisms that Influence and Control Police Discretion

What is Discretion? In the context of this discussion we are concerned with individual officer discretion as opposed to command discretion. Your text offers an excellent definition: the decision not to impose a sanction in a situation where a sanction is available to the police (Goldstein, 1998) In other words, police officers encounter situations every day where they have the option of issuing a citation (criminal or civil) and/or of arresting someone who they believe to have broken the law. Why would an officer choose not to enforce the law in a given situation?

Purposes of Officer Discretion Allows for officers to build good community relations Allows for resources to be used effectively Goal of the law was not intended to prohibit a certain behavior The goal of law enforcement (i.e. public safety) would be better served without a criminal penalty Can you think of an example?

Factors that Influence Discretion Seriousness of the offense Attitude of the suspect Position and preference of the victim (if there is an identifiable victim). What about a drug offense? Relationship between the victim and the suspect. How should this weigh? I.E. Should the officer be less inclined to exercise discretion if the victim has some sort of relationship to the suspect rather than if the victim is a stranger? Evidence of the offense Minority status of the parties

Why or why not should police have discretion? As a society do we want the role of the police to be whether or not a law is worth enforcing? Can you see how this may or may not lead to problems? Who should decide whether or not a particular law deserves to be enforced in a certain situation? What about prosecutorial discretion?

Police Culture and the Significance of Stress in Policing

Police Subculture This generally refers to the attitudes, beliefs, camaraderie, and relationships that exist between police officers, especially in one particular department Of course every career field is going to have a subculture… Why do you think the subculture of police departments in particular has generated its own amount of interest and research?

Theoretical Underpinnings You read about various theoretical models that have been developed to try and explain the subcultures that exist in seemingly all police departments Psychological Theories Educational Theories Sociological Theories Organizational Theories The reason (or cause) of the subculture will continue to be debated, but what is important to understand is that the subculture exists across the country and has the same characteristics: police officers generally share the same values and personality traits.

Stress in Policing Again, all careers have their own stressors that come with the job Policing, however, offers its own unique set of stressors that has real life consequences for society as a whole Why do you think this is? What is different from stress related to being a police officer than other high stress jobs, such as that of an attorney? An emergency room doctor? A firefighter? A psychologist?

Sources of Police Stress Eustress This is a term for “good stress,” that is stress that is helpful to by providing training and motivation. It is considered healthy and normal. Imagine if we did not experience stress! Disstress This is a term for “bad stress,” that is stress that is outside of what is considered to be normal and, if experienced consistently over time, causes harm to the individual. Here we are considered with disstress.

External Stressors Lack of cooperation between different agencies Lack of community support or even outright community hostility towards the police Feeling that the criminal justice system as a whole is ineffective, thereby decreasing an officer’s morale Overly critical media coverage Mixing politics and the police department Poor relations with groups in the community, especially minority groups

Internal Stressors Difficult relations with supervisors Lack of career advancement opportunities Overly burdensome policies and procedures Lack of funding Abundance of Paperwork Discussion Do you think one area is easier to fix than the other? I.E. Internal vs. External? Why?

Work Related Stress Being a police officer brings many unique stressors that are found in few other professions Continued fear related to being in situations of danger Chronic fatigue because of the nature of work Changing shift patterns that result in difficulties with maintaining one’s personal life, as well as one’s own mental health Trauma of having to continually deal with and see the effects of crime on victims and their families

Effects of Stress On the Job Poor performance, termination, low morale, high turnover, absenteeism/tardiness, misconduct, excessive force Physical and Emotional Depression, anxiety, PTSD, substance abuse, weight gain, heart disease, suicide Familial and Relational Physical/Verbal abuse, distancing, DV, extramarital affairs, separation, divorce, isolation

References Goldstein, J. (1998). “Police Discretion Not to Invoke the Criminal Justice Process: Low Visibility Decisions in the Administration of Justice.” in G. F. Cole and M. G. Gertz (eds.), The Criminal Justice System: Politics and Policies, 7th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 85–103.