Police Discretion Case Study

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To endorse the duties and vast amounts of undocumented situations on a day to day basis, police officers have no other option than to use their discretion by prioritizing which decisions they must face that can potentially do harm. This choice whether or not to act on a certain situation has been upheld for some time, keeping the criminal justice system open for serious offenders, without overcrowding the penitentiary with an array of low level offenders. At times, police officers need to use their discretion to the best of their ability based on the morality and ethics of codes they have learned to sustain throughout their career. This strategy of discretion varies from each member of authority, influencing how a particular individual is able …show more content…
The officer takes his/her profession as a representative of the law very seriously, but when faced with the ultimate choice when the offender is a close friend, morals and ethics are diverged. Morals are the extent to which the principles an individual believes in is right or wrong (Pollock, 8). Is the offender morally right or wrong to be driving while intoxicated, when he has already been caught, but not charged, once before? Based on ethics, does the rules of conduct through the police department consider driving drunk to be right or wrong? Ethics focuses on an external force that is included in a decision where moral duties are then defined based on that decision (Pollock, 8). The values of the responding officer are put to the test due to his friend committing a crime, and the relationship the individuals have already created prior to the incident. If this man is charged, the potential repercussions are losing his job, which he can not afford due to his wife being pregnant. The discretion of the officer is clearly put to the test between the choice of protecting a friend or upholding the law and profession he cares just as much about. This dilemma is something that officers are faced with throughout their daily routines, affecting not only the offender, but society as …show more content…
The utilitarianism approach focuses on the greater good of the morality of that situation and what is best for the people in its entirety (Pollock, 38). This would be the best approach because it puts society’s safety and protection first, while putting one man in jail for his actions. This would of course affect the relationship the officer and offender may have in the future, but only due to the intoxicated man’s decision to begin with. This decision ensures the greater good of society, rather than an individualistic or selfish approach that could have saved the offender’s job and family with the risk of the officer losing his job. Criminal justice professionals, including police officers, took on a duty to uphold the law, where discretion can be used when the officer pleases. Due to one man’s negligence, consequences should follow the actions he made, which in turn will provide the community with an overall safer outlook and trust in the relationships between citizens and
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