Justice and Judgement

Kori Sandberg Salt Lake Community College Criminal Justice 1010 Final Paper

Justice and Judgement

The practice of la enforcement and public safety is one of the key roles in our police departments and officers today! The police enforce the "ustice system and help control the general population! #ithout the "ustice system there ould be an infinate number of crimes$ drug use ould be orse of an epidemic$ and there ouldn%t be such an ade&uate emergency response a'ailable in our society!

There are specific duties and responsibilities the police ha'e to manage$ on top of dangerous and tretcherous tasks they endure! (sing e'ery skill they a&uire in the acadamy throughout their e)perience in the field$ one of the most complicated components of the policemans "ob is his ability to use his best "udgement hen it comes to specific cases and apply discrecion! *iscrecion is the personal "udgement an officer can use to establish hat to do ne)t based on the situation and not by+the+book! , belie'e ithout discretion there ould be e'en more animosity to ards the police than there already is! The public ouldn%t cooperate at all ith the police during an incident$ that e'ery situation that occurs is different and uni&ue and the police need to e)cersise e'ery option a'ailable to make sure they are hadled accordingly!

#ith the population increasing rapidly$ and more people to protect and ser'e$ the police see an e)tremely ide 'ariety of people and cases! *o you think e'ery single person be ticketed for any time they are pulled o'er hether it%s a mo'ing 'iolation or a problem ith their automobile- #hat about a ticket for e'ery person ho dialed the emergency number as a "oke or prank- Consider calling the police for an accident and ha'ing e'eryone in'ol'ed get

Justice and Judgement

a ticket! First of all$ *iscretion can only be used in a minor crime! People that endanger the public or commit felonies deser'e to be locked up and ha'e the book thro n at them! The ten year old ho steals a candy bar from the /+11 shouldn%t be prosecuted for theft$ some ould say a mere arning$ slap on the hand$ and a good ole fashioned talkin too is in order! #ithout discretion$ some ould say there ould be less crime commited because people ould not ant a ticket and try harder to abbide by the stricker rules inforced$ but , say the crime ould increase mostly to ards the la officials themsel'es!

The ar on drugs is another problem our police ha'e to fight daily! The number of drug users and drug crime seems to get higher as the years go on$ especially considering all the eduacational information and truth about hat effects the drugs ha'e on our li'es and bodies! 0s the number of users increase the supply and demand$ the police ha'e their hands full ith drug trafficing$ illegal use and selling to minors$ as ell as local problems in'ol'ing the drugs that do make it through from me)ico! The (!S! ,nternational 1arcotics Control Strategy reports that 203 of cocaine$ for e)ample$ reaches the (nited States through its southern border! This poses a huge problem for border control and local officers also!

4e)ican drug crime prompted *irector of 1ational ,ntelligence *ennis 5lair to declare last eek that the 4e)ican go'ernment had lost control of its o n territory! ,f 4e)ico is loosing the ar on drugs$ hy isn%t 0merica- 5ecause our police enforce the la s as ell as care about the community$ the ell being of the people in the community$ and that e'ery man

Justice and Judgement

is innocent until pro'en guilty! Police discretion in any circumstance can be considered as the outer limits of the la ! 0s an officer they ha'e po er to use discretion on minor street conduct$ or any non'iolent crime$ as they see fit and is agreeable!

Consider the emergency response team$ lets say they accuse the first person confronted on the scene of the crime ithout e'en hearing his side of the story or other ise! ,f there as a lack of descretion in this field , don%t belie'e people ould feel comfortable calling in the e'ent of an emergency! This isn%t "ustice$ especially if the person at the scene is truly innocent! The police must use their best "udgement and discretion in e'ery instance ithin the current constitutional constraints! Sometimes more than others considering ho cooperati'e the suspects are and hat sisuation has occurred! ,f the emergency team only cared about riting tickets and hos guilty instead of ho is hurt$ the system ouldn%t be 'ery effecti'e at all!

The police are members of our community and li'e in our cities among us as our friends$ they ha'e respect for the society$ as e should for them! *iscretion is the freedom to decide hat should be done in a particular situation$ the police e)cersice this freedom ith the interest of protecting and ser'ing!

5ibliography
8Criminology!8 Police *iscretion! 1!p!$ n!d! #eb! 07 1o'! .016! 8#orld!8 T,49!com! 1!p!$ n!d! #eb! 0: 1o'! .016! 8*iscretion + ;oogle Search!8 *iscretion + ;oogle Search! 1!p!$ n!d! #eb! 0: 1o'! .016!