Officers have to use their best judgment in every situation but keep themselves and the public safe from harm (NIJ, 2012). Discuss how the use of force policy was created The use of force policy was created for officers to have a guideline on how to resolve a situation. The use of force had different levels for officers to refer to when in a situation and there are techniques to follow before using excessive force, but it is up to the officer to use their best judgment and discretion on how to handle a situation (NIJ, 2009). Key actors involved in making the policy The key actors who are involved in making the use of force policies would be the department heads of the police station, surveys based on citizen’s interactions with officers. There are also laws involved with use of force, therefore the Civil Rights Division which is part of the Department of Justice to protect individual’s rights from being infringed upon from police agencies.
Police discretion is the power or authority that is given to a police officer to act officially in a manner that appears to be just and proper under the presented circumstances. In a domestic disturbance, the police officer has to use his discretion based upon the situation before him. The officer needs to make a decision that will make both parties involved be content with the resolution. This discretion that a police officer uses at the time of a domestic disturbance is the most difficult because his decisions ends up affecting either parties to a situation for the better or for the worse. In such situation, the officer can either mediate a peaceful agreement, can suggest counseling or if this doesn’t work he can also make an arrest of the person that is not willing to come to a peaceful resolution to the problem.
Although the challenge for all communities is to balance the extent of powers required by police against the rights of ordinary citizens. In the eyes of justice and to ensure fairness is reached offenders have personal rights that the NSW police need to adhere to, if the offender feels that their rights have been breached or not correctly followed by authority they have the right to complain and report the circumstance to an NSW ombudsman or the police integrity commission, as they will investigate the
Personal Side of Policing With the role of law enforcement in today’s world police officers take on more responsibilities, are put into stressful situations and force themselves to deal with some of the toughest decisions one can ever imagine. The environment in which a police officer works can determine how slight or severe these factors affect his or her daily policing duties. Every police officer has the ability to use judgment when responding to a situation. This judgment is could determine whether the offender will be warned, cited, arrested, or even have force used against him. All factors of the situation should be taken into consideration when using this discretion.
Police brutality wouldn’t be an issue if we didn’t have to police our law enforcement officers. Policing our law enforcement officers is a challenge in itself, because who is responsible for this job, how are they going to police them, what actions are they going to take against them when they catch them and what are the penalties for
Adequate mechanisms for control of the exercise of that discretion are also a requisite for more rational decision making. If discretion implies a lack of control - that is, the freedom to choose from among available alternatives completely unfettered by constraints of law or policy - then the idea of controlled discretion may seem to be a self-contradiction. Discretion can be used in many different situations. If a police officer uses his/her discretionary power correctly, not only will it help the police officer in their situation, it will help the general community as well. There are three causes of discretion: offender variables, situation variables, and system variables.
Concept of Police Personality Paper Charles Reedy Jr. CJA/333 November 14, 2011 Daniel Jones The personality of a police officer can be no different from a person that’s not an officer. The difference will be how a police officer applies his or her personality towards the job. A police officer is faced with many different challenges on the daily basis, and how he or she conducts her or himself on and off the job, and this will determine if that officer is truly dedicated and knowledgeable about their job. The personality of the officer is always a key factor on the outcome of the situations that may arise. Concept of Police Personality Paper Police officers are faced with life and death situations on the daily basis, and at times this can alter the personality of that individual.
Predictive Policing Scott A. Lorenzen Strayer University Abstract What is Predictive Policing? Defined by the National Institute of Justice “Predictive policing is a way to predict, plan, dissuade possible crimes of occurring using current information with advanced analysis applied to the information to assist those in charge of daily security task.” (NIOJ, para 1). As Information Systems becomes more complex by the hour how authentic is or is not the data provided. Predictive Policing Compare and contrast the application of Information Technology (IT) to optimize police departments’ performance to reduce crime versus random patrols of the streets. Today's police have an advantage over their counterparts of the 60's and 70's with the help of the invention of the computer, new processes, and new calculations being processed.
Additionally, I feel that there needs to be a detailed manual that outlines consequences and plans of action for incidents that occur, so there is a set standard. I don’t think there needs to be additional SOP’s developed, since I am a supporter of the mainframe of police procedure as a whole and think the majority of the public’s concern comes from ignorance and fear of what to them is the unknown. I think the main key to what would be considered successful as far as the public’s view of police accountability is working to make the public feel “ok” about how things are being done. Similar to the concept of community policing such as the foot patrol experiment in Newark; it may not make a huge difference in stats, but the perception by the public can have a huge impact on a community and how it relates to its police department. To begin, a community collaborative board would have to be developed.
Police officers never know if the citizen they are about to confront is armed, high on drugs or alcohol, or plan to engage in a relatively recent phenomenon known as “suicide by cop”. Police patrol have to endure long periods of monotony, yet react quickly and effectively to problem situations observed on the street or to orders issued by the radio dispatcher. A great deal has been written about stress and policing and about the fact that police officers who are experiencing personal and family problems are not likely to reach out for help. Because they do not develop constructive coping mechanisms for dealing with the various stressors of police work, negative methods inevitably surface that tend only to make matters worse. Although each officer deals with these stressors differently, destructive coping strategies will eventually have negative consequences for the officer.