Disadvantages Of Police Discretion Flashcards
What can too much discretion promote?
Discrimination
Unpredictability
Injustice
In 1981 what did lord scarman suggest about discretion?
It is at the heart of policing and that successful policing depends on it
How is Choong’s Social Disciplinary System a disadvantage of police discretion?
Identified a ‘shadow system’ of policing driven by police defined goals, e.g. maintaining authority over, inflicting summary punishments on and subordinating those identified as ‘criminal classes’
What did Clive Emsley suggest about criminal classes?
Product of the press
Press reinforced and reflected widely held notions of criminal classes, e.g. poor socio-economic backgrounds, so too did the official statistics
What did Hillyard et al’s research find?
Most arrests now terminate with no further action or a mere caution
How does Hillyard et al’s research support Choong’s social disciplinary theory?
Police have deviated from the intended purpose of the criminal justice system (Theresa May - cut crime; no more, no less) to pursue own goals
What did Warburton‘s study find?
Police were prepared to let offenders off with a caution if they were polite and well mannered, believing it better than ‘wasting’ time at the police station and admitted that had they been ‘mouthy’ arrest would have been pursued.
How are police acting as a filter in Warburton’s findings?
They are using their own discretion to decide who enters the criminal justice system
How does police discretion lead to an unequal application of law?
E.g. police officer could pull someone over for doing 8mph over speed limit but could see they are running late for an interview with children in the car and give them a warning
However an other officer could pull someone over for doing 1 mph over speed limit and decide to fine them
