Police Discretion Flashcards
What are general orders?
Rules in police offices
What is black letter law?
What’s written in the rules
What’s spiritual law?
Cop’s discretion
When does police discretion exist?
It exists when officers have leeway in how to respond to a situation; the fewer the rules about handling incidents and situations, the more discretion
What does discretion involve?
Both action and inaction (whether or not to apply the rules)
What is Terry v Ohio?
4th Amendment - an officer may stop a suspect and frisk them without probable cause to arrest if the officer has reasonable suspicion that the person has committed/will committed/is committing a crime and has reasonable belief that the person may be armed and dangerous
What is another name for a stop-and-frisk?
Terry stop
What questions are asked when it comes to how much discretion police should have?
-When to arrest?
-How to patrol?
-When to stop and frisk?
-When to pursue or continue a vehicle pursuit?
-When to use deadly force?
What are the 4 predictors of police behavior?
Organizational variables, neighborhood variables, situational variables, and officer characteristics
In discretion, what are examples of organizational variables?
Citizen’s behavior, males and minorities (Dunham)
In discretion, what are examples of neighborhood variables?
-Is this a high crime neighborhood?
-Are the police getting frequent lookouts?
In discretion, what are examples of situational variables?
Behavior at traffic stops (nervousness); trying to avoid the officer
Once an officer becomes suspicious of someone, there’s no effect of what?
Race, gender, socioeconomic status, or age
How are people of lower socioeconomic status treated by police?
Harsher than people of high status
The National Research Council said that what is a powerful predictor of the police use of force?
Citizen demeanor
