NCJ Number
107170
Journal
Law and Contemporary Problems Volume: 47 Issue: 4 Dated: (Autumn 1984) Pages: 249-267
Date Published
1984
Length
19 pages
Annotation
Commentaries have generally overlooked specific properties of police discretion: it is required by accountability; it involves unexplained variation in police decisions; it does not contribute to class bias in policing; it is increased by the imposition of laws, regulations, and rules; and it is necessary to reduce injustice in policing.
Abstract
If society aims to use regulation to make the police accountable to the citizens they serve, society's rules must not only channel accountability, but must create discretion. If the level of class bias in law enforcement is to be reduced through accountability, discretionary rules must offer an incentive for the police to engage in aggressive nonenforcement. These premises for guiding police discretion run counter to Kenneth Davis' concept that greater justice in policing can be achieved only by restricting police discretion. Policing injustices are most likely to be remedied under a regulatory system that increases police discretion not to enforce the law and that makes discretionary action accountable to those most susceptible to having the law enforced against them. 81 footnotes.