Police Discretion and the Seven Influences of Discretion
Module 7 Discussion - Police Discretion
After reading/viewing all the module content materials, write a substantive response to the following discussion prompt. Then, reply to at least two others’ posts. Response posts should move the conversation forward and if you disagree with a post please do so respectfully. Posts should be limited to 300-500 words maximum length.
Discussion Prompt:
According to Siegel & Worrall (2022), there are seven factors believed to influence police discretion:
crime factors
victim factors
environmental factors
departmental factors
peer factors
suspect and behavior and characteristics
officer characteristics
Describe what discretion is and explain each of the seven influences of discretion. Explain which factor(s) do you believe should influence officer discretion the most? The least? Why? Do you think officer discretion should be limited? If so how and to what extent?
Instructions:
Respond to the Discussion Prompt above.
Limit your post to 300-500 words maximum length.
Include citations from the readings using APA formatting.
Posts: When you respond to others’ posts, please respond to confirm your agreement or disagreement with their primary post. You must explain why you agree or disagree with their post and do so in a respectful manner.
Response Posts:
When you respond to others’ posts, please respond to confirm your agreement or disagreement with their primary post.
You must explain why you agree or disagree with their post and do so in a respectful manner.
Be sure to include in-text citations and a citation list from the readings, or any outside sources, using
APA formatting.
Police Discretion
Student's Name
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Police Discretion
Discretion refers to the authority given to the police to make their own independent judgments concerning some specific situation. Discretion gives the police the ability to decide whether to arrest, to arrest, or issue warning to perpetrators of crime. Several factors influence police discretion. The first is crime factors which focus on the nature and severity of the crime. The second is victim factors which deal with characteristics pertaining to the victim, such as their gender, race, socioeconomic status, and their role in the crime. The third is environmental factors which focus on the surroundings of the crime, such as location and eyewitnesses (Siegel & Worrall, 2022). The fourth is departmental factors which deal with the rules and policies regulating the police department. The fifth is peer factors which refer to the role played by colleague police officers in influencing decision-making. The sixth is behavior and characteristics, which involves investigating the behavioral traits of the perpetrator of a crime. The seventh is t...