Policing Essay
Police discretion poses an interesting paradox in our democratic society. As Ramirez et al (2000) explains, we entrust the police to enforce the law, to maintain order, and to use legitimate force if necessary'. Not only do we expect police to complete this rather demanding task, but we also expect them to accomplish these tasks by treating the public in a fair and even-handed way'. Thus a major problem is the over policing' and stereotyping' of marginalized groups such as the mentally ill, homeless, indigenous or juveniles. The use of police discretion in the context of traffic stops is also an issue worthy of attention. Whilst some believe the use of police discretion unavoidably marginalizes these groups, others think the police should adopt and enforce a zero tolerance' stance to combat the problems discretion causes. Despite the law enforcement problems discretionary powers have caused, to completely abolish it could in fact exacerbate the problems......
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Approximate Word Count: 2581
Approximate Pages: 10 (260 words per double-spaced page) |