NCJ Number
107162
Journal
Law and Contemporary Problems Volume: 47 Issue: 4 Dated: (Autumn 1984) Pages: complete issue
Editor(s)
R J Allen
Date Published
1984
Length
312 pages
Annotation
Ten papers consider the nature and exercise of discretion by criminal justice personnel, with primary attention to police discretion.
Abstract
After the editor's foreword on the nature of discretion, an article considers the ramifications of discretionary arrest decisions when an officer has doubts about the credibility of the complainant. A discussion of the impact of training on the use of police discretion recommends formal training derived from the experiences of effective veteran officers. Another article considers the value of empirical studies of the consequences of various police uses of discretion for three distinctive conceptual models of police decisionmaking. Other articles contrast the use of police discretion within various models for controlling behavior, analyze constitutional and statutory authority for police rules that limit discretion, and address the institutional and operational aspects of police and discretion in a West German jurisdiction. Other topics addressed are the influence of prosecutorial consultation with crime victims on the exercise of prosecutorial discretion, police discretion as a means to improve justice in policing, concepts of discretion, and the impact of arrest records on the exercise of police discretion. 162-item selected bibliography on police discretion. For individual articles, see NCJ 107163-72.