NCJ Number
73481
Date Published
1980
Length
69 pages
Annotation
The use of police discretion in Australia, particularly New South Wales, is discussed in the proceedings of the Institute of Criminology.
Abstract
Participants agreed that police do and should have discretionary power in the criminal justice process. Methods used by various countries in bringing the exercise of police discretion within the purview of the legal system are reviewed, but participants could not agree on whether any of the methods described should be introduced in New South Wales. While most participants accepted that the option not to refer a case for prosecution must be a part of police decisionmaking, one viewpoint was that if police chose not to prosecute in a case where there was strong evidence of guilt, the person involved would be deprived of rehabilitation opportunities that could reduce the likelihood of repetitive deviant behavior. This suggests that police should be given referral powers that would enable them to serve rehabilitative goals. Police exercise of discretion in domestic matters was also discussed, and attention was given to a community justice system being developed in New South Walses to deal with domestic violence. Safety checks for police if they are to exercise their discretion to arrest properly were also outlined. Some footnotes are included.