NCJ Number
107163
Journal
Law and Contemporary Problems Volume: 47 Issue: 4 Dated: (Autumn 1984) Pages: 15-33
Date Published
1984
Length
19 pages
Annotation
Based on observations of the police use of arrest discretion in New York City's ninth precinct from February to July 1983, this article proposes guidelines for police arrest decisions based on complainant accounts and identification of suspects.
Abstract
Officers often are confronted with the decision as to whether to make an arrest on the complaint of a person who is, in the best judgment of the investigating officer, not credible. Rules should provide that a complaint providing probable cause to arrest may be closed without arrest only on the approval of a supervising officer or the concurrence of two peers. The general principle for the use of arrest discretion should be that an officer may decline an arrest when in the officer's judgment the complainant has not truthfully stated some fact essential to the establishment of probable cause. The officer's judgment on veracity should be based on some articulable perception or fact credibly contradicting the complainant's account of the incident. Arrest should not be declined because the officer believes the complainant has not told the truth about something not essential to probable cause. 6 footnotes.