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"Police discretion"
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Stop and Frisk
No policing tactic has been more controversial than \"stop and frisk,\" whereby police officers stop, question and frisk ordinary citizens, who they may view as potential suspects, on the streets. As Michael White and Hank Fradella show inStop and Frisk, the first authoritative history and analysis of this tactic, there is a disconnect between our everyday understanding and the historical and legal foundations for this policing strategy. First ruled constitutional in 1968, stop and frisk would go on to become a central tactic of modern day policing, particularly by the New York City Police Department. By 2011 the NYPD recorded 685,000 'stop-question-and-frisk' interactions with citizens; yet, in 2013, a landmark decision ruled that the police had over- and mis-used this tactic.Stop and Frisktells the story of how and why this happened, and offers ways that police departments can better serve their citizens. They also offer a convincing argument that stop and frisk did not contribute as greatly to the drop in New York's crime rates as many proponents, like former NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, have argued.
While much of the book focuses on the NYPD's use of stop and frisk, examples are also shown from police departments around the country, including Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago, Newark and Detroit. White and Fradella argue that not only does stop and frisk have a legal place in 21st-century policing but also that it can be judiciously used to help deter crime in a way that respects the rights and needs of citizens. They also offer insight into the history of racial injustice that has all too often been a feature of American policing's history and propose concrete strategies that every police department can follow to improve the way they police. A hard-hitting yet nuanced analysis,Stop and Friskshows how the tactic can be a just act of policing and, in turn, shows how to police in the best interest of citizens.
eBook
Peer Reporting of Unethical Police Behavior
Kargin examines police officers' decision making with regard to peer reporting of unethical police behavior. On a theoretical level, a peer reporting model was developed based on Rest's (1984) \"four component,\" Trevino's (1986) \"a person-situation interactionist,\" and, finally, Jones' (1991) \"issue-contingent\" models of ethical decision making for investigation of police officers' peer reporting decisions. The results suggest that the perceived seriousness of the unethical behavior is the strongest predictor of police officers' peer reporting in minor and moderate policy violations. However, officers' attitudes toward professional ethics codes are the strongest predictors of their peer reporting intentions in situations involving major policy violations.
eBook
Persistent Criminalization and Structural Racism in US Drug Policy: The Case of Overdose Good Samaritan Laws
The US overdose crisis continues to worsen and is disproportionately harming Black and Hispanic/Latino people. Although the “War on Drugs” continues to shape drug policy—at the disproportionate expense of Black and Hispanic/Latino people—states have taken some steps to reduce War on Drugs–related harms and adopt a public health–centered approach. However, the rhetoric regarding these changes has, in many cases, outstripped reality. Using overdose Good Samaritan Laws (GSLs) as a case study, we argue that public health–oriented policy changes made in some states are undercut by the broader enduring environment of a structurally racist drug criminalization agenda that continues to permeate and constrict most attempts at change. Drawing from our collective experiences in public health research and practice, we describe 3 key barriers to GSL effectiveness: the narrow parameters within which they apply, the fact that they are subject to police discretion, and the passage of competing laws that further criminalize people who use illicit drugs. All reveal a persisting climate of drug criminalization that may reduce policy effectiveness and explain why current reforms may be destined for failure and further disadvantage Black and Hispanic/Latino people who use drugs. (Am J Public Health. 2023;113(S1):S43–S48. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.307037 )
Journal Article
Ethical Issues in Policing
Police Studies constitute an important area of academic inquiry and policing raises a large number of ethical questions, yet to date there has been a paucity of research on the subject. This significant volume provides an integrated mix of ethico-philosophical analysis combined with practitioner knowledge and experience to examine and address the large number of difficult ethical questions involved in modern-day policing. Key features: ¢ Outlines a distinctive philosophical theory of policing which promotes the human rights dimension of police work. ¢ Analyzes the phenomenon of noble cause corruption and ways to combat it. ¢ Examines the role of restorative justice. ¢ Discusses the related notions of police authority and police discretion. ¢ Assesses the use of coercive and deadly force. ¢ Provides a detailed discussion of recent issues such as privacy and confidentiality in the context of new communication and information technologies, and entrapment. Philosophical in approach and written in an accessible style, the book will be a valuable guide for all those with an interest or involvement in Police Studies, Criminology, Philosophy and Ethics.
Seumas Miller is Professor of Philosophy at Charles Sturt University and the Australian National University (joint position) and Director of the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (an Australian Research Council funded Special Research Centre). John Blackler is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (an Australian Research Council funded Special Research Centre) and a former New South Wales Police Officer.
Contents: Introduction; A theory of policing: the enforcement of moral rights; Authority and discretion in policing; The moral justification for police use of deadly force; Privacy, confidentiality and security in policing; Corruption and anti-corruption in policing; Restorative justice in policing; Bibliography; Index.
eBook
In Search of Police Legitimacy: Territoriality, Isomorphism, and Changes in Policing Practices
Cooper answers two questions: why do police precincts look similar, despite being situated in very different environments? And, why do police engage in behavior that does not result in crime control? These two questions are closely related. Drawing from institutional theory and employing spatial analytic techniques, Cooper finds that certain police precincts unduly influence the behavior of neighboring precincts. In the language of institutional theory, this is sovereign isomorphism: precincts behave similarly because they see other precincts as leaders. Such isomorphism results in behavior that does not reduce crime because the borrowed behavior has no connection with the precinct's immediate environment. These findings hold great potential for inducing organizational change by tapping into the strategic power of such sovereign precincts.
eBook
Report: increases in police use of force in the presence of body-worn cameras are driven by officer discretion: a protocol-based subgroup analysis of ten randomized experiments
Objectives
Our multisite randomized controlled trial reported that police body-worn cameras (BWCs) had, on average, no effect on recorded incidents of police use of force. In some sites, rates of use of force decreased and in others increased. We wanted to understand these counter-intuitive findings and report pre-specified subgroup analyses related to officers’ discretion on activating the BWCs.
Methods
Using pre-established criteria for experimental protocol breakdown in terms of treatment integrity, ten experimental sites were subgrouped into “high-compliance” (no officer discretion applied to when and where BWCs should be used;
n
= 3), “no-compliance” (treatment integrity failure in both treatment and control conditions;
n
= 4), and tests where officers applied discretion during treatment group but followed protocol in control conditions only (
n
= 4).
Results
When officers complied with the experimental protocol and did not use discretion, use of force rates were 37 % lower [SMD = (−.346); SE = .137; 95 % CI (−.614) – (−.077)]; when officers did not comply with treatment protocol (i.e., officers chose when to turn cameras on/off), use of force rates were 71 % higher [SMD = .392; SE = .130; 95 % CI (.136) – (.647)], compared to control conditions. When full discretion (i.e., overall breakdown of protocol) was applied to both treatment and control conditions, null effects were registered [SMD = .009; SE=.070; 95 % CI (−.127) – (.146)], compared to control conditions.
Conclusions
BWCs can reduce police use of force when then officers’ discretion to turn cameras on or off is minimized—in terms of both case types as well as individual incidents. BWCs ought to be switched on and the recording announced to suspects at early stages of police–public interactions. Future BWCs tests should pay close attention to adherence to experimental protocols.
Journal Article
Police discretion in encounters with people who use drugs: operationalizing the theory of planned behavior
Background
Policing shapes the health risks of people who use drugs (PWUD), but little is understood about interventions that can align officer practices with PWUD health. This study deploys the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to understand what influences police intentions to make discretionary referrals to treatment and harm reduction resources rather than arrest on less serious charges.
Methods
On-line surveys integrating TPB constructs and adapting an instrument measuring police intentions to make mental health treatment referrals were completed by police employees in Indiana, Massachusetts, and Missouri. They also included items about stigma towards PWUD and attitudes and beliefs about opioid addiction, treatment, and recovery.
Findings
Across the sites, 259 respondents perceived control over their decision to arrest for misdemeanors (69%) and confiscate items such as syringes (56%). Beliefs about others’ approval of referrals to treatment, its ability to reduce future arrests, and to increase trust in police were associated with stated practices of nonarrest for drug and possession and making referrals (
p
≤ .001), and nonarrest for syringe possession (
p
≤ .05). Stigma a towards PWUD was negatively associated with stated practices of nonarrest (
p
≤ .05). Respondents identified supervisors as having the most influence over use of discretion, seriousness of the offense as the most influential value, and attitude of the suspect as the most important situational factor. The 17 Likert scale items analyzed had a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.81.
Conclusion
The TPB offers untapped potential to better understand and modify police practices. In designing interventions to improve the health outcomes of police encounters with PWUD, further research should validate instruments that measure the relationship between these variables and discretionary intentions, and that measure role-relevant police stigma towards PWUD.
Journal Article
