Unit 8: Law, Courts, and Procedure

Discretion and Ethics

Unethical police behavior often arises directly from the power of discretion. Police officers “select” suspects, and that decision can be made unethically. The major categories of ethical problems involving officer discretion are inconsistency. Discretion lets officers treat people differently, and this can be seen as (and sometimes is) discrimination. Unpredictability can also confuse citizens because they are not sure how they will be treated from one situation to the next. (Why does one officer allow 5 over the speed limit, and another allow 10).

Positive aspects of discretion include the ability to make inequitable laws equitable and humanistic
(arresting a terminally ill person for possession of marijuana when it is used to relieve pain).