The police act as legitimate defenders of the peace of our society and maintain the fine line between legality and illegal acts. It is a significant task that requires disciplined people who apply the law of the land with utmost seriousness. The state gives police the power to do their jobs with discretion where an officer can choose whether to draw a weapon, make an arrest, offer a ticket during a violation, conduct a search or whether to fire a gun. An example of police discretion is when you get stopped by the police for speeding, they might let you off with a warning or book you a ticket depending on how attractive you are to police discretion. Other instances where police discretion may be used are during domestic violence in a home, potential hate crimes committed against people, and crimes involving mentally ill people. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay While they have the power to use discretion, they must also adhere to appropriate regulations and do everything by the rules. For my essay, I will discuss cases of police discretion during traffic violations. Our roads are our means of daily life and the State offers the civil servants who are the traffic police the task of keeping an eye on them and ensuring that motorists respect the traffic laws so that chaos cannot erupt in the streets. This discretion in traffic is found within the legislation and involves issues of respecting speed limits which, in relation to human behaviours, make compliance by drivers very difficult. Therefore, when a police officer suspects that a traffic violation is about to occur, he or she may choose to stop the motorist, issue an arrest warrant to the violator, offer a fine, or take the violator to appear in court. . Officer discretion, however, can vary depending on the crime or how the officer views the situation. He/she may not see the need for a person to spend days in a court hearing if the crime has not caused any harm, so he/she may let you go with a warning. This discretion, however, differs among police officers and some may not take the crime so lightly. Discretion has been around for many years, and although it has disadvantages, it has proven necessary for managing situations with people. These situations have been compacted into three main groups: offender, systematic and situational. The offender variable, for example, causes the officer to take into account the individual's characteristics which may include race, economic status, age and even health status. An officer may consider punishing a younger, inexperienced driver more harshly than he or she would an older driver. Situational variables, however, determine the extent of the crime committed, the area around which the crime was committed and so on. Crimes committed against educational institutions can be taken very seriously compared to other regions, given that they are students. However, most discretions may be dictated by justice systems and community expectations. On the other hand, systematic crimes are controlled by various factors such as public image towards the community, revenue generation by the state and also productivity by the state. Acity, for example, may want to increase revenue by focusing on a traffic crime, this is a win-win situation as the police bring in money for the city while at the same time punishing offenders for the crime committed. However, if people in the community do not agree with the way the officers do their jobs, they will not see the need to follow the law as it is a two-way transaction of respect between them and the officers. Discretion, however, comes with some setbacks during the work. Citizens complain about how officers sometimes harass them for petty crimes simply because one is of a particular race, gender, or even age. This has created a lot of controversy in most countries as some abuse the state power given to them. As they exercise their discretions regarding minor crimes, more and more people are convicted and end up in prison. This has led to overcrowding in some prisons, forcing the state to invest more revenue in the system. The trial of these so-called criminals in court also consumes money from the state as the judges who pass these sentences must be paid regularly. Additionally, proceedings are not necessarily certain and may require time in court. This has led to a debate over whether police should be given discretion at a particular level as it has in some cases led to abuse, particularly corrupt officials. More recent policies, however, are intended to be implemented so that police can gain additional power and use discretion less frequently, which could reduce harm. Some of the policing strategies need to be evaluated and some include preventative patrolling, emergency response, crime investigations, problem solving and routine incident responses. Since it is at these times that the police use discretion, measures should be taken to ensure that harassment is not perpetrated. An officer, for example, can determine whether a situation needs to be controlled by arresting a suspect or releasing him depending on his view of the situation. The officer should not be biased but rather evaluate the crime and determine whether the matter requires making an arrest or letting the suspect go. During a criminal investigation, for example, an officer may involve a family member, which can create obstacles in investigating the case. The officer may become more lenient towards the relative or in some cases eliminate evidence linked to the suspect. This can lead to obstruction of justice and cause a guilty suspect to go unpunished if favors were granted by the officer. The same goes for an emergency response where police sometimes respond faster in some neighborhoods than others simply due to the higher social status or racial profile of the community residing within it. Other officers also choose to provide their services to senior government officials rather than serve the public simply because they can pay a high amount to afford their services rather than assist the ordinary civilian who cannot afford to provide for themselves. Discretion has both positive and negative outcomes. It also has an effectiveness that impacts society. At one point it led to a reduction in crime levels in major cities and vices such as prostitution, extortion and the decline of drug trafficking. While they may help in maintaining law and order within the neighborhood and other areas of the city Police discretion also depends on the people as some neighborhoods may decide to form patrols, which.