Josh Heap

Michael Cupello
Criminal Justice 1010
11/22/2016
Should Police Use Discretion
In todays world, there have never been as many fingers pointed as there are at Police and
their decisions they must make in the heat of the moment. Arguments are made both backing and
against the Officers. The law almost always backs up the Officer but the public eye isnt so kind.
This begs the question of whether Officers should be able to use discretion to act on any given
situation.
This is a topic that has familial ties for me. My great grandfather was a Police Officer in
Salt Lake City. Robert Kirby (2003) states, Owen was a man of powerful reasoning. My great
grandfather Sergeant Owen T. Farley had many years on the force. On the night of May 22,
1951, a car involved in a robbery was spotted and the officers were watching it so they could
make an arrest. When an officer who had watched the car for hours asked to be relieved for
lunch, Farley walked over from the station two blocks away. Soon after, Farley saw the two
suspects Don Jesse Neal and Wilma Tully, both in their early 30s near the car and arrested
them. The patrol car the other officer had taken to go to lunch wouldn't start, so Farley decided,
after searching the duo, to take them to the station in the suspect's vehicle. Neal was in
handcuffs, but Tully was not. As Farley drove north down State Street, Neal grabbed a gun and
shot Farley in the stomach. The car crashed and Sergeant Owen T. Farley would draw his last

breath shortly thereafter. This was a case of discretion that ended in tragedy. The choice to take
the subjects car ended his life.
Not all opportunities of discretion are as drastic as this. Most deal in the everyday life of
a Police Officer. The problem with discretion is there can be no solid line of do or dont. Every
situation is unique and different enough that the same decision just wont cover every situation.
In todays news, we hear of Police Officers in the spotlight for acting on their gut feeling. This
will strike deep into the ethics of many people but stand right in the eyes of others. There is no
way to judge the discretion of an Officer. The only way to help is to provide Officers with the
right amount of training so when these scenarios arise, they will know what to do. Officers swear
an oath to protect the community and they deserve to do so with however they feel proper, as
long as it falls in line with the betterment of the community.
I set an interview with my former basketball coach and former DEA Agent Andrew
Mclaren and Supervising Special Agent Steve Palmer of the FBI in order to gather first person
experiences. I asked both what their roles were and if discretion is a necessity in law
enforcement. Andrew being quite a few years removed from the DEA was quick to respond.
Discretion is a vital part of what we did. Knowing whether to break that door down or drop the
tweeker before he got courageous with that gun on the table. Discretion is a fancy word for
choice. Steve Palmer was on the same path. Steve did the best he could to relay to me some of
the cases he helped solve where a big piece was occupational freedom in which you had a task
to get it done, but you got to decide how to do it.
McCartney and Parent (2015) found that discretion in law enforcement, and especially
within policing, is critical to both the functioning of the police department and to the relationship

with the public the police department serves. This statement again fortifies the need of discretion,
not only for themselves but also for the public.
Discretion, choice, decision, preference or whatever you want to call it is something we
must not take away. The more we weigh down our Officers with rules and regulations, the more
we put them in danger. In my constant hunt for information on whether it should be allowed, I
stumbled onto multiple videos of shoot, dont shoot scenarios. Some of the participants were
activists against Officers using their right of discretion. As the scenario unfolded the participants
would have all been killed if these role plays were real. Discretion for Police Officers isnt just
the freedom to make a choice but it is also protection for Police Officers.
In my opinion, Officers should have every right to exercise discretion in the field and in
its full compacity. Officers put their lives on the line for us, the community, and if using their
discretion will help save their lives as well as keep our cities streets safer, why would we get in
the way of that?
Some want to answer that question with race, religion, gender or ethnicity. I counter that
with, are you willing to comply with whatever an Officer asks of you? The unfortunate truth is
that Officers are forced into tougher choices when people prefer to push back with a show of
aggression. Whether it be verbal or physical, back talking to any authority is rarely a good idea.
Kelling (1999) had mentioned We now understand that telling officers only what they
cannot do, which is so typical of police manuals and rules and regulations, has not improved the
quality of policing. We know as well that the work world of police is too complex to tell officers
exactly what they should do in every circumstance. The only alternative left for the

management of most police work is to teach officers how to think about what they should do, do
it, and then talk about it, so that they improve their practice over time and share their emerging
values, knowledge, and skills with their colleagues and the profession.
I cant think of a better way of putting it. Discretion is by no means a perfected art. Nor is
there a way of perfecting it. However, it can always improve. I believe our Police Officers are
out there to help us. They are not perfect but they are willing to do what is necessary to maintain
peace. Let them have their discretion. Let them have whatever they need to protect us and to also
protect themselves. Teach them how to keep their moral compass straight. Teach them of
experiences that have passed in order to mold them into the best Officer possible. Build them up
with support from us, the ones whom they have sworn to protect. Stop the scrutinizing of choices
made. I could go on into depths and crevices of where I believe the real problem lies but I stand
firm on giving our men and women in blue all the tools necessary to perform their jobs to the
best of their abilities and be able to return to their family when the day is over.

Kelling, G. L. (1999). Broken windows and police discretion. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of
Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice.
Kirby, R. (2003). End of watch: Utah's murdered police officers, 1858-2003. Salt Lake City:
University of Utah Press.

McCartney, S., & Parent, R. (2015) Ethics in Law Enforcement. Victoria, BC