Police Discretion and Domestic Violence Calls

2123 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The police code of silence essay

Police officers have a significant level of discretion when ethical decision making is incorporated in deciding how to respond to a domestic violence call. For example, officers exercise discretion by deciding how to respond to domestic violence when a situation involves a fellow officer. America is a country in which many believe in privacy within the household and often choose not to be involved in a domestic dispute because families should resolve their own problems. However, discretionary powers abused by an officer are used to dissuade the victim from filing charges against the officer’s colleague. Officers often do not choose to arrest in a domestic dispute because they believe the family, not the justice system, should resolve the problem. If the police officer abuses his discretionary power by persuading the victim to not file charges, then he is going against community policing. This is because, he is not serving the interests of the community, but rather the code of silence within a police department. This discretion is exercised even more when the domestic violence situation involves an off duty police officer. When police officers commit domestic violence against their spouse it is usually explained by the fact that police officers deal with difficult citizens on a daily basis on the streets and as a result of the high levels of stress on the job bring their frustrations home and spouse becomes the scapegoat for his feelings (Wetendorf, 1998:3).

In the past, when officers have responded to domestic violence calls from police officer’s wives, they would identify with the officer and favor their colleague rather than treating the incident as a criminal offense (Wetendorf, 1998:1). In many situations officers wo...

... middle of paper ...

... Gerry Sergeant (2004). Public Relations Officer with the Flagstaff Police Department, was interviewed by the author on November 4, 2004

Wetendrof, D. (1998). Police Perpetrated Domestic Violence. Battered Women Justice Program. National Center for Women and Policing 1998 Conference. Las Vegas, Nevada.

Wetendorf, D. and Davis, D.L. (2003). The misuse of Police Powers In Officer Involved Domestic Violence. Protecting Citizens, Communities, and Companies Through Education. Diane Wtendorf and Dottie L. Davis.

Wetendrof, D. (2004). Survivor: Poem written by survivors of Domestic Violence

http://www.dwetendorf.com/Story_Poem.htm

5 I-Team (2001-2004). Abusers Behind the Badge? KPHO News 5 Live.Late-Breaking. Investigative Team. World Now and News 5.

Villa, J. (2002). Police rank domestic violence offenders. The Arizona Republic. October, 19,2002 edition.

Show More
Related

  • Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Pros and Cons

    1398 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the most controversial topics in the United States in recent years has been the route which should be undertaken in overhauling the healthcare system for the millions of Americans who are currently uninsured. It is important to note that the goal of the Affordable Care Act is to make healthcare affordable; it provides low-cost, government-subsidized insurance options through the State Health Insurance Marketplace (Amadeo 1). Our current president, Barack Obama, made it one of his goals to bring healthcare to all Americans through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. This plan, which has been termed “Obamacare”, has come under scrutiny from many Americans, but has also received a large amount of support in turn for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons include a decrease in insurance discrimination on the basis of health or gender and affordable healthcare coverage for the millions of uninsured. The opposition to this act has cited increased costs and debt accumulation, a reduction in employer healthcare coverage options, as well as a penalization of those already using private healthcare insurance.

    Read More

  • Conservative and Liberal Ideologies in Regard to Health Care

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    Liberalism is an ideology which advocates equality of opportunity for all within the framework of a system of laws. It includes a belief in government as an institution whose primary function is to define and enforce the laws. Furthermore, a Constitution, must be developed not solely by one ruler but by representatives of the elite groups. Therefore, liberalism invariably involves a belief in the need for legislative bodies which represent the influential groups. The Constitution then defines ...

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of The Affordable Care Act

    1831 Words  | 4 Pages

    On March 23, 2010, President Barrack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into legislation. The bill was created to provide affordable and effective health care to all Americans. It has since provided tens of millions of uninsured Americans with affordable healthcare (“ObamaCare: Pros and Cons of ObamaCare”). While doing so, an estimated 31 million still remain uncovered as of 2016 (“Not ‘Everybody’ Is Covered Under ACA”). To this day, the health care plan has remained widely criticized and controversial. Many believe the Affordable Care Act has not done its duty and is unconstitutional to force healthcare upon Americans. Some of the people who share these views believe it isn’t the government’s job to provide welfare. They believe healthcare

    Read More

  • Positive Facts About The Affordable Care Act - ObamaCare

    2802 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Affordable Care Act (ACA) or ObamaCare as it is widely known, has been a controversial political debate since day one. The Republicans have tried over 50 times to repeal it, to no avail. Like any other bill, there are good sides and negative consequences to it. People can go to healthcare.gov to sign up for insurance under the ACA. There is a plethora of information on the site about what should be covered, who has to participate, who can be exempt, where to get healthcare, why you should have insurance, and how to get it, along with a lot of other information under the Topic selection at the top of the screen. While there is a lot to go through and understand, the ACA still remains widely misunderstood for millions of Americans.

    Read More

  • Discretion in Police Duties

    1036 Words  | 3 Pages

    Police officers often encounter situations where the decision to use discretion challenges the way and the type of job that officers would normally conduct. Each day an officer is on the job, discretion when it comes to job duties appears, sometimes without any warning. Officers constantly struggle with the appearance of discretion, and often times do not know how to handle the situation when it does appear. Discretion may take many different forms in the job duties, but it always involves the officer letting a crime “slide,” rather than questioning every suspicious person. Letting a crime “slide,” for certain offenders, is of great concern for the administrators of police departments, because there is potential for ethical issues to surface later on. This essay will examine police discretion, factors that influence discretion, whether exercising discretion is appropriate, and the concerns that administrators have when it comes to police using discretion in the field.

    Read More

  • The Legacy Of The Police Code Of Ethicality

    1124 Words  | 3 Pages

    Police misconduct has been in existence since the 1600’s, European Influence on American Policing. Ironically, Police Officers in modern day continue the legacy of the police “culture” (Barry, 1999). A culture of abuse of authority or discretion, code of silence amongst officers, discrimination, and a strong belief that “cops — and firefighters — stick together, in life and death situations” (Wetendorf, 2004). Regardless of the abuse of authority officers conduct, it is a clear sign of poor ethics and morals amongst officers.

    Read More

  • Police Force and Discretion

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    The degree of force that officers use is heavily influenced by police discretion in real-world situations rather than espoused by a certain agenda. Discretion can be classified into four different categories where administrators, the community, and the individual police officer exercise differing degrees of influence in decision-making. What is needed to help officer discretion is a central ethos that will guide discretion when all other rules fail to help.

    Read More

  • Police Brutality

    1354 Words  | 3 Pages

    When one thinks of police misconduct many not too distant stories might go through our heads. Most adults will remember how they felt when they saw the brutal beating of Rodney King on their local news station; or the outrage they experienced when they heard that the evidence in the OJ Simpson trial had been tampered with. But thanks to new guidelines, procedures and even civilian groups who now “police” the police, instances of police misconduct may soon start seeing a decline.

    Read More

  • Police Discretion and the Use of Force

    2111 Words  | 5 Pages

    Discretion is defined as the authority to make a decision between two or more choices (Pollock, 2010). More specifically, it is defined as “the capacity to identify and to document criminal and noncriminal events” (Boivin & Cordeau, 2011). Every police officer has a great deal of discretion concerning when to use their authority, power, persuasion, or force. Depending on how an officer sees their duty to society will determine an officer’s discretion. Discretion leads to selective enforcement practices and may result in discrimination against certain groups of people or select individuals (Young, 2011). Most police officer discretion is exercised in situations with individuals (Sherman, 1984).

    Read More

  • Police Brutality Persuasive Essay

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    Background and Audience Relevance: According to the Human Rights Watch 2012 report on Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States; police brutality has become one the most serious human rights violation. As citizens of the United States it is our duty to make sure that those with authority don 't take advantage of their power.

    Read More

  • Eras of American Policing and Their Origin

    1541 Words  | 4 Pages

    Walker, S., & Katz, C. (2012). Police in America: An Introduction (8th Edition ed.). New York:

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography On Police Brutality

    1110 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cheh, M. "Are lawsuits an answer to police brutality." Police violence: Understanding and controlling police abuse of force (1996): 247-72.

    Read More

  • The Affordable Care Act Debate

    2130 Words  | 5 Pages

    The Affordable Care Act has been at the center of political debate within the United States for the since current President Barack Obama signed it into law in 2010. The act represents the most significant regulatory healthcare overhaul of the United States healthcare system since the passage of both Medicaid and Medicare collectively Initially, the ACA was enacted with the goals of increasing the availability of affordable health insurance, lowering the uninsured rate by expanding public and private insurance and reducing cost of healthcare for individuals and the government (Robert, 2012). Proponents of the act’s passage have articulated that the ACA provides service for free, such as preventative health coverage for those registered, it requires that insurance companies can no longer deny person’s or children with pre-existing conditions and will close the Medicare “Donut Hole” for prescription drugs. While the Act has the potential to provide better quality of healthcare for the American populace, opponents argue that the ACA is flawed and could create a quagmire of cost and confusion with its implementation. Arguments against it hold the belief that it would force employers with religious affiliation to provide services to employees through their health plans that directly contradict their values. As a result of cost, companies may void out of their employer health insurance and pay a penalty as opposed to pay for employee insurance. Lastly, the act is said to focus more on registration the actually addressing cost of healthcare. While these issues are pertinent, the overall accessibility to healthcare created by the ACA and outweighs the negating arguments.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On The Affordable Care Act

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    Less than a quarter of uninsured Americans believe the Affordable Care Act is a good idea. According to experts, more than 87 million Americans could lose their current health care plan under the Affordable Care Act. This seems to provide enough evidence that the Affordable Care Act is doing the exact opposite of what Democrats promised it would do. On the other hand, this law includes the largest health care tax cut in history for middle class families, helping to make insurance much more affordable for millions of families. The Affordable Care Act has been widely discussed and debated, but remains widely misunderstood.

    Read More

  • John Locke's Belief That People Are Born with Rights

    1159 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to Liberalism, people should be granted liberty and equality. This political view is one in which it believes in free and fair elections, a Bill of Rights, and most importantly, civil rights. The foundation of the Liberalist political view can be traced all the way back to the 17th century when philosopher John Locke introduced the philosophy of people having natural rights. Locke’s philosophy included what is known as the Law of Nature in which he states that people use reason to pursue their own self-interest and that they are born with an innate sense of right and wrong. Locke also introduced the idea of State of Nature in which people live within reason without a government. Locke believed that in an absolute State of Nature, people could live together in a rational matter. For example, there would be a rational limitation on property. This means that people would only use as much land as they needed in order to survive. Of all the ideas Locke introduced, his most important one would be that people are born with natural rights. These natural rights Locke is referring to are the right to life, liberty, and property....

    Read More

More about Police Discretion and Domestic Violence Calls

Open Document