Town of Castle Rock, Colorado v. Gonzales, 545 US 748 (2005)
Facts of the Case: In 1999 Jessica and Simon Gonzales were getting a divorce.
Jessica had gotten a restraining order issued against Simon with certain child visitation stipulations in place. The children were outside playing alone and were taken by Simon without the consent of Jessica.
Jessica called the police and explained her situation to Officers Brink and Ruisi at approximately 7:30 PM, the evening the children were taken. Jessica was told that due to the nature of the restraining order there was nothing they could do. Expressly they could not seek out and arrest Simon, which is what Jessica demanded of them. Jessica would call multiple times after that until filing an incident
…show more content…
Justice Scalia alluded to the fact that there would have to be considerable respect given to officer discretion in light of the direction to “use every reasonable means to enforce a restraining order” given the lack of property interest created by the Gonzales situation.
In Jessica’s court documents her legal team even admits there may be times when enforcing a restraining order can be accomplished by ways other than arrest, especially when there is a technical violation. In cases such as Sandin v Conner and Olim v
Wakinekona Castle Rock’s legal team wrote “procedural mandates do not create substantive entitlements” coupled with the explanation that states can require certain conduct by their employees without creating a property interest.
The difficulty with this case is the senseless loss of life involved which moves people to assume there had to have been someone to blame for not doing their due diligence.
This is understandable, but mistaken when the case is objectively viewed with the fact that a restraining order is not a protective order. While there can be some discussion
over the decisions made with personal values in question, the fact that there was not an encroachment on constitutional
City of Pinellas Park v. Brown was a case brought to the District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District by the plaintiff Brown. In this case, the Brown family sued the City of Pinellas Sheriff Department on the grounds of negligence that resulted in the tragic death of two Brown sisters during a police pursuit of a fleeing traffic violator Mr. Deady. The facts in this case are straight forward, and I shall brief them as logical as possible.
This decision requires that unless a suspect in custody has been informed of his constitutional rights before questioning anything he says may not be introduced in a court of law.
The B/M continued to attempt to strike me and I clenched on to him an attempt to protect myself, while preventing him from escaping. As I was holding onto the B/M I was unable to reach my radio to request additional units. Officer D. Peal (9003) arrived on scene and assisted me in attempting to place the B/M into handcuffs. The B/M continued to ignore lawful commands and refused to place his hands behind his back after being given several lawful commands. I delivered a strike to the B/M’s midsection in an attempt to gain compliance, however the strike did not appear to have an effect. The B/M continued to ignore lawful commands and I warned him I was going to deploy chemical spray. The B/M continued to resist and would not comply, in response I provided another warning and then deployed a three to five second burst of my department issued MK-2 OC chemical spray to the B/M’s face. After the chemical spray was deployed, he was placed in handcuffs without further incident. The B/M was identified by his Florida driver’s license Emanuel
Mrs. Griswold presented Officer Poncello with an Order of Protection and it appeared Webb was violating the order. (Ex. 4 p.2). Officer Poncello told Mrs. Griswold that she need not worry about Webb, everything would be ok, and she would be able to continue working because Webb left. (Ex. 3 p.1). At 8:00 P.M., when Mrs. Griswold’s shift ended, Webb returned and assaulted her. Officer Poncello did not mention arresting Webb. (Ex. 3 p.1). Mrs. Griswold trusted the cops and felt safe enough to continue working without any issues. (Ex. 3 p.2). The officers did not mention providing Mrs.
to be searched, generally must be shown a warrent if he requests it and must be
There must be limits to these means, officers must adhere to the Law as well or the legal system becomes redundant. The "dir...
The situation in which a police officer apprehends a suspect can influence the officer’s decision on how to proceed. In fact situational variables are considered to be the most influential factor on an officer’s use of discretion (Goff, 2011, p. 184). Rudy listed of some situational factors that can affect a person’s discretion such as “possible educational experience, suspect attitude, community support, policies, and whether or not an officer has filled their ticket quota for the month”
Discretion is something that has to be practiced and exercised. Because police agencies don’t have enough officers to patrol whole areas and have eyes on at all times and ensure that there is no crime and to catch it all is just simply impossible. Learning to be d...
In class we have discussed use of officer discretion which is widely used in Armed & Dangerous. The officer using their judgement to handle certain situations. Gallo mentions “The job teaches us early on that, for any cop, your brain is your most powerful weapon.” (pg. 79). In some neighborhoods involving gangs, Gallo has to keep a low profile and not draw attention to herself otherwise she might be shot at by gang members. She also learns that people are more comfortable talking to female cops than male cops because they are more understanding. Officer discretion is very important for the protection of an
As police administration have to look at the issue and what way to try to correct the situation. One of the ethical issues dealing with law enforcement today is when using discretion when stereotyping/profiling. There has been many discussing of police discretion. Perez and Moore (2013) stated that an officer uses of discretion is very important to the community and the justice system. If officer use of discretion is not seen as fair it can cause problems with administration and citizens. Discretion is define as “the decision-making power afforded to police officers that allows them to decide if they want to pursue police procedure or simply let someone off with a warning. How it looks in practice is different from situation to situation” (Hirby, nd). What have been discuss throughout the years with discretion and stereotyping/profiling is traffic
Police officers are given a significant amount of discretion simply due to the nature of the job. Officers are faced with many threatening situations forcing them to react quickly yet appropriately. They have the power to infringe upon any citizen's rights to freedom and therefore they must use this power effectively. One major concern with the amount of discretion officers have is their power to decide when to use force or when to use lethal force. Manning (1997:295) argues that it is generally accepted that police should be allowed to use force. He also explains that there is an uncertainty among people as to what constitutes excessive force. The line between what is necessary and what is extreme is very thin. Use of force is no doubt one important aspect in policing; however, force should also be used with great discretion. If officers do not use force on every suspect they encounter they may be creating a negative environment for the community.
The mother-son case illustrates that there are more factors in play than just the two that Thomson presents in her thesis. Thomson’s conditions by themselves cannot explain every situation. The relationship between the people involved can also affect whether a decision is morally permissible or not. If that relationship entails that one person is emotionally bound and ethically responsible for the security and well-being of the other, the first cannot knowingly contribute to the death of the second. Thomson’s thesis must be modified to include this condition as well.
Thesis Statement: police discretion is the framework for promoting justice in police-citizen interactions in the traffic sector. Police officers face a myriad of challenges in their line of duty. Most cases necessitate sound decisions to settle disputes amicably. When they apply discretion in an incoherent manner, they may end up abusing human rights. Therefore, they apply it when dealing with legal sanctions such as making arrests, giving out a ticket and stopping the offending party.
At this moment, I call 911 within a few mins they showed up; I submitted them the recording and her personal diary.
I have spoken to the head secretary at our law firm nearly every day, but all she has done is insured me that all was in order with the court order of restraint. However, for some unexplained reason she has yet to send me a copy of the court document, the name of the attorney who had filed the document, or the name of the judge who had signed the document. Should I thank you for those lies as well mother? You do know the police cannot comply with my request unless I have the court order of restraint with me. If my last name was not Richton, they would have arrested me long ago for making false and misleading statements. Fortunately, the last person in charge of my security taking the blame for me being assaulted and was arrested. I believe the police are looking for Gilbert to ask him a few questions. What have you to say now, mother?”