Police Descretion

Police Descretion

I believe that discretion is the power to use your own judgment based on your morals, education of what is acceptable, and common sense. Discretion is exercised because not all situations in life and the justice system are black and white. Sometimes in life, situations arise where there is not always a definite answer, therefore, in order to make the best decision possible under certain circumstances, people will need to act accordingly to their discretion. The police officers who protect and serve should all be properly trained in taking the proper actions when using discretion.
    In the scenario, the officer exercised many aspects of discretion in order to properly ensure that the case was handled the best way possible. When the officer saw a man who appeared to be hurt laying by a bike, her initial reaction was to stop to render aid. When the man stood up, appearing to be unharmed, and started walking in a different direction, the officer again exercised discretion by attempting to stop the suspect in order for questioning. When the suspect threw the bike down and began to run this lead the officer to believe that the suspect was guilty of something and felt the need run. She chased him in order to make an arrest, and the offender then became violent beating her head into the concrete, which could have killed her. The suspect was able to break free for just a moment and the officer again went chasing after him in a final attempt to arrest him. When the offender started another physical dispute with the officer, beating her more, the officer exercised her final method to discretion by shooting and killing the offender.
In this case, I do feel that the officer used the appropriate course of action. Based on the principles of police discretion, the officer used the best decision she felt was necessary in order to protect herself. The officer approached this situation by taking a serious course of actions based on the responses from the offender. This could...