Discuss the Pros the Cons of Police Discretion in Domestic Violence Essay

Discuss the Pros the Cons of Police Discretion in Domestic Violence Situations - Essay Example This is because in the sight of most couples, that would constitute betrayal of love (Easton, 2002). Because of this, females who are often the worse offenders in cases of domestic violence cases refuse to cooperate with the police in terms of issuance of authentic information that could lead up to arrest. Once the police detect distortions and inconsistencies with information that they gather from the victims (most commonly female victims), they become left with no other option than to resort to the application of discretion in the execution of their duty. In effect, until there come such a time that couples will stop looking at cases of domestic violence as private issues but as civil and criminal issues that demand the application of the full rigors of the law, the police will continue to apply discretion in cases of domestic violence instead of the issuance of arrest. Arrest of the breadwinner would hurt the family Another major factor that brings about the use of discretion amon g police personnel instead of arrest has to do with the fact that police personnel often judge that â€Å"arrest of the breadwinner would hurt the family† (Syllabus for JUS 205, 2004). Yet again, the fact that marriage is a private relationship between two people, one of which often acts as the breadwinner of the family and caretaker of the other one, police have often reasoned that applying arrest on the breadwinner would put the entire family in jeopardy (OECD, 2007). Due to this, the police would often look for alternatives other than arrest that would ensure that the case of domestic violence is catered for. As the saying goes, two wrongs do not make right. In this context, the police are often tempted to believe that arresting the breadwinner would create double trouble because... From the research it can be comprehended that the work of the police force is one of the most important and those that can never be done away with in any way. This is because the police system has been designated to be the law enforcement agency of society. The application of discretion by the police force in cases of domestic violence should continue to be applied in ‘discretion’. What this means is that, before police personnel uses discretion, he or she should be in a position to judge and determine the outcome of the particular case involved. This means that different domestic violence cases should be given preferential treatments. In cases where the cons would out weight the pros, the officer is advised to implement the normal provisions of the law rather than using discretion. On the other hand, in cases where the pros would outweigh the cons, the police should have the courage to go ahead with the use of discretion. In all of this, the police should be in a positi on to live above reproach in the jurisdiction of their duties. This is because when there comes such a time that the police force can be trusted on the grounds of professionalism and fairness, criticisms that often arise when they police use discretion would become a thing of the past. This is because the larger society would now be put in a position where they would embrace the police as always getting it right in the application of discretion and so criticisms against them would seize in this regard.