Do law enforcement agents have the power of discretion or is it good ole boyism?

[The Backlash Cometh]

I take issue when a police officer decides to escort an assistant state attorney home instead of slapping him with a DUI. The fact that our state attorney's office does not take their job seriously when it comes to investigating public records violations in government offices makes them useless to us and is proof that government agencies are colluding against our interests. It's the quid pro quo in public government offices which is the cause of most of the abuses that people who decide to live in Florida will experience.


Why was your car pulled over? It may be 'officer discretion'

When a Mount Dora Police officer decided to drive a bleary-eyed assistant state attorney home instead of arresting him for a DUI, "officer discretion" was invoked.

Many of the situations law enforcement officers encounter in the field are riddled by conundrums or fall into a gray area. Not every scenario is dictated by a strict policy or follows the rule of law to the letter.

When that happens, an officer is forced to make a choice based on their training, the agency's policy and their experience.

"It's the opportunity an officer or prosecutor has to use common sense and administer justice according to the situation they are in," said Ric Ridgway, chief assistant State Attorney in the state's Fifth Judicial District.



http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/os-law-you-officer-discretion-20110321,0,1349936.story

[rustydog]

1. That type of situation was asked in my oral exam for the police dept.

the exception is you answer a call and an off-duty police sgt. is intoxicated and causing a disturbance. do you treat him the same as joe citizen, or do you throw him in the car and drive him home.

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. What was the consensus in the classroom?

[rustydog]

4. Not a class environment. It is one of the last stages of the hiring process

There was a panel of 4 interviewers from the civil service board and me on the other side of the table answering their questions.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. Well? What answer would get the hire?

[rustydog]

17. Well, I was beat out by a guy who claimed military preference!

I am glad for him, though. Those who serve America deserve that "edge" as a thank you for their sacrifice.

A few weeks after the interview, one of the civil service members on the panel stopped me at the place I was working and told me not to give up, that my answers were good and he liked how I asked the questioner for clarification on the drunk sgt. problem. He said never stop asking those questions!

[The Backlash Cometh]

18. Giving our military men "the edge."

I agree to a certain degree. I just don't believe in giving anyone "the edge" because of their military service when they make wrongful decisions in community leadership positions. Smells like a sacred cow that good ole boys intentionally exploit.

[TheMadMonk]

3. The correct answer is of course same as JP.

The correct response in the field is of course....

[WatsonT]

12. You treat him the same as anyone else

not what actually happens, sure. But that's the right response.

[speltwon]

6. In my agency we do have such discretion

There is no policy, and certainly no law that requires me to arrest somebody for DUI given probable cause. There is tons of case law that says I cannot let him drive off, obviously.

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. And, herein, lies the seeds of discrimination.

[blueamy66]

8. Exactly.

Utter bullshit.

A DUI is a DUI. Hope that one of those "lucky" ones that got taken home don't get back into the car shitfaced in the near future and kill an innocent person.

Talk about blood on one's hands.....

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. We need to begin logging these "exceptions" because this is the

raison d'être for Affirmative Action. We need to give these issues prominence to make it more difficult for the right to frame this issue.

[speltwon]

9. Well, yes. Any agency is within their discretion to enact a zero tolerance policy

and make it clear that any such warnings will result in discipline, and any legislature within a state (or city govt) could even criminalize it or make other sanctions for officers that do this. But yes, in crimes where the "state" is the victim, and especially when they are misdemeanors, the officers have pretty broad discretion.

Different agencies have different policies. It is well known for instance that if you, off duty cop or whomever, gets pulled over for DUI by state patrol, you will be arrested. My agency has 2 officers in recent memory who were arrested for DUI, so its certainly not the case that officers necessarily get a break.

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. Which, essentially means, that a government body that is primarily

white in composition, benefits the most from these privileges? And, really, where does it end when it comes to bestowing this kind of favoritism?

[speltwon]

13. My agency racial breakdown is roughly equal to the population at large

so assuming arguendo that officers benefit from this policy, there is no racial aspect to it. Where does it end? Where law and policy and judgment require it to.

[The Backlash Cometh]

14. Many of us are not as lucky as you are.

[speltwon]

15. in which regards?

And fwiw, iirc whites are arrested for DUI at a higher per capita rate than blacks. I don't attribute this to racism. Imo, it's primarily due to culture, and to the fact that whites disproportionately drive more (less likely to live in heavily urbanized areas where car ownership/usage are rare).

Frankly, I don't buy the argument in re DUI that there is a racial angle at all. Drug war? Sure.

[The Backlash Cometh]

16. Follow the pattern.

If you have a police department who thinks they can go lenient on other law enforcement agencies, where does it stop? Maybe some of us live in communities where we see this kind of good ole boyist activity filtering to every aspect of the community. And if you have a high number of white drivers being stopped for DUI, thank the MADD organization.

[speltwon]

19. I do thank MADD

Considering that one of my coworkers was killed LOD by a DUI, and several have been injured.

Regardless, if you see the good old boy stuff, press your govt agency to pass a law or binding policy regards this. Like I said, I work with cops who have had DUIs. We don't get a free pass around here

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. The entire state is infested. Writing letters doesn't work.

[speltwon]

21. Does your state have citizen initiatives?

In my state, per our constitution, such initiatives are the highest law of the land

[The Backlash Cometh]

22. I haven't found one that has hit the right chord.

Unfortunately, someone always knows someone who is in the line of fire and everything eventually gets undermined.

[speltwon]

23. Sad

I don't think cops, or anyone should get a free pass for DUI. Where I live, we don't. We've had cops, police chiefs, and even a supreme court justice get popped for DUI. The latter was popped for DUI and Hit and Run lol.