October 1990                                                      

                                                                 
                        RESEARCH REVIEW                                  
                 
                   POLICE USE OF DISCRETION:
              A COMPARISON OF COMMUNITY, SYSTEM,
                   AND OFFICER EXPECTATIONS                       

                     Research Conducted By
                        Hal Hugh Nees,II                            
              
                      Research Reviewed By
                      David J. Icove, Ph.D.
                           FBI Academy
                       Quantico, Virginia

                                                    
     Police officers display significant levels of discretion in 
how they handle various law enforcement scenarios, according to 
a research study conducted in conjunction with a doctoral thesis 
in Public Administration at the University of Colorado.  For 
purposes of the study, the available choices were limited to the 
following:  Take no action, warn the offender, refer to a social 
agency, issue a summons, or arrest an individual.  The study also 
examines the officer's age, sex, ethnicity, education, geographic 
residence, marital status, and political orientation.             

     The study entails the review of 20 incidents covering 
traffic violations, disturbances, drug and alcohol violations, 
prostitution, juvenile status crimes, vandalism, and gambling.  
All were misdemeanor offenses, with the exception of one 
involving the cultivation of marijuana.  The sample groups of 
respondents included 1,077 police officers, probation officers, 
prosecuting attorneys, defense attorneys, judges, community 
leaders, and ordinary citizens in and around Colorado.            

     The comparison of police officers to all other groups shows 
that officers tend to treat individuals more harshly when 
dealing with curfew violations, drugs and alcohol, prostitution, 
and vandalism.  The survey groups generally thought that the 
officers need to act more harshly when handling traffic violators 
and gambling offenses.  The study also points out that even 
members within each group do not always agree with each other.    

    Officers handle intoxicated individuals differently, 
depending upon the suspect's attitude and demographics. It is 
more likely that cooperative individuals would be allowed to 
return home, while ``outsiders'' would be taken to jail.         

     Educational level and the experience of officers have an 
impact on their decisionmaking process.  Generally, the higher 
the officer's education, the fewer sanctions the officer would 
impose on an individual.  However, the study implies that during 
the early years of police service, officers tend to act more 
harshly, tapering off during their mid-level years, and then 
gradually escalating their choice of sanctions in the final years 
of their careers.                                                 

     The results of this study recommend that law enforcement 
agencies can take significant steps in the area of ``discretion 
management''  the ability of a jurisdiction to uniformly and 
fairly exercise levels of discretion by their officers.  This 
research reinforces previous studies that show that boundaries of 
discretion are defined too generally by many law enforcement 
agencies.  The study also questions whether law enforcement 
agencies reflect the priorities within their individual 
communities.