Deck 8: Police Discretion and Its Control

Question 1

______ exists when a person makes decisions based on his or her own judgment.

A) Inequity
B) Discrimination
C) Omission
D) Discretion

Answer 1

Discretion

Question 2

A(n) ______ is when a person chooses a particular option based on the consideration of information.

A) decision
B) order
C) conclusion
D) mediation

Answer 2

decision

Question 3

Which of the following is an example of discretion by a police administrator?

A) deciding whether to issue a motorist a citation or warning
B) deciding what tactics to use when interrogating a suspect
C) deciding who should be hired as a police officer
D) deciding whether to pursue a fleeing felon

Answer 3

deciding who should be hired as a police officer

Question 4

Which of the following is an example of discretion by a police officer?

A) deciding whether to use force against a resisting subject
B) deciding who should be hired as a police officer
C) deciding whether to revise department policies
D) deciding how to allocate the departmental budget

Question 5

Discretionary decisions made by ______ are more likely to affect citizens in indirect ways and are more often subject to review and analysis prior to making a decision.

A) police officers
B) detectives
C) police executives
D) county sheriffs

Question 6

When considering officer characteristics, research suggests that ______.

A) older officers make more arrests than younger officers
B) younger officers make more arrests than older officers
C) female officers make more arrests than male officers
D) college-educated officers make more arrests than noncollege-educated officers

Question 7

When considering suspect characteristics, which of the following groups were least likely to be arrested?

A) Hispanics
B) African Americans
C) males
D) females

Question 8

In which of the following instances would the police most likely make an arrest regardless of the victim's wishes?

A) vandalism
B) disturbing the peace
C) domestic violence
D) theft

Question 9

Which of the following victim characteristics would make an officer less likely to pursue a criminal investigation?

A) victim's age
B) victim's credibility
C) victim's race
D) victim's gender

Question 10

The most influential characteristic in the decision-making process on whether to make an arrest is ______.

A) seriousness of the offense
B) age of the victim
C) race of the victim
D) victim's wishes

Question 11

Arrests, use of force, traffic stops, traffic citations, and field interviews are more common ______.

A) in suburban areas
B) low-income neighborhoods
C) high-income neighborhoods
D) in rural areas

Question 12

______ refers to unwritten rules and principles of conduct that are situationally applied.

A) Organizational vision
B) Decision-making
C) Discretion
D) Organizational culture

Question 13

A failure to abide by the unwritten rules that govern the culture of policing may likely to result in being ______.

A) suspended from duty
B) ridiculed by other officers
C) fired
D) indicted

Question 14

The ______ may prevent officers from reporting on the misconduct of fellow officers and become a barrier to the ethical operation of the police department.

A) chain of command
B) standard operating policies
C) code of silence
D) police union

Question 15

The U.S. Supreme Court decision in ______ requires that police officers inform suspects of their rights when in custody and prior to questioning.

A) Miranda v. Arizona
B) Terry v. Ohio
C) Tennessee v. Garner
D) Arizona v. Gant

Question 16

The U.S. Supreme Court decision in ______ allows the police to stop and frisk subjects when reasonable suspicion exists that the subject is engaged in illegal activity.

A) Miranda v. Arizona
B) Terry v. Ohio
C) Tennessee v. Garner
D) Arizona v. Gant

Question 17

The U.S. Supreme Court decision in ______ prohibited police use of force against fleeing felons unless there is probable cause to believe that the suspect poses a significant threat to officers or others.

A) Miranda v. Arizona
B) Terry v. Ohio
C) Tennessee v. Garner
D) Arizona v. Gant

Question 18

If a police department is interested in hiring officers with a high level of integrity, the most important aspect of the officer selection process would be ______.

A) the psychological evaluation
B) the written test
C) field training
D) the background investigation

Question 19

When police departments share information with citizens and allow citizens to have input in how police departments operate, it is called ______.

A) translucency
B) transparency
C) cooperative policing
D) opaqueness

Question 20

______ allow members of the public to participate in the process of reviewing complaints against the police.

A) Honor guards
B) Social advocacy
C) Civilian review boards
D) Citizen interaction committees

Question 21

Which of the following is an example of police department transparency?

A) recruiting minority candidates
B) making the police budget available to citizens
C) withholding the names of officers involved in the use of force incidents
D) promoting officers based on merit

Question 22

When there is ambiguity in the law and policy, ______ may offer officers guidance when making difficult decisions under circumstances of uncertainty.

A) ethical standards of conduct
B) individual codes of morality
C) religious texts
D) peer counseling

Question 23

Ideally, a police department's statement of values should accurately reflect the ideas and beliefs of the ______.

A) community
B) police chief
C) command staff
D) entire police department

Question 24

For ethics training to be effective, it should ______.

A) consist of at least 40 hours of academy training
B) administered by a certified ethics training officer
C) be career long learning process
D) be general in scope

Question 25

The U.S. Supreme Court decision in ______ allows the police to search a citizen's vehicle if the arrestee could access the vehicle at the time of the search or if it is reasonable to believe that the vehicle contains evidence of the offense.

A) Miranda v. Arizona
B) Terry v. Ohio
C) Tennessee v. Garner
D) Arizona v. Gant

Question 26

Research shows that policies restricting high-speed pursuits have been ______.

A) ineffective in reducing high-speed pursuits
B) effective in reducing high-speed pursuits
C) had no effect on the number of high-speed pursuits
D) inconclusive regarding the effectiveness of restrictive policies

Question 27

______ can provide an interpretation of departmental policy and serve as the basis on which police officers may model desired actions while performing the tasks of the job.

A) Training
B) Supervision
C) Promotion
D) Ethics

Question 28

Providing information on use of force on a departmental website, or other such activities aimed at increasing transparency, will likely______.

A) improve citizens' perceptions of police
B) lead to better relationships between officers
C) be prohibited by police union rules
D) increase citizens distrust of police

Question 29

The police use of body-worn cameras ______.

A) eliminates officer discretion
B) creates other discretionary issues for police
C) was mandated by the U.S. Supreme Court
D) is prohibited during motor vehicle stops

Question 30

Which of the following is an example of use of discretion by a detective?

A) deciding who should be hired or fired
B) deciding whether to ticket a motorist or provide a warning
C) deciding what tactics to use during an interrogation
D) deciding whether to revise departmental policies

Question 31

To ensure fairness, police are prohibited from using discretion when enforcing the law.

Question 32

Deciding whether to issue a motorist a citation is an example of police discretion.

Question 33

Police discretion is an important issue because it can affect citizens in extraordinary ways.

Question 34

Good decisions made by police officers are sometimes incorrectly interpreted by citizens as being improper, biased, or just bad.

Question 35

Discretionary decisions made by police managers and executives are usually made on the spot and as such are rarely subject to review and analysis prior to the decision being made.

Question 36

Female officers tend to use force more frequently than male officers.

Question 37

All else equal, minority suspects are more likely to be arrested than White suspects.

Question 38

Issues with victim credibility may make police less likely to pursue a criminal investigation.

Question 39

The characteristic that most influences police officer's decision to make an arrest is the race of the suspect.

Question 40

The amount of evidence associated with an offense is a major factor for officers when deciding whether or not to make an arrest or issue a citation.

Question 41

Traffic stops are more likely to occur in low-income areas.

Question 42

The organizational culture of a police department is learned at the police academy.

Question 43

When the "code of silence" prevents police officers from reporting on the misconduct of fellow officers, it becomes a barrier to the ethical operation of the police department.

Question 44

Effective management of police officers' discretion requires that officers are held accountable to the official policies and procedures of the organization.

Question 45

The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Arizona v. Gant allows the police to stop and frisk a subject when the officer has reasonable suspicion that the subject is involved in illegal activity.

Question 46

One of the primary reasons why communities have their own police department is so the citizens of that community can have a more direct input into how the department operates.

Question 47

For organizational policies to affect police officers' behavior, they must be supported by training and effective supervision.

Question 48

Officers with different traits and characteristics may bring different styles of police discretion to the job.

Question 49

Research has shown that the way police officers think remains constant throughout their career, and as such it is best to select officers who exhibit the characteristics deemed desirable by the department.

Question 50

It is best not to share information about potentially controversial issues like use of force incidents as it may incite citizens to lash out at police officers.

Question 51

Providing information on the police department's website about citizen complaints against police is an example of police transparency.

Question 52

The use of police body-worn cameras would effectively eliminate police discretion.

Question 53

A police department's "statement of values" should not be limited to the thoughts and ideas of the police chief, or their command staff, but when possible represent the ideas and beliefs of the entire department.

Question 54

The department's statement of values should be the basis for everything that the police department does and everything officers do.

Question 55

The "code of silence" is incorporated into most police department's statement of values.

Question 56

Discuss the meaning of police discretion and provide examples of how police officers, detectives, and administrators exercise discretion.

Question 57

Identify and discuss at least four of the potential problems with police discretion.

Question 58

Explain the three reasons why police discretion is necessary.

Question 59

Discuss how officer characteristics influence the discretionary decisions of police officers.

Question 60

Discuss the role victim characteristics play in influencing the discretionary decisions of police officers.

Question 61

Discuss how neighborhood characteristics influence discretionary decisions made by police officers.

Question 62

Explain what organizational culture means and why it is important to policing.

Question 63

Explain the role "danger" and "suspicion" play in police culture.

Question 64

Identify the four strategies that are the most effective for controlling police discretion.

Question 65

Assess the effectiveness of the implementation of organizational rules and policies (SOPs), combined with training and effective supervision, as a means of controlling police discretion.

Question 66

Discuss the limitations of controlling police discretion by enhancing professional judgment of officers.

Question 67

Discuss the role of transparency in controlling police discretion and provide three examples of policies designed to increase transparency.

Question 68

Discuss the benefits of police body-worn cameras and explain how they may serve as a control on officer discretion.

Question 69

Discuss the limitations of ethics training in modern police departments.

Question 70

Explain why the "code of silence" is a major hurdle to in advancing toward a proper functioning police department.