CJS 241 UoP Wk 4 Police Misconduct & Decision Discretion & Accountability PPT

PART1: Respond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:

Search for an incident of police misconduct in your city or state and share it with the class.

Explain why it was misconduct and how the officer should have acted.

Respond to Responses 1 & 2:

#1: In the state I live in which is Florida, I have came across an incident involving two officers that were arrested for misconduct of writing false traffic tickets. Officers Ernesto Arias Martinez and Armando Perez were arrested after evidence was brought against them regarding writing false traffic tickets. An example of this is that one citizen on this case was written 6 traffic tickets all in the same day and was no record of being pulled over. The reason why this came to light is the lawyers who specialize in fighting traffic tickets where reaching out to the victims and the victims didnt know they even had tickets. This lead the victims of this incident to reach out to the local police department and file a complaint, which soon after the officers where arrested. This incident shows that their misconduct was abusing their power by writing false tickets to meet quota standards. Instead of slacking off the officers should have been looking for actually people who where breaking the law and issue them actual tickets for their misconduct using the roads.

#2: in a county close to mine lubbock county. January 13,2015 at about 2:30 am Shaun Harris was leaving the hospital after finding out of his mothers passing. It was a icy night when a officer pulled him over for going under the speed limit. When he was able to pull over the officer swung open his car door and used excessive force to force him out of the can the dash cam showed the officer hitting and choking Harris in his vehicle and Harris never actually being able to get out of the vehicle even when the officer backed away he got back in his patrol car leaving Harris and the scene. where he then had to go to the hospital himself. This case was then brought to attention to not be the only time this officer had done a traffic stop solely to assault some one. This officers misconduct is uncalled for no officer should feel that they are able to assault some one just cause it is felt like

PART2: A decision tree is a great way to determine a course of action and possible outcomes associated with an officer’s decision. Today everyone has a camera and decisions are reviewed, questioned, and judged by those who have no idea what happened. In Ch. 5 you learned about tactical decision-making and scenario-based training for new officers. Discretion is a major part of a police officer’s role and the decision he or she makes in a split second can create many different outcomes and consequences.

Watch the Decision Tree video located in the University Library.

Read the Sidebar 11-1, “Police Discretion in an Unfolding Disturbance Call” in the “New Perspectives on Police Discretion” section of Ch. 11, “Police Discretion,” of The Police in America.

Consider the different stages the officer is faced with in the scenario.

Select stage four, five, or six and review the officer response provided.

Create a 10- to 12-slide PowerPoint® presentation in which you:

• Describe possible decision points that the officer may have faced.
• Explain how one decision the officer could have made modeled abuse of discretion or modeled positive use of discretion.
• Describe factors that may limit the officer’s discretion.
• Explain at least three internal and external mechanisms police departments use for accountability.

Incorporate at least two academic references outside of your textbook in your presentation.

Include detailed speaker notes, the notes should be equivalent to you presenting to a group.