Explain the three reasons why police discretion is necessary.

What will be an ideal response?


Police discretion is necessary for a number of reasons. First, discretion is necessary due to the limited resources available to law enforcement. It would be impossible to enforce all laws, all the time. As such, officers must decide which laws to enforce, when to enforce them, and how to enforce them. Second, discretion is necessary because police need to be flexible when handling situations. Each situation is different, and police officers may consider the individual’s circumstances and motivations when making a decision. Thus, there needs to be some degree of flexibility when enforcing the law. Third, the police make so many complex decisions on a daily basis that it would be impossible to provide specific instructions on how to handle every situation.

Criminal Justice

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Mentally ill offenders in jails and prisons are often victimized by other inmates, who call them ______ and exploit them sexually and materially.

a. punks b. fish c. marks d. bugs

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The majority of arrests:

a. do not require a warrant to make the arrest reasonable as long as there is probable cause to arrest. b. require a warrant based on probable cause. c. occur in the home but still do not require a warrant. d. occur after stops and frisks

Criminal Justice

Suppose that the quantity of a certain type of farmland available is 400,000 acres, and the demand for this land is given in the table below.


A. $100
B. $200
C. $300
D. $400

Criminal Justice

Which gene-based evolutionary theory links many of the differences between the races, including crime patterns, to migrations out of Africa?

A.Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution B. heredity C. r/K selection theory D. adaptation

Criminal Justice