Effective and Ineffective Uses of Patrol Officer Discretion

• NCJ Number: 84657
• Author(s): J P Mciver; R B Parks
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 66 pages
• Grant Number(s): 81-IJ-CX-0078
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored

Annotation

This study, started from the perspective that almost all police work involves discretion, examined the effectiveness of police actions in four types of situations: interpersonal conflicts, disturbances, property crime, and domestic crises.

Abstract

Field observations of exchanges between police and citizens were used to create three indicators of police officer effectiveness: the ability to reduce tension in the encounter, command of citizen respect, and expression of citizen satisfaction. A total of 5,688 encounters between police officers and citizens were observed in 24 police departments serving 3 major metropolitan areas. Almost 30 percent of these encounters could be grouped into one of the four situations studied. Substantial variation was found in the impact of police actions in response to different problems. Police actions appeared to have greater effect in problems involving interpersonal and domestic conflicts than in other problems. However, relatively few encounters with single citizens involved these problems. Actions directed at particular citizens appeared to be the main factor influencing effectiveness. Future research will focus on identifying the factors that result in an officer's choice of effective behaviors rather than ineffective behaviors. Footnotes, a list of 41 references, and an appendix presenting data tables and a list of problems faced by patrol officers are provided.