CJC 121 Fayetteville Technical Community Police Role and Police Discretion Discussion

I’m working on a criminal justice discussion question and need an explanation and answer to help me learn.

Introduction:

Police officers use discretion every day. The use of police discretion is one of the major challenges facing U.S. police today. Discretion is the availability of a choice of options or actions one can take in a situation. Depending on the situation, the police may have wide discretion or very limited discretion. Discretion is not just limited to police as the entire criminal justice system is based on discretion. The idea is that no two crimes are exactly alike, and thus taking the circumstances into consideration is justified. The U.S. system is interested in the spirit of the law in addition to the letter of the law. In Texas, for example, murder is a first-degree felony punishable by 5 to 99 years or life in prison. There is a huge disparity between 5 years and life. What circumstances may warrant a 5-year prison term for murder?

identify the premise and supporting points of the chapter, a synthesis of the information from the chapter, and a critical application of the premise(s) and supporting points from the chapter as it relates to issues law enforcement agencies face today.