Moving Beyond Arrest and Reconceptualizing Police Discretion

Abstract

Research on police discretion largely focuses on explaining the arrest disposition, while little attention is directed to the range of nonarrest decisions within an encounter. The research objective is to contribute to the discourse on police behavior by exploring the factors affecting different types of discretionary outcomes, a reconceptualization of demeanor, and the role of offence seriousness in different contexts. Using field observational data from a mid-sized Canadian police service, logistic regression models investigate the factors affecting police action identified in prior discretion research on three measures: conversational requests and directives, police assistance, and laying a criminal charge. The results support demarcating demeanor into disrespect and noncompliance, as they have unique independent effects on the use of discretion. Contrary to expectations, offence seriousness is only a significant predictor of noncoercive actions, while situational factors are better predictors of the arrest or charge decision than nondispositional outcomes.