Discretionary Authority and the Patriot Act

Discretionary Authority and the Patriot Act

Americans today are living in times of great uncertainty and fear of terror. We are living in times where not only do we have to fear terror from international terrorists, we also have to fear those who reside in our own country such as gang members, murderers, drug dealers, rapists and many more. Although these types of terrorists have always been apart of our nation, the complacency of Americans to get involved and let there voices be heard in helping to change things in our country has had a detrimental effect in our society. It is not until our rights as human beings and citizens of this country are compromised that we begin to realize what “freedoms” we truly have in this country and then we try to protect them. The word freedom is used loosely for even our great nation that is supposedly free; the government can step in at any time and revoke certain freedoms for national security purposes. The question is, does the government go too far in that effort and as citizens of America what does that mean for us?

There are many agencies in America that are there to protect the American citizens. One agency that we are all familiar with is the police law enforcement agencies. The police are there to protect and serve the citizens in there assigned communities and crack down on crime that poses great threat to our society. Police lay there lives on the line each day in a job many times filled with peril. Due to the danger that police face each day in the line of duty, police officers are allotted access to personal information of community citizens and also are given a great amount of power to perform there job effectively and efficiently. However, it is the discretionary authority that police officers are allowed to exercise that worries many citizens in regards to there individual rights.

Discretionary authority is the enormous power society grants law enforcement officials to keep the peace and maintain social order. In the line of duty, police officers are faced with many different kinds of circumstances and personalities. With discretionary authority, police officials have a wide range of options given to them in dealing with any number of situations. They can ignore the offence, render a verbal warning, give a citation or place the person under arrest. However, due to the access and enormous power that the police have, discretionary authority can lead to the abusing of power.

When police officers or departments exercise their discretionary power in a way which can consistently and methodically work for or against certain types of people, it then results in institutionalized elitism, racism and sexism. If this pattern is continuously followed, then it can become ingrained in the culture of the police department and can be used to justify targeting certain types of individuals in there assigned communities. An example of this would be, racial profiling. Racial profiling is when law enforcement officials have established a common practice where they can stop and question minorities because they are minorities. Another example is pervasive sexist attitudes against women in abusive situations. There are many conservative officers out there who still believe that men should be the head of the household and women are there to maintain it. When an officer with this type of attitude is called to a scene of domestic abuse, these types of officers often blame the victim for the abuse inflicted upon her.

On the other hand, there are officers who choose to use there discretionary authority in favor of certain individuals. These individuals can include prominent members of a community, political figures or even to there own fellow officers. This sort

of favoritism is known as “professional courtesy”. This type of professional courtesy can prove to be greatly detrimental to the public and police relations. When the public begin to realize that police use there power to stifle some and help others who deserve to be punished, people begin to lose faith and trust in law enforcement. It’s like when a young woman is raped by an officer’s son. Because of professional courtesy, that officer’s son may get off with barely a scratch because he is an officer. It is this type of unfair practice that puts a negative connotation to discretionary authority.

Discretionary authority can be very destructive in the way the public perceives the police department. If the public felt that officers used there authority to do the right thing and use the granted power as it was meant to be used, then maybe relations between them both would improve. However, because of the horrible tragedy of 9/11, law enforcement agencies such as the C.I.A., F.B.I, and the national security department of the United States strived diligently to pass the U.S.A. Patriot Act.