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Controlling Street-Level Police Discretion

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  • Stephen D. Mastrofski

Abstract

The Committee to Review Research on Police Policyand Practices’ Fairness and Effectiveness in Policing:The Evidence provides a review of research on thecauses of street-level police behavior, but the reportoffers little insight into how to control that discretioneffectively. This is not due to deficiencies in the reportbut rather to limitations of the available research. Thisarticle discusses four problems with that research:underdeveloped theory, weak research designs,insufficient generalizability of findings, and inattention to thekinds of police discretion that really matter to policymakers, practitioners, and the public. The article givesspecial attention to the last problem and makesrecommendations for improving the quality of research tobetter inform choices about how to control policestreetlevel discretion.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen D. Mastrofski, 2004. "Controlling Street-Level Police Discretion," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 593(1), pages 100-118, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:593:y:2004:i:1:p:100-118
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716203262584
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Riksheim, Eric C. & Chermak, Steven M., 1993. "Causes of police behavior revisited," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 353-382.
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    Cited by:

    1. Adams, Ian T., 2022. "Modeling Officer Perceptions of Body-worn Cameras: A National Survey," Thesis Commons fnxbg, Center for Open Science.

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