This journal article discusses discretion in modern policing. It examines the historical evolution of police discretion. It examines the challenges facing individual officers in reconciling, on one hand, the duty to enforce the law fairly and impartially and on the other hand, the need to temper strict law enforcement for sound policy and operational reasons.

Simon Bronitt and Philip Stenning, 'Understanding discretion in modern policing' (2011) Criminal Law Journal 35(6)

The law places limits on how police operate. Within those limits, police have a large amount of discretion about how they act. The way police use their discretion shapes people’s experiences with the criminal legal system and has been repeatedly linked to the over-representation of Aboriginal people in custody.

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Simon Bronitt and Philip Stenning, 'Understanding discretion in modern policing' (2011) Criminal Law Journal 35(6)

Police discretion