Download or read book The Law and Politics of Police Discretion written by Gregory Williams and published by Praeger. This book was released on 1984-12-07 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study examines the discretional decision-making of U.S. police officers with respect to the decision to arrest. It finds that socioeconomic status, age, sex, and personal appearance are among the factors influencing police arrest decisions, as well as the background, prejudice, experience, and personality of the individual officer. It concludes that strong and coordinated efforts on the part of police, state and local government, and the judiciary, will be needed to implement guidelines to control arrest decisions.