Papers and Proceedings of the Annual Meeting (Volume 3)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1910. Excerpt: ... IS THERE A SOUND BASIS FOR POLICE DIS-CRETION IN THE ENFORCEMENT OF LAW? By Edward F. Waite American disregard for law has become an international by-word. It marks not only the outbreak of the mob but the daily life of citizens, high and low; not only the work of the police, but that of those ulterior repositories of the law's efficiency--juries, grand and petit, and sometimes even courts. That it is an admitted national fault, and the root of evils recognized and deplored by all thoughtful persons, will be assumed without further comment. Of this all too general trait a conspicuous aspect is non-observance of law on the part of those executive agents of state and municipality who are especially charged with its enforcement. On every side the citizen witnesses violations of penal laws and ordinances which the police see and ignore. The failure to suppress or punish these unlawful acts breeds contempt for law in the mind of the on-looker. The vicious circle seems complete--disobedience to law on the part of Citizen A; acquiescence on the part of Officer B, the executive agent of the law-making power; apparent violation of official duty by B in countenancing A's disobedience; the natural conclusion on the part of Citizen C that the law is not intended to be obeyed; his no less natural refusal to accord to it a sanction which it only pretends to demand, and his disobedience, in turn, whenever he thinks he can count upon the immunity granted to A. This demoralizing effect upon Citizen C is due to his belief that B, the police authority, is permitted to nullify the rule laid down by government acting through its legislative branch; and to the no less cogent force of the supposedly bad example of Officer B in failing to perform his sworn official duty. When go...