Do we need discretion? Police decisions and the limits of the law

In their analysis of the abstract police, Terpstra, Salet and Fyfe point out that they see an evolution from a street-level bureaucracy (with discretion on the level of the police officer on the street) to a system-level bureaucracy (placing discretion in the hands of the computer, away from the police officer). In this chapter, we assess the extent to which discretion as a concept is different in the Belgian police system in comparison with other systems and delve into the pros and cons of discretion as present in the Belgian system. We conclude by reflecting upon the impact of abstractization and technology on discretion.

ISBN:9783030836856

Publication year:2022

Accessibility:Open