Extralegal determinants of police discretion within the Malta police force

Abstract

Police discretion is a police decision which results in police action and behaviour. This decision is forced on the police officer when there is no clear way how to proceed. This decision-making process enables police officers to foresee the consequences and seek the desired outcome. Police discretion concerns legal actions by legal actors, where misconduct is distinct from police discretion because it is illegal. Still, the misuse of police discretion can result in harmful consequences and even misconduct, especially when the officers are ignorant of the consequences of their actions. Police discretion is intrinsic to policing, as police officers must use discretion to execute their mandate successfully. Lastly, police discretion is the first discretion the public encounters in the criminal justice system. The current research investigated the extralegal determinants (those not derived from laws, guidelines or policies) of police discretion among Malta Police Force sworn officers in the constable, sergeant, and inspector ranks. This was done by gathering knowledge directly on police discretion and other related issues. This research consisted of two studies: one qualitative and one quantitative. The research questions concerned were: (a) to measure and gather information on autonomy, vigour, selective enforcement, and proactivity as different facets of police discretion and explore whether such variations in police discretion can be explained by officer characteristics and other variables (b) to measure and gather information on public service motivation and boredom and their determinants, as they link with police discretion; and (c) to gain an understanding of what police officers say affects their discretion and why. In Study 1, data was gathered through interviews (N = 6) and was analysed using thematic analysis, which comprised coding and formulation of themes. The findings showed that police officers choose how much vigour they exert in their work and every task, use selective enforcement to preserve job resources, and use proactivity to create job resources. Study 2 surveyed (N = 97) police officers on the determinants of different facets of police discretion, including boredom and public service motivation. Autonomy and boredom were significant determinants for different facets of police discretion. Significant determinants were found for proactivity, boredom, public service motivation, autonomy, and vigour. Results from both studies were found to be complementary.