police officers have discretion when dealing with domestic violence? Answer: YES with qualifications. An in-person survey might work best here because citizens don't all see police as protectors of society; some see them as threats.

Discretion is lately recognized as a "necessary evil" according to the police science faculty at North Carolina Wesleyan College (ncwc.edu). Discretion can be put to effective use in a domestic violence situation when it is "structured properly" but on the other hand there is a potential for the "abuse of discretion" when poor choices are made by the officers involved in the dispute (ncwc.edu). Discretion "as judgment" is the exact opposite of "routine and habitual obedience," according to ncwc.edu; police do not follow exact, precise orders like soldiers are obliged to -- they "…must adapt…rules to local circumstances" because every instance of domestic abuse is unique in some meaningful way (ncwc.edu).

In serious discussions involving...
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