| In a society that calls itself democratic, police officers are expected to enforce laws while respecting the legal rights of all persons. In theory, the courts, as another branch of government, check and balance police power. Consequently, the United States Supreme Court and state courts have delineated legal guidelines with the aim of placing restrictions on police. However, these guidelines can be extremely ambiguous---possibly to the extent of not properly circumscribing officer authority. Officers must also contend with a number of other pressures, especially from the communities they work in, other officers (i.e., the police culture), and the agency that the officer is employed by. How are officers in the street reacting to the often conflicting and ambiguous rules, laws, and directives that permeate law enforcement officers' decision making?;To answer such questions, this research utilizes an empirical approach based on the factorial survey method. A sample of 1,259 officers responded to specially designed hypothetical situations. The survey results suggest that, in general, police conduct tends to be appropriately narrowed by court decisions; however, any perceived lack of clarity in a measure significantly influences this relationship. Officers are more likely to respond in a legal manner to situations in which a court decision is written with a bright-line rule (i.e., a straight-forward, easily applied guideline) compared to an ambiguously worded decision. Officers' answers are also markedly influenced by the category of the situation they are responding to (i.e., an interaction effect). In weapon scenarios, officers take advantage of ambiguity and tend to search as if the situation is legal. In slightly ambiguous drug scenarios, officers increase their tendency to search; however, when the legal situation becomes highly ambiguous they significantly decrease their search responses.;Other influences are also explored (e.g., officers' characteristics and attitudes). Of these variables, officer aggressiveness stands out as a possible predictor of misconduct. A number of specific recommendations are suggested for both practitioners and researchers. In particular, police agencies need to constantly reinforce legal guidelines such that the rights of individuals are appropriately balanced with the duty to control crime. |
