What role do police sergeants play in shaping the way frontline police constables understand and operationalise discretion?

摘要：警察自由裁量权虽具有模糊性和无定形性，但已成为警务文学中的一个流行概念。自由裁量权通常被合理化为日常警务中必要和不可避免的一部分，独特的职业文化被视为自由裁量权行动或不作为背后的驱动影响。相比之下，警官的角色，以及他们对他们管理的警察（PC’s）的自由裁量行为的影响却很少受到关注。现有的关于这个话题的研究是有限的和描述性的，尽管警官们已经知道强调“中士说什么”的重要性。将自由裁量权定位为批判性分析的对象，而不是警务工作中不可改变的组成部分，将为日常警务工作的内部运作提供一个新的视角。本研究项目包括对英国一个小城市警察部队进行实地考察。关键的共情框架被用作从女权主义角度进行警察研究的有价值的方法。从基于观察的分析中获得的新见解将使人们更好地理解中士对PC操作自由裁量权的影响，并将为特定角色培训的发展提供信息。

Abstract: Police discretion has become a popular concept in policing literature despite its ambiguous and amorphous nature. Discretion is often rationalised as a necessary and inevitable part of everyday policing and distinctive occupational cultures are seen as the driving influence behind discretionary action or inaction. In contrast, the role of the police sergeant, and their influence over the discretionary actions of the police constables (PC's) they manage has received little attention. Existing research on this topic is limited and descriptive, although officers have been known to stress the importance of 'what sarge says'. Positioning discretion as an object for critical analysis, rather than an immutable component of policing, will offer a fresh perspective on the inner-workings of everyday policing. This research project consists of observational fieldwork with one small city police force in the UK. A critical empathy framework is used as a valuable approach to conducting police research from a feminist perspective.New insights gained from observation-based analysis will create a better understanding of the influence sergeants have over how PC's operationalise discretion and will inform the development of role-specific training.