ABSTRACT
Local control over the police function has been a foundational tenet of American policing since its development, a strong fear of centralized control over the policing function far outweighing cost savings and economies of scale in operations. The 'craftsman's administrative bias' is offered by Skolnick as the explanation of the process which allows the police officer to draw a distinction between the criminal statutory law and criminal process as defined by the Constitution. Skolnick continues, later, relating a non-discrimination policy issued by the chief of police in the American police agency he studied as the basis for Justice Without Trial. The rule of law continued to be held hostage by bureaucratic decision making and control and the myth of full enforcement of the criminal law. The purpose of confining discretion, Davis suggests, is to keep discretionary power within designated boundaries. The purpose of structuring discretion is to control the manner of the exercise of discretionary power within boundaries.
