ABSTRACT
Literature on police discretion is relatively unknown in India. Literature review establishes that organisational, situational, subcultural, environmental and individual determinants are at the forefront of influencing arrest decision on behalf of law enforcement. Four factors or predictors – specific statutory guidelines, court directives, extensiveness of arrest policy and internal review mechanism of arrest procedures – together define the space for policy dimensions. The second important dimension to the way that the department attempts to influence officer discretion in arrests can be found in the process or procedural requirements associated with making arrests. Revisiting the initial inquiry into the factors that influence arrest behaviour, it is found that literature review does nudge one towards the idea that there are factors beyond the strict elements of structural and legal control that influences the arrest discretion behaviour. Majority of the police responders endorse that scope for personal judgement exists in arrest decision beyond the boundary of statutes and rules.
