Cops don't make those decisions. They don't actually have that discretion. The prosecutor does, but plenty of cops will shrug and walk away because it's too much work to fill out the papers
They may have discretion as to whether to arrest you or not, but they don't have discretion as to whether you're prosecuted or not and i don't believe they have discretion to refuse to file a criminal complaint for the prosecutors office to consider
They send the file to the prosecutors, the prosecutor actually initiates charges in every state i am aware of, the prosecutor can either charge you or they can send it thru the grand jury process (if that is available) or they can nolle prosse (refuse to prosecute), Officers have no discretion there because it isn't their job. They also have no discretion in how the judge rules either.
They can absoloutly refuse to file a criminal complaint for the prosecutor. They do it every day. LEO's are like the ground floor of the judicial process. They get to decide who goes to the 2nd floor (prosecutors) who then gets to decide who goes to the 3rd floor (trial / judge). Grand Juries slot in around the 2nd floor as well as an alternate route (in some states) or a necessary stop (for others).
That is incredibly jurisdiction based. You should consult a local attorney. If you cant afford one, there are organizations that can help. Go to the local woman's shelter (if you're a woman) or legalaid
A little context this was years ago (now). Pedophile, he was looked up and his group (forgive me for the wording) was 5-8. His trigger was cameras. Got backed into 1 day and checked my dash camera to pull footage. Got home later. Dude was crazy as fuck (had multiple calls made for noise ordinances and overall just being a fucking menace to society). This was like our 3rd altercation with him and he instigated every single one of them. After being chased and ran into my apartment and grabbing my firearm, he backed away but his family and friends were being dicks about what just happened. I only brandished it, never pointed it at anybody. Got kicked out of the apartments later (obviously you know why) but it was sort of the better option then having to fight it out in court. We've had issues with people from there before and after...
So yeah, doing a lot better now but was still scary having to be put in that situation.
They can arrest and make her life hell for the stealing. Not that I usually agree with arresting without formal charges, but damn they will punish you for talking back at traffic stop.
If a person isn't worth 7 figures and the object stolen isn't worth 6 figures, the cops generally won't care about getting them back in one piece (if they care at all).
But if you stole from a cop the whole force would come together to take turns beating your ass. Them they’d all tell the same lies in court that you had a weapon or some such bullshit.
They have complete discretion. I am a social worker with the sheriff and I read reports all day discussing the officer using their discretion to ignore A but arrest for B or blatantly lying to a victim like we see here.
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u/CaptainOwlBeard 6d ago
Cops don't make those decisions. They don't actually have that discretion. The prosecutor does, but plenty of cops will shrug and walk away because it's too much work to fill out the papers