Police Discretion It's Tuesday, 11:30 pm, you and your partner enter a downtown laneway and see a person spray painting a back of a store. As you approach the building, you see a young lady in her late teens. She is in the middle of finishing off a mural of a lake with geese flying overhead.

"Did you get permission to do this?" you ask, pointing at the mural. The teenager shakes her head "No, I didn't know that I had to. I'm really sorry. I didn't know I was doing anything wrong. I was just trying to make the neighbourhood look a little nicer."

You look at your partner. Just the night before you arrested a young man at the same location for spraying gang symbols. It that situation the perpetrator was verbally abusive and dismissive of police authority. But despite the differences of the two situations, both represented the same criminal charge: "mischief to private property."

What do you think you should do in this situation? Should you respond the same way to the criminal act, regardless of the circumstances? Do you have a duty to do so? Or, should you have a duty to take a different approach, and use discretion. In arguing your answer, please ensure you talk about, and speak to 1) The Environmental Factors; 2) Organizational Factors; 3) Situational Factors.

Be thorough in your responses.