A goal of society and criminal justice is the reduction of crime. Whether or not punishment and the certainty of punishment are deterrents to crime, the law must be impartially enforced if it is to reduce crime. Benefits to the criminal justice system and its people can be many and varied. Adherence to this principle relieves the individual of the problems resulting from showing partiality to suspects. The ideal of impartial enforcement can serve as a basis for standards of behavior that can provide internal agency discipline and control and help to avoid the intrusion of personal bias and values at all levels of operations including the administrative.
Impartiality is a fundamental requirement made of all peace officers.
It is not only a moral requirement in our treatment of each individual with whom we deal, it is critical to the continued existence of our democratic form of government. This can be done only when laws are enforced impartially. Those enforcing the laws must leave personal feelings and prejudices at home when on duty. Only when law enforcement discharges its function within the framework of constitutional guarantees, can a reasonable balance be maintained between the conflicting interests of society and the individual. A.C. Germann, F.D. Day, and R.V. Gallati, Introduction to Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice.