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Ethical dilemma within the criminal justice system
Ethical dilemma within the criminal justice system
Criminal justice and ethical dilemmas
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Each position in criminal justice holds power and responsibility, and therefore, it is very important that said people in those positions do not abuse it. Unethical behavior in the criminal justice system takes away trust and respect from authority, and as a consequence, the law is more easily disregarded if the people lack faith in the system. It can, also, contribute to crime and/or cause citizens to not report crimes. Society should have indubitable confidence in the men and women of the criminal justice system. Law enforcement officers violating even the smallest rule could lead to more serious infractions. Syed (1997) states, "Every instance of corruption bends or violates a rule or law and, similar to the granting of impunity, may contribute to an officer's perceptions of the law as applying differently to different people and increase the ease with which violations can be rationalized." Having less than ethical persons in our criminal justice system can lead to a weakened society, the ruining of lives, and even add to crime.
For a start, ethics, or lack thereof, in criminal ...
Serve and Protect are common words associated with police officers, however some law enforcement officers taint the honor and integrity of the job. Police Corruption is a serious problem affecting nearly every city across the country and world. Curbing police corruption is a tall order; however, improving the recruitment and training process and internal controls can bring this issue to an abrupt stop.
The Criminal Justice System can be very rewarding because it deters crime, protects and minimize recidivism all while treating all Americans equally under the law (Department of Justice, 2013). The Criminal Justice System’s Administration is composed of three system components which collectively functions the Criminal Justice System if effectively enforced and monitored (The Criminal Justice System, 2008). The Criminal Justice Administration is composed of Police Officers, Public Defenders and other Legal occupant whose main job is to protect, serve and rehabilitate (The Criminal Justice System, 2008). When the Administration’s occupants become involved in corruption they become a conflict of interest. Conflicting Rewards can negatively impact the Criminal Justice Administration and the people it was created to serve when the primary goal becomes undesirable (Kirby, 2016).
Reaching epidemic proportions and spreading like a disease, prosecutorial misconduct has cut across geographic and socio-economic areas with the effect of infecting the criminal justice system (Lawless, 2008). Prosecutorial misconduct takes place when a prosecutor breaks the law or code of professional ethics during the prosecution stage. Legal and ethical violations can weaken the conformity to the law and rules that are to be followed within the criminal justice system (Cromwell, P. F., Dunham, R. G., & Palacios, W. R., 1997). In this paper, existing research focused on factors related to prosecutorial misconduct will be presented. This paper will also examine potential remedies that exist to confront prosecutorial misconduct.
A simple greedy thought can hurt many people. “The illusion of simplicity crumbles when one considers the many contexts in which this “effects” scenario can arise.(Erbsen, 2015 pg.389 )” They can not only hurt themselves and the state but it can also hurt the reputation of the police as well. “Honest officers are silenced by their fear of ``ratting ' ' on another cop no matter how grave the crime. Supervisors often fear the impact of a corruption scandal on their careers more than corruption itself. No institution wants its reputation tainted. But police departments have uniquely powerful incentives to avoid uncovering corruption (Armao et al, 1994).” The people need the police more than they think and if they think that they are run by corrupt officials then they will lose all faith in their police force and the police force will end up hurting their city thus end up hurting their state. “Corruption and misconduct undermine police efforts in tackling crime and protecting communities; they limit the effectiveness of police actions and have a detrimental effect on public confidence in the police (Wright, 2010 pg.339) If the police can be honest with the people and with themselves then the corruption could be dealt with even if it means the police’s reputation is tarnished. “Every police force faces the challenge of
In conclusion, either while watching television or listen to the news you hear of how certain things are tainting our criminal justice system or that certain things or people are being corrupted in the system.
While reviewing the various instances of corruption by Law enforcement officers, it was shocking to see the increasing instances of repetitive and flagrant violations of abuse and corruption by law enforcement. Although it is conceivable that in some instances, such as the excessive use of force, the officer's perception of events at that instance could be skewed and could, therefore, result in an outcome less favorable than intended, however, there are some instances in which the actions of the officer(s) are intentional.
Police misconduct has been in existence since the 1600’s, European Influence on American Policing. Ironically, Police Officers in modern day continue the legacy of the police “culture” (Barry, 1999). A culture of abuse of authority or discretion, code of silence amongst officers, discrimination, and a strong belief that “cops — and firefighters — stick together, in life and death situations” (Wetendorf, 2004). Regardless of the abuse of authority officers conduct, it is a clear sign of poor ethics and morals amongst officers.
Ethics are the foundation of the criminal justice system. It allows us to create and developed our moral reasoning, our role in society, what society as a whole consider a fair, just, or acceptable punishment for those “breaking the rules”. Ethics also help us understand what the characteristics we believe are criminal activities are. Therefore ethics allows our criminal justice system to work smoothly and more efficiently.
Police ethics are extremely important because ethics are the typical of “fair and honest conduct” (pg 460). People may have a different definition of what is fair and what is honest, and there are different circumstances where officers may not be able to be honest; such as covert investigations. Society in general determines what our ethical standards and moral principles are. Individual morals vary among all of us as they are what we as an individual consider to be right or wrong. We also have morals that are set by society. These are what we as a society consider to be right or wrong and may go hand in hand with individual morals. Morals change as society and people change, therefore we as a country have to adapt to what the changing morals are.
The law is you commit a crime, you get arrested and go in front of a judge. The emotionalism perspective is then applied because people don’t get the same sentence as the last person did, even though they may have committed the same crime. The judge and sometimes a jury decide a persons fate and its plausible that the way they feel impacts their decision. This is one flaw I see in the criminal justice system. I personally believe that each crime should carry the same punishment. For example, a individual can steal a shirt from a store and get sentenced to 1 year probation and a different individual commit the same exact crime and only have to pay a fine. How is that just and fair? Duty ethics should be applied during these times because like
In an article by Wolfe & Piquero (2011), research was focused on the relationship between organizational justice and police corruption. Previous research suggested that organizations perceived by employees as unjust or unfair would have higher instances of employee deviance. Police officers were thought to be more inclined to violate policy when management
Within our police system in America, there are gaps and loopholes that give leeway to police officials who either abuse the authority given to them or do not represent the ethical standards that they are expected to live up to by society. Because of the nature of police work, there is a potential for deterioration of these ethical and moral standards through deviance, misconduct, corruption, and favoritism. Although these standards are set in place, many police officers are not held accountable for their actions and can easily get by with the mistreatment of others because of their career title. While not every police abuses his or her power, the increasingly large percentage that do present a problem that must be recognized by the public as well as those in charge of police departments throughout our country. Police officials are abusing their power and authority through three types of misconduct known as malfeasance, misfeasance, and nonfeasance and these types are being overlooked by management personnel who rarely intervene even though they know what is happening. Misconduct is wrong because it violates rights and causes people to be wrongly accused of crimes or be found not guilty and set free when they are still an endangerment to other people. The public needs to be educated on what is happening in the police system in hopes that someone will speak out to protect citizens from being violated by police officers.
It is often said that power brings corruption, but in reality it is an individual’s lack of character, self-discipline, and integrity that leads to corruption. Law enforcement can bring many temptations on the job, and maintaining an up most level of personal integrity can often times be very difficult. The very nature of the job surrounds officers with all of the bad things that society, produces. There can be an endless amount of training and rules put into place to try and deter officers from committing unethical acts, but in the end it really just comes down to the specific individual and their willingness to do the right thing.
In our times, the police have become the criminals. Some police are using their power to do bad things, and society has come to fear police. The law enforcement system needs change. The courts have failed the police, and the police have turn to other means of justice. We must stop the corruption in the police force.
Criminal Justice professionals are in positions of power and exercise power and authority over others. Therefore, it is important for them to study ethics because they must be aware of the ethical standards needed in making critical decisions involving discretion, force, and due process. It is also a fact that criminal justice professionals who exercise power and authority over others can be tempted to abuse their powers.