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Ethics in law enforcement
Violation of ethics in law enforcement
Law enforcement and ethics
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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. 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 are not held accountable for their actions and can easily get by with the mistreatment of others. 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 cause 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 educating on what is happening in the police system in hopes that someone will speak out to protect citizens from being violated by police officers.
The article Police Integrity: Rankings of Scenarios on the Klockars Scale by “Management Cops,” conveys that the different scenarios for each definition and the nature of police work make this corruption difficult to specifically define (Vito 153). Since it so challenging to correctly define, the three broad categories of malfeasance, misfeasance, and nonfeasance ...
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...e punishments. An article in the Criminal Justice Review states that “controlling police corruption is difficult, if not impossible (Vito 153).” This is because typically the only people who know that these crimes are going on are the other police officers within a department. Police officers generally fail to report their colleagues and therefore much of this deviance goes unnoticed.
Works Cited
O'Connor, T.R. "Police Deviance and Ethics." PoliceCrimes.com. 11 Nov. 2005. Web. 14 Feb. 2015.
Vito, Gennaro F., Scott Wolfe, George E. Higgins, and William F. Walsh. "Police Integrity: Rankings Reprints of Scenarios on the Klockars Scale by “Management Cops”." EBSCO Publishing Service Selection Page. June 2011. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.
Weitzer, Ronald, and Steven A. Tuch. "Race and Perceptions of Police Misconduct." JSTOR. Aug. 2004. Web. 19 Mar. 19 2015.
There are many people who are blind to police corruption and there are many who aren’t. As stated before police corruption has been going on for several years, and continues to go on. Officers with high ranks most of the time are the leaders of this action. Somewhere down the line all the bad they have done while wearing that uniform, will catch up with them. Most of the time the subculture will be the cause of an officers actions.
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.
Although accountability has always been an issue, the injustices that are currently occurring make it priority. Police officers are getting “special treatment” and are not facing charges for crimes they have committed. Police officers are not held accountable for their a...
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 corruption is a difficult issue cities have to deal with and one of the oldest problems in the police force. Corruption can be defined as the mistreatment of public power for personal benefit or private and the use of excessive force either emotional or physical. In this essay I will explain in detail federal indictments of Los Angeles Country Sheriff officers use of mistreatment of jail inmates and visitors. Another topic I will explain is the transfer of Los Angeles Country Sheriff hired officers with questionable background. Finally I will end by analyzing the hiring of new Sheriff deputies under the “Friends of the Sheriff” program. There are several ways police departments could take to reduce police corruption. The three areas I think should change are the training officers further in how to diminish abuse, improving personal character of officers, and incentives program.
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.
For years police corruption has been a major problem in American society but where is the line between moral and unethical police corruption, many modern movies address this vary issue. Some films portray how types of police corruption can have a positive influence on society, while others show the dark side of police corruption. Many law enforcement agents join the criminal justice with the basic idea of “justice for all,” however, most of them do not realize that the nice guy doesn’t always win. Even though there are vast amounts of movies which specifically address police corruption we will use three main movies for our argument today, mostly LA Confidential, however, also Training Day.
Holmes, M. D. (2000). MINORITY THREAT AND POLICE BRUTALITY: DETERMINANTS OF CIVIL RIGHTS CRIMINAL COMPLAINTS IN U.S. MUNICIPALITIES. Criminology, 38(2), 343-367.
The article Police Integrity: Rankings of Scenarios on the Klockars Scale by “Management Cops,” conveys that the different scenarios for each definition and the nature of police work make this corruption difficult to specifically define (Vito 153). Since it is so challenging to correctly define, the three broad ca...
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.
Cordner, G. W., & Scarborough, K. E. (2010). Police administration (7th ed.). Albany, N.Y.: LexisNexis/Anderson Pub.
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.
Police corruption is a nationwide problem that has been going on for many years. Not only is corruption a problem on our own U.S. soil, but police practices of corruption go as far east as Europe and Asia. Many studies, polls and examinations were taken to find out how exactly what the general publics’ opinions of the police are. Officers receive a lot of scrutiny over this issue, but for good reason.
Police decisions can affect life, liberty, and property, and as guardians of the interests of the public, police must maintain high standards of integrity. Police discretion concerning how to act in a given situation can often lead to ethical misconduct (Banks 29).
Vicchio, Stephen. “Ethics and Police Integrity.” FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. July 1997: 8-12. EBSCOhost. Web. 12 Nov 2013