The definition of ethical behavior usually includes the a few things that are the known standards and expectations of society, including trustworthiness, respectfulness and most importantly humility. Usually, these ethical standards are also accepted as professional standards. For law enforcement officers, these standards also include integrity and courageousness. According to an arrival written by the United States Department of Justice, entitled “Ethics and Integrity”, all of these characteristics are fundamental to the effectiveness of police officers and the connections they strive to build with the communities they work in.
The missions statement of police agencies usually highlight with pride the maintenance, promotion, and protection of peace, order, safety, and justified law enforcement in communities and the entire nation. Police officers are agents meant to bust crimes and get the bad guys. The police agency that the public use to lean on as the legitimate authority figure to come to the rescue however has created conflicting public perception. The misconduct of some police officers that include abuse of power and corruption tainted the good reputation of the agency overtime. The public trust on the agency has been broken and that has caused some members of the society to distrust and have doubts to service motives of police officers. The growing distrust to the police agencies is a common issue shared by countries worldwide. Police corruption is a costly international malady that also infected the police agencies in America.
Several effective strategies exist to minimize or end ethical violations within law enforcement or correctional organizations. In many agencies an internal affairs division established, to monitor unethical acts conducted by an officer. A strong internal affairs division and other watchdog groups help officer’s stay free of dishonesty and wrongdoing. Many agencies have also started to conduct intensive background checks and psychological screenings to weed out individuals with anti-social personalities (Lawrence, 2015).
Many law enforcement officers are exposed briefly to the topic of ethics while in the academy. Often times, after leaving the academy, they do not receive continued education. The International Association of Chiefs of Police recommends that ethics training be integrated into continued training and in-service training curriculums. Studies are suggesting that this is occurring and there is literature supporting the view that the law enforcement community perceives ethics training as a worthwhile endeavor that should be offered on a continuous basis to all ranks within the organization (Wyatt-Nichol & Franks, 2009).
Law enforcement officers tasked with regulating laws and maintaining peace in society often encounter many standards of trouble. Officers often have to put their life on the line to complete their duty of protecting society and maintaining law and order, they have to fight through aggressive criminals and crack down on fugitives. According to Bier (2014), The average police officer has to confront with the mentally ill, drunken civilians and criminal suspects on a daily basis, this is not only physically draining but also mentally draining from the constant psychological stress that accompanies the occupation. In addition to patrolling around, police officers around the country are constantly and willingly ready to put their
As a result of the recent rise of the use of excessive force cases against police and law enforcement, I have chosen to research the definition of that excessive force. When is it considered justifiable? What training do officers receive? What liability issues are there? In an ABC news article, Sascha Segan states there is no specific definition of excessive force. A part of everyday police work is to subdue criminal and suspects. Another everyday task of police officers is personal discretion - making the right decision based on the specific situation. It has been documented in multiple viral videos that law enforcement officer’s discretion is not always favorable in the public eye and is quick to be judged. Yet shouldn’t we be asking if the officer’s actions were justifiable within the court system and if
The job of a law enforcement officer sometimes can be tough. Officer are sometimes plagued with situation that test their ability to enforce the law and maintain order. Police officers today face a constant battle to maintain higher ethical standards. This mission becomes tougher each day when one considers the importance of fighting terrorism, drugs, human trafficking,
Correcting police misconduct and police officers using professional discretion and crossing ethical boundaries is a colossal challenge that every police department in America has at one time taken on. In order to correct the problem police departments should maintain a written policy regarding the guidelines pertaining to the use of officer discretion and the result of incorrectly using their discretion. Also, training in police ethics and past examples of officer misconduct must be incorporated from the first day at the academy, in addition to annual ethics training. This will lay the foundation for a police department’s success. Reward an officer’s ethical behavior. Rewarding ethical behavior and disciplining officers for unethical
As stated in the textbook, police often have to make decisions on their own, with only their moral compass to guide them. Most ethical dilemmas that police officers face derive from their powers of discretion. Moral dilemmas that police officers face are often frequent and unavoidable. They are often unpopular with many people, resolved quickly, and are often dealt with alone.
Reading this text there are significant amount of things that I have learned about the word ethics. For starts is the thought process of police officers. A patrol officer has a great deal of discretion when it comes to fighting crime. Though the definition of ethics might mean one thing to an officer. It
... rarely under direct supervisory control and are permitted to exercise enormous amounts of discretion (Ortmeier & Meese, 2010). Therefore, ethical decision-making is extremely vital within law enforcement. Moreover, previously discussed ethical decision-making processes and influential factors apply to police officers just as they do to other organizational employees.
Prevention involves improved supervision, ethics training, cultural awareness, and excellent interpersonal skills (Ortimier & Meese, 2010, p. 96). To ensure professionalism, agency’s often try to recruit and train ethical officers while implementing a code of conduct as a comprehensive tool to enhance police integrity and strengthen community relations (Ortimier & Meese, 2010). Training within the culture takes in the framework of helping officers apply the cognitive view of culture awareness in uncertain scenarios to apply appropriate responses to ethical dilemmas. (Pollock & Becker,
Separating personal morals from ethics is important for a police officer. Personal morals are how an individual decides what is right and wrong based on their own beliefs. Ethics are based on universal ground rules for handling situations. In other words, a police officer must treat everyone the same and follow the ethical guidelines regardless of their personal feelings. It
A Critical Assessment In defining police ethics, ethical policing and police ethics are not synonymous or interchangeable connotations to or for one another. Aside from establishing a police role independently from establishing any definition of ethics or police ethics, the semantics tend to complicate the defining process. Some of these complications include, but are not limited to, sociological aspects, psychological conditions, or philosophical reasoning. Examples of sociological complications include historical, political, cultural, or economic aspects. Some psychological examples include one’s ability to discern sociological implications from other implications; namely, the condition of post-traumatic stress disorder, hydrophobia, or even weary dreams. Lastly,
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.