Police Accountability And Law Enforcement Case Study

725 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Law enforcement ethical violations

Describe how police accountability and police misconduct affect law enforcement
Police accountability generally refers to holding the police officers and other law enforcement agencies responsible for efficiently delivering basic services of crime control and maintenance of law and order, while at the same time treating all citizens fairly within the bounds of law. The police are mandated to uphold high standard of professionalism when carrying out their duties and operate within the laid down procedures and laws. There is high expectation by the police to uphold laws regarding due process, search and seizure, arrests, discrimination and other forms of harassments which the police are expected to adhere to. Police misconduct affects law enforcement …show more content…

In this case they act as role model to the society. Therefore their actions should be reasonable and that does not affect the rights and freedom of the citizens. Police officers enforces the law therefore they should be held to a higher standard so as to gain respect from the community. Ones the respect is established, a relationship is created and the community begins to cooperate and work with the police instead of against them. When the police officers are held at a higher standards, this keeps them on the right way.

Describe some unethical behaviour that exists within law enforcement and how this behaviour should be addressed?
In law enforcement by the police, there exist various unethical behaviour that are carried out by the police in their line of duty. These include
Excessive Use of Force
The police officers sometimes applies excess force beyond what is necessary to arrest a suspect which sometimes result into physical injury of the suspect. This is a common unethical practice by the police that has caused the suspects physical injuries and sometimes even result to death. Under the law, if the excessive force was unreasonable, then the officer should be held accountable for causing physical injury to the

Show More
Related

  • Police Corruption: Time to Get Rid of Crooked Cops

    1650 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Ethics in Criminal Justice

    581 Words  | 2 Pages

    Each position in criminal justice holds power and responsibility, and therefore, it is very important that 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.

    Read More

  • Preventing Police Brutality And The Police

    778 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Police Brutality is a Criminal Act

    1671 Words  | 4 Pages

    The main purpose of the police is to protection, and force should only be use to promote the safety of the community. The police have been charged with the one of the greatest responsibility in the world, and that is with safeguarding the domestic well being of the public. My father was a New York police officer for 20 years, and I know firsthand that this job is not an easy one. The polic...

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of Police Corruption

    524 Words  | 2 Pages

    Holloway (2002), describes corruption as two types, these include internal and external corruption. Internal corruption is an unethical agreement that takes place among a group of police officers and comprises of major changes and decisions of administrative policies that are inappropriate and illegal. Internal policies and unjustified removal of officials, or carrying out behavior within prison situations that are illegal and even releasing inmates by accepting bribes given to a group of police bureaucrats are all part of internal corruption which explains the downfall of entire police departments and may even involve several police officers within the agency. On the other hand, external corruption is illegal acts and agreements with members of society. This illegal agreement can be between individuals and police officers within the police department. Holloway indicates that three distinct elements of police ...

    Read More

  • Police Brutality - Racism, Racial Profiling, Prejudice

    1514 Words  | 4 Pages

    Over the years, this country has witnessed many cases of police brutality. It has become a controversial topic among communities that have seen police brutality take place in front of their homes. Officers are faced with many threatening situations everyday forcing them to make split second decisions and to expect the worst and hope for the best. Police officers are given the power to take any citizens rights away and even their lives. With that kind of power comes responsibility, that’s one major concern with the amount of discretion officers have is when to use force or when to use lethal force. The use of excessive force may or not be a large predicament but should be viewed by both the police and the community.

    Read More

  • Police Legitimacy and Accountability

    1292 Words  | 3 Pages

    Policing relies on the public trust, police legitimacy and accountability, which can be destroyed by unjustifiable police shootings (Squires and Kennninson, 2010). Within this country, there is a recognition that the police do not always adhere to the rule of law (Newburn and Reiner, 2012: 809), which has led to consistent public outrage at the lack of effectiveness and legitimacy the police has maintained. Therefore the deliberate decision to enforce police to attend to the streets unarmed was employed to reassure the public that the police were not to be feared (Waddington and Wright, 2010). Ultimately, concerns derive from the belief that the police are completely ineffective when dealing with gun crimes (Farrell, 1992: 20). However, whilst arming police with guns can act as a protector when on duty it can also cause an increase in police misconduct. This issue will be discussed throughout this essay.

    Read More

  • Police Accountability: Police Accountability Of Police Behavior

    1256 Words  | 3 Pages

    Police accountability is an effective way to regulate police officer’s behavior. Police accountability is applied in different ways and with different approaches. Some of these approaches include routine supervision, regular performance evaluations and early intervention systems. Police accountability is implemented by using external and internal controls. External controls include citizen complains reports and internal controls consist of early intervention systems. On the other hand, early intervention systems enhance a police officer’s accountability and overall performance. Police accountability refers to holding each police officer individually, as well as the agency as a whole, accountable for effectively enforcing

    Read More

  • Police Misconduct and Corruption

    2505 Words  | 6 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Law Enforcement and Ethics

    2227 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Importance Of Police Accountability

    1762 Words  | 4 Pages

    The focus is on the issues of police accountability in modern society, and in particular why their accountability is more important than other professions. This is not surprising considering the amount of power and discretion police officers have, and the level of trust that the public holds with these civil servants. Police officers accountability is the biggest thing in their profession which has been an issue of concern they have to be accountable to the police department who want the officer to be an effective and responsible person, to people in the community who have best expectation from an officer and being accountable to themselves for their acts. An ordinary citizen of a country cannot obtain the powers that police officer’s have.

    Read More

  • We Must Stop Police Brutality

    835 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to the National Police Academy, in the past year, there have been over 7,000 reports of police misconduct; fatalities have been linked to more than 400 of these cases (Gul). Police brutality is often triggered by disrespect towards the police officer. The most noticeable form of brutality is physical, where Chemical gas, batons, tasers, and guns, can be used for physical intimidation or to actually hurt people. Police brutality can also take the form of verbal abuse or psychological intimidation. It seems reasonable to understand that sometimes the police are put into situations where excessive force may be needed. But, because some officers use these extreme actions in situations when it is not, police brutality should be addressed and looked into by both the police and the public. For instance, a police officer who beats a nonviolent protester with a baton would probably be accused of excessive use of force, under the argument that the police officer probably could have dealt with the situation less violently.

    Read More

  • Ethics in Criminal Justice Professions

    949 Words  | 2 Pages

    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).

    Read More

  • The Causes Of Police Corruption In Law Enforcement

    1024 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are constant factors that makes it possible for corruption among our law enforcement (Newburn & Webb, 1999). Discretion can be big factor. Discretion allows police law enforcement to make their own decisions whether to enforce law on different situations. This gives opportunity for their decision to be influence for a personal gain instead of making a professional decision (Newburn & Webb, 1999). Another part of discretion that can lead to corruption is the battle between internal and external goals for policing. Discretion is not the only thing that is very important, but also police work (Newburn & Webb, 1999). Other constant factors are “low managerial visibility, peer group secrecy, managerial secrecy, and association with police officers contact with lawbreaker” (Newburn & Webb, 1999, p.17). Another factor is low public visibility because the public does not a large amount of what police do. Status problems is a constant factor because police are stated to not be paid as much as the authority they have obtain. Newburn and Webb (1999) that there are not only constant factors that comes into play, but there are also variable factors such as “community structure, organizational characteristics, legal opportunities for corruption, corruption control, social organization of corruption, and last moral cynicism” (p.

    Read More

  • How To Reduce Police Corruption

    1275 Words  | 3 Pages

    Vicchio, Stephen. “Ethics and Police Integrity.” FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. July 1997: 8-12. EBSCOhost. Web. 12 Nov 2013

    Read More

More about Police Accountability And Law Enforcement Case Study

Open Document