The article’s purpose is to clarify the thin line between patriotism and treason in a whistleblowing action. Depending on the information available for the public to digest, many people could have different opinions on the whistleblower (s) and their intentions. The author discusses a case of Tim Priest, who disagreed with his management’s new policies and the way they were applied in practice, thus publicly announcing the hidden truths about the department. Priest worked for the police department as a detective sergeant. Questions of his intentions about disclosing the authority’s dishonest actions were raised amidst the investigation. Also, the author analyses a book “Is Patriotism a Virtue” by Alasdair MacIntyre, where MacIntyre deliberates on patriotism and loyalty to one country by encouraging to criticize and question the leaders and their actions. In conclusion, Blonder examines the actions of Priest and classifies them as patriotic due to the facts that the police officers sworn to serve the public and should be doing …show more content…
The intentions of the blowers is to save others from potential harm by the unethical officials that take advantage of the less informed ones. To persuade the reader, the author gives an example of Time Priest who publicly announced the corruption that was going on in his police department. His reputation, job, and family were in danger by the accused officials. Knowing that they have more power, produces constant fear and could potentially ruin a person’s life. This article is a suitable read to anyone who is a trusted authority to people that rely on high ethical standards of their
In 2005 NYPD Detective, first grade, James E. Griffith called internal affairs to report he was being pressured by a fellow officer to lie and take the blame during an internal inquiry for the mishandling of a homicide investigation by his unit (Goldstein, 2012). Another detective and union official claimed in his deposition that Griffin was a rat because he went to internal affairs instead of the union (Marzulli, 2013). According to the United States District Court Eastern District of New York’s memorandum of decision the retaliation was immediate, included adverse personnel actions and continued though out his career in different units until Detective Griffith was effectively forced to retire due to the harassment in 2009 (James Griffin v. the City of New York, n.d.). Griffin eventually filed a legal sit against The City of New York, the NYPD and two of the officers involved individually. This case study will analyze the incident, whistleblower laws and the ethical challenges involved.
Corruption is a persistent problem that plagues the world and it knows no boundaries. Transparency International defines it as the “abuse of entrusted power for private gain” (2013). For the purposes of this thread, ‘corruption’ is defined as any individual, collective, or structural act or process that permits the use of public authority or position for private gain. This definition captures the broad and many ways individuals and institutions abuse power and the public trust. In regard to whistleblowing, much conflict stems from the context in which the whistleblower is viewed. We will examine the case of NYPD Narcotics Detective Frank Serpico who was regarded a snitch and a rat by fellow officers who were on the take and complete a what would you do dilemma.
This report will be on the Police service. It will explain who the police are and their role and function within the Criminal Justice System and society. In addition, it will talk about police misconduct and the results of police misconduct within the police, government and society.
While serving on the New York Police Department, he discovered that there was much corruption and he was horrified. He refused to take part in the bribes and other corruptive behavior and began to mention it to the higher ranking officials at the police headquarters and the city hall. He gave names, dates, places, and other information that would be important for his case. Due to whistle blowing and his refusal to participate in such corrupt behaviors, he was disliked by his fellow officers and some of the people within the community. “Not only did he consistently refuse to take bribes for looking the other way, he risked his own safety to expose those who did” (Americans Who Tell the Truth, 2014). Serpico did not blow the whistle by himself. A friend on the same department, David Durk was also frustrated and vowed to help Serpico.
However, police whistleblower is unfortunately all too rare. In the rare cases when other cops do muster the strength to and integrity to report gross misconduct of another officer, the whistleblower is often times ostracized, intimidated, threats made to the security of their jobs, and threats to their lives. For instance, Mr. Barron Bowling was awarded $830,000 due to the life long brain damage from a beating he received from a Drug Enforcement Administration agent Timothy McCue in Kansas City, KS. Timothy McCue claimed that Mr. Bowling resisted arrest. Fortunately a police detective names Max Seifert had the strength to report the wrong doings of the DEA agent. In doing so, he said reported that Timothy McCue threatened to kill Mr. Bowling, called him White Trash, and called him a system dodging inbred hillbilly. Members of the department destroyed photos of the physical damage done to Mr Bowling. Officer Seifert took the statement of witnesses and re-documented the physical and presented it to officials. For being a whistleblower, officer Seifert was forced into early retirement, lost a sizeable part of his pension, and retirement health insurance. In addition, his name and service was slandered and
In this climate of deteriorating government transparency, whistleblowers expose corruption to the public which may otherwise never come to light. In recent history, whistleblowers have been vital in revealing government corruption. In one of the first large scale leaks, “the whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg leaked US government files known as the Pentagon Papers, whi...
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.
The rebuttal to the Snowden’s labeling as a whistleblower and patriot stems from the same ethical theory’s that would label him as a traitor and thief. The preceding is indicative of ethical dilemma which encompasses this case. Snowden’s work involved a large amount of responsibility in safe guarding the information that he had access to. Nonetheless, the information Snowden attained conflicted with the morals, reasoning and values that Snowden holds as an individual. The preceding traits are awarded with the same decency by many individuals within our society and this is why many people support Snowden’s actions.
It used to be that whistleblowers were applauded, and they still are in the private sector, but it seems as if government whistleblowers are criticized and many are even criminally charged. There is certainly a different take on their activities. In fact, some advocates counsel federal employees not to come forward with information because if they do, their lives will be destroyed (Shulman, 2007). What often happens is that they will never be able to work in their careers again in the same capacity (Shulman, 2007). Many whistleblowers not only lose their jobs, but they lose their families and friends, and much of their money ends up going to attorneys (Shulman, 2007). Indeed, in today’s day and age, there is a surge of whistleblowers prosecutions, and it is quite worrisome (Burghardt, 2011). Are the rights of citizens being eroded in order to protect bureaucratic secrets? Many case studies in this area support the notion that thing have gone awry. First, we shall look at the concept of whistleblowers
However, to an increasing extent we are witnessing whistleblowers being punished more harshly than the alleged criminals, who too often are released without further retribution. With harsh retaliation being a possibility, how should Americans understand their moral duty to be honest and publicize wrongdoing?
Policing is a standout amongst the most imperative of the capacities attempted by the each sovereign government. For the state hardware, police is an inescapable organ, which would guarantee upkeep of peace, furthermore the principal join in the criminal equity framework. Then again, for normal man, police power is an image of savage power of power and in the meantime, the defender from wrongdoing. Police officers get a corporate character from the uniform they wear; the regular man recognizes, recognizes and wonderments him by virtue of the same uniform. The police frameworks over the world have created on a socio social foundation, and hence alone immense contrasts exist between these police frameworks.
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.
Lyshaug, B. (2014, February). Ethics and Public Values V2. Whistleblowing. Lecture conducted from FDU, Vancouver, BC.
While some agencies may have only a few individual officers involved in corruption, other departments experience corruption that is organized and saturates the entire organization. As stated by Punch and Gilmore (2010), police corruption is not usually individual but collective, involving criminal plans causing significant harm with multiple victims. Punch identifies two kinds to corrupt officers: the grass-eaters who are passive towards corruption. He states that he doesn’t consider their acts as corrupt as they passively accept free meals and discounted goods on offer, and do not necessarily provide any harm to the society. However, he considers the other kind of corrupt officers who he called the meat-eaters as the true corrupt officers. He argued that these officers are the ones who break the rules by ripping off dealers, stealing their drugs, and exploiting criminals. He finally argued that “Cops never do it alone,” saying that behind every bent cop are others including supervisors who either took part or knew about it. According to Gottschalk (2012; 2011), corrupt officers are made and not born, and that police corruption is organizationally based. He argued that corrupt officers are not “natural-born criminals” or constitutionally different from their colleagues, they are just a system’s
In the recent past, there have been several employees who have brought to light corrupt and unethical business practices on the part of their employer. Whistleblowers are known as internal and external individuals who disclose their firms’ illegal behavior. When faced with such an accusation, some companies have tried retaliating against the informer (Beatty 743). As a result of these cases, there are numerous laws that exist that protect employees from retaliation. Within this paper, the most significant whistleblowing protection statutes and acts will be discussed, as well as, important cases, and the ethics behind whistleblowing.