Ethical Dilemmas: The Challenges of Policing

Every day Police officers are faced with fight or flight situations putting morals constantly into question with every choice. This isn’t to say however, that fight or flight situations are the only situations where the ethics of an officers are challenged. In some cases, ethics can also be more planned and objective oriented (Sherman, 1982). Ethics play a pivotal role in determining the boundaries in which officers must operate. When applied to the police, high moral standards and integrity are the key to societies trust however. “It also constitutes one of the most significant obstacles to positive police-public relations in today’s society” (Grant, 2002:12). If a working relationship between society and law enforcers is the desired end

In layman 's terms corruption can be defined as a dishonest or fraudulent act committed by those in power. Corruption in relation to police officers can be applied to many different issues and examples, all of which relate to an abuse of power in search of individual prosperity (Rothlein, 2008). Police have been known to carry out acts of corruption varying from bribes to brutality and the violation of basic rights (…) and although varying in severity, the universal outcome is a loss of society’s trust. Trust in law enforcement is necessary as the officers, who are held responsible by society, have also been given powers by that society which allow officers to stop, detain, and arrest average citizens (Loree, 2009). Sartor (2003) even went as far to state if there was no trust, co-operation would end, and the whole fabric of society would

Unlike occupational deviance, abuse of authority in regards to police, is the act in which officers use the powers given to them in malice (Barker, 1991). In more serious cases the abuse of power can result in death, as was the case in the recent Michael Brown shooting. Officer Darren Wilson took aim at 18 year old Michael Brown, witnesses recording, and opened fire resulting in the 18 year olds death. This is just one of the many examples of corruption still existing within the police agencies which are designed to protect us. As mentioned earlier, the social speculation is only one of the issues facing the police forces in regards to corruption. Corruption in policing impacts the economy as well. By distorting company’s competitive playing fields, undermining economic development, and reducing the quality of government services and infrastructure (RCMP, 2014). The World Bank (2009) had even described corruption saying that “Corruption is a cancer and no country, rich or poor, is immune nor is a multilateral development