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Running Head: POLICE ETHICS 1

POLICE ETHICS 4

Police Ethics

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ABSTRACT

Police officers play the role of maintaining law and order. This entails ensuring the safety of the society without compromising the nobility of the department. The administrator needs to exercise honesty, integrity and fair treatment to all its citizens. This is termed as ethical behavior in their jobs.

Safety is among the functions of the department. The execution of this service should ensure the public is not put at any risk. The use of force may harm the public. For that reason, police ought to be diligent on how they apprehend criminals. The principles of proportionality, minimization and practicability are addressed within with an emphasis on public support and security.

The police recruitment process is in place to allow the trainers to assess the character of the recruits. To uphold the nobility of the department, honest and diligent recruits get posted to various regions of the country. The ill-behaved cops may be punished by losing their jobs or automatic suspensions.

The adherence to legal procedures and law sections should be the driving principle for the cops. This will eradicate the chances of conflicting demands. Conflicting claims exist when the cops have a personal interest and may conceal evidence.

The department should appreciate the community role in security. The community provides information on crime hot spots. This aids in narrowing down on investigation areas making their job efficient. This may also eradicate the norm of the public fearing the cops. Such fear chokes the flow of information hindering efficiency of the police force.

Officers need to exercise discrete decision making to ensure fair treatment of crimes. Separate decision-making allows law enforcers to make precise verdicts with no partiality.

In conclusion, this paper seeks to identify and illustrate police ethics in correlation to their roles in the society. Some of the factors prohibiting their effectiveness are discussed within.

Integrity in private life

A police office should practice to abide by the laws of the state. The principle purpose for this is to ensure transparency in case of any scrutiny. Also to this, the law administration should be an example demonstrating how the society should live. It would be difficult and uncouth if police officers were found in compromising situations. The officers need not abuse any powers handed to them by the state.

According to Barker, the social status of the police in the society plays a vital role. Police officers have a master status. That state cuts across all other social positions in the society. The college student, parent, manager, security guard all relate with the officer. Therefore, there is a need to ensure the boys in blue maintain the code of conduct. Their master status gets to identify them from any other person in the community. The police officer needs to keep his life unsullied as an example to all. The cop should not be found in cases of sexual harassment, corruption, or any abuse of power. The officer is known to drink excessively, gamble or lie will be judged by those who know him. This has an implication to the reliability and accuracy of his testimony in court cases. For instance in North Carolina, a state trooper was fired on the account of shooting neighbors kitten because it climbed into his car (Barker, 2011).

In conclusion, the police officers ought to practice what they preach. Misconduct will not only hinder their accountability but may also influence the society view towards law enforcers. Their status does not allow them to act in a manner that is likely to put innocent citizens at risk. For instance, the inappropriate use of guns may lead to the officer losing their job. Drunk driving may result in an automatic suspension or loss of position. The chief aim of police officers is to ensure the citizens are safe.

The use of force

The media and video recordings of police using force have illuminated the public awareness of their rights. For instance, the arrest of Rodney King who after a high-speed pursuit was roughed up by police officers. The main problem of using force is that the public may fear the police might abuse their power and use force where there is no justification. In the case of deadly force then the conditions become elevated. There is no room for mistakes, remission or pardon, and compensating the person who is killed. The police may use force where there is justification.

Some of the premise justifying the use of force include; proportionality, minimization, and practicability. Proportionality relies on the fact that it would unjust to shoot someone for a minor offense. In short, the force the criminal applies should be the same as the one the officers adopt. This ensures safety for the surrounding environment. Minimization relies on the principle that police need to use the least force to avoid causing harm to the public. If the police can take down a killer without deadly force, then they should forgo the use of deadly force. Practicability means the cops should encourage ways, which provide safety, apprehension of wrong doers and so on. This means the method of apprehending criminals should be operative and incorporate proportionality and minimization.

In summary, police need to learn and adopt principles, which enlighten them on whether they need force. Such training will also curb the abuse of power due to the allowance by law to apply force. In using deadly force, the police ought to consider the safety of the public. Police should use force in proportion to what the crook uses. The operation should pose least risk to the public.

Leadership and management

Law enforcers need to adopt good ethics while relating to the community. The leader should be the pace setter in ensuring good relations between the community and the officers. Appreciating the society role will enhance intelligence gathering. This optimizes the performance of the department and allows smooth flow of information. The senior management should check on factors such as just apprehension of criminals, less discrimination based on race, and response to claims from the society. The above are just but a few things the senior management should consider while enrolling and assigning junior officers to their workstations.

According to Macvean and Neyroud, police leadership and management ought to come from the top trickling down to the juniors. The case example the authors adopt is the culture where the African-American people would be roughed up by police officers for no offense. The claim would then be they were under suspicion. The highly ranked police officers had to adopt a new perspective towards monitoring and maintaining law and order. Thus, the development of two case studies the constant and community policing.

Community policing emphasizes on problem solving and community involvement. The two teams would work hand in hand to ensure effective communication and apprehending of criminals. The primary cause of the premise relies on the ineffectiveness of the police officers while working on their own. On the contrary, working with the community enabled the law enforcers to identify high crime hotspots.

Compstat stresses more on the officers being the center of maintaining law and order. The senior leaders take center stage in the order of management. The community, however, envisages the police as facilitators of change at a local level. There are less integration and synchrony between the two teams in comparison to community policing (MacVean & Neyroud, 2012).

In conclusion, leadership should be a flow from high-ranked officials to the other officers. The premise adopted by senior leaders play a vital role in the relation between police officers and the community as a whole. The adoption of a premise that appreciates the role played by the community in maintaining law and order should be adopted.

Conservatism and conformity

Conservatism means to have a risk-adverse attitude. This for a police officer means the state of sticking to the law no matter the cost. On contrary conformist are those who adopt and adhere to new legislation. The police officers need to exercise both qualities in equal manner. The ethics, in this case, will allow them to act on fair grounds when new laws are enacted.

One of the primary goals of the personnel department is to identify recruits who exercise a balance between conservatism and conformist. That is a recruit who will not bend rules even when the society changes its value systems. For instance, the Denver police tend to be more unreceptive to change. Most applicants tend to be old-fashioned on the principles around moral systems. This will enhance their relation and respect for the law. Most of them tend to come from families with a history of justice, or their relatives might have had military experience. According to Kappeler, most of the selection techniques rely heavily on the moral standing of the applicant. Their sexual orientations, financial stability, employment history, gender identification among others form the backbone of the recruitment process.

In conclusion, the premise of conservatism in balance with conformist builds on the moral values of the officer. The oral standing determines their character with relations to abiding by regulations. Consequently, more emphasis are pegged on the moral values to allow the police to adopt sound principles living as an example to the society.

Conflicting demands

The conflict of demands means a situation where the officer may seek to suit his needs other than what is stipulated in the law. For instance, conflicting claims is illustrated where the police may come across a friend whose driving under the influence of alcohol. Although the law may stipulate automatic booking, the agent may opt to let the driver off with a warning. This case demonstrates the lack of adherence on the officer’s part. The officer is unable to stick to the law and opts to compromise to save a friend.

According to Miller, Blackler and Alexandra, some cops tend to experience conflicting demands owing to their relationship with other town dwellers. Some cops may have indecent behavior in the past, therefore, may opt to compromise in the way of conducting their duties. A law enforcement agency may choose to give favors or overlook some misconduct to conceal their illegal involvement. Miller’s case study indicates the hindrances due to the contradiction of law segments. Decree sections on breaking hindered the cops from pursuing their duties and roles. A criminal went into the house of an elderly woman who was later heard screaming and found dead. Officers could not enter owing to the breaking law caption, and this prohibited them from executing their duties.

In summary, the law should not hinder the operations for cops. For instance, captions on breaking, invading private property should not limit the efficiency of police officers. Also, police officers ought to adhere to the law to avoid any compromises on lawbreakers. Police usually have to balance between legality and morality in their work execution. Moral standing in their fear of what will the community think of me if an irregularity surfaces while apprehending the criminal. Legality, on the other hand, upholds arresting lawbreakers with no favors or other ulterior motives.

Discretionary decision-making

In some case, the police officers need to make their judgment on whether or not some offenses are to be booked or not. Some of this may take the form of underage drinking and gambling. The officers need to know the lawfully so that their judgment may be sound and just. Discrete decision-making comprises accurate application of the law. Therefore the statement the police are the law. The administration of the law by the police should symbolize their professionalism and precision in their jobs.

According to Perez and Moore (2012), some police officers have trouble in handling some offenses. The approach is usually two-way. In the case where the crime involves underage drinking and gambling the officer may opt either to apprehend the perpetrator or to ignore the offense with a warning. The two scenarios depend on the situation of the society. To make the local gangs fear the police officers may choose to stop every teenager and ask for driving licenses. This would make the groups uncomfortable limiting their mobility within the city. This implies that a particular law has been applied to a selected group of people. However, the police need to proceed with moderation in the execution of such circumstances. This is majorly because unfair treatment of such cases may warrant a lawsuit.

In conclusion, every police officer needs to exercise discrete decision making without supervision. No one is present to provide a guide on his or her ruling. There are no means of measuring how respectful, civil, and decent officers make their decision. This calls for the officers to be fully aware of the law and practicing it to the letter.

Police ethics

The traditional set up is that the police maintain law and order in the state. This role ought to be carried out at all cost according to the citizens of the state. Therefore, the police officers need to undergo training so that to acquire required skills in apprehending the criminals. This training enables them to gather and disseminate information to their colleagues to protect themselves from any misfortunes. However, some police officials may indulge in illegal activities. Fellow members may be seen indulging in ill behavior, but they may adhere to the code of silence or the blue curtain. This system dictates such occurrences should not reach their superiors.

Monitoring police at their workstations are involved. This is because the police make their decisions pegged on their feeling. Hence, the need to curb this problem at the early stages arises. The preliminary stages of recruitment may include conducting behavior checks. If an officer indulges in sinister activities may be inhibited from joining the force. Also during training, strict adherence to rules and commands allows the officers to abide by the law.

Following precise orders teaches the recruits to respect the law with no compromise. Heavy punishment and departure from the force may ensue due to misconduct or ignorance to orders. Finally, before the permanent posting in the jobs, senior officers also punish the police who are caught in wrongdoing. This will serve as a warning to them who wish to indulge in crime.

In conclusion, police trainers, and recruiters read the applicant's record and ensure their character is right. This will aid in determining the applicant's capabilities to abide by the law and maintain integrity even when unsupervised. Through the various stages of recruitment and training officers get to adopt the expected principles. Heavy punishment to officers who are caught in delinquency helps in curbing the officers thinking of engaging in wrongdoing.

References

Barker, T. (2011). Police ethics: crisis in law enforcement. Charles C Thomas Publisher: USA.

Kleinig, J. (2010). The ethics of policing. USA: Cambridge University Press.

MacVean, A., & Neyroud, P. (2012). Police ethic and values. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.

Micheal, C., Braswell, B., & Bernard, J. (2015). Justice, crime, and ethics. Waltham, USA: Anderson Publishing.

Miller, S., Blackler, J., & Alexandra, A. (2006). Police ethics. Australia: South Wind Production Services.

Perez, D., & Moore, J. (2012). Police ethics; a matter of character. USA: Cengage Learning.

U.S. Department of State. (2011). Ethical and Effective Policing. Police ethics, 7-10