Ethics in Criminal Justice During the training period of employment a new police officer is teamed up with a senior partner. They are out at lunch at a local establishment and it is time to pay the bill. The mentor waves to the owner, who tells the waitress that it is okay, nothing is owed because they are out protecting the public everyday. The new police officer has to decide whether to accept not paying for their lunch, or go against the senior partner and insist on paying, which could upset the senior partner and cause conflict. Ethics, professionalism, integrity, and corruption are all key terms that could be connected to this scenario. These will all be described throughout the paper. This paper will also provide a solution to …show more content…
The definition of moral is: concerning or relating to what is right and wrong in human behavior. (Moral). That is basically what ethics is. If we need to make a decision about a dilemma that confronts us, we may do so without any knowledge of ethics being used. Without knowledge of ethics, criminal justice professionals may be naïve about moral issues occurring within the criminal justice system. Ethical questions and issues arise for all people, not just for professionals in the criminal justice system. In any society, most people accept standards that are, in fact, ethical. But standards of behavior in society can deviate from what is ethical. (1987). An entire society can become ethically corrupt. Nazi Germany is a good example of a morally corrupt society. (1987). Being ethical is also not the same as following the law. (1987). The law often incorporates ethical standards to which most citizens subscribe. But laws, like feelings, can deviate from what is ethical. …show more content…
(Roufa). Friends, relatives, neighbors and strangers, everyone in the community watches every move law enforcement officers make, both on and off duty. (Roufa). Majority of police officers are hard working and dedicated to their job and they strive to serve the public and protect their community. Although this may be the case, we often hear stories about officers doing wrong such as theft, excessive use of force, and also simple things like speeding, these are all examples of unethical behavior from those that the public has entrusted to serve and protect them. One single unethical behavior can impact the entire law enforcement profession. Many people think that these officers decided to become apart of the force just so they may bend the rules for themselves. All police officers look and act the same in the eyes of the average citizen. (Roufa). Values is the term given to those ideas, behaviors and actions that are important to us. (Roufa).
Our values strongly influence our decision making and help determine where we place our emphasis in our personal and professional lives. (Roufa). Values form the basis for our understanding of ethics.
Each position in criminal justice holds power and responsibility, and therefore, it is very important that said 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. Syed (1997) states, "Every instance of corruption bends or violates a rule or law and, similar to the granting of impunity, may contribute to an officer's perceptions of the law as applying differently to different people and increase the ease with which violations can be rationalized." Having less than ethical persons in our criminal justice system can lead to a weakened society, the ruining of lives, and even add to crime.
Having strong morals and ethics are important for all law enforcement professionals. Decisions need to be made that can greatly impact the lives of others. For this reason there is a higher expectation from the public for law enforcement professionals to have strong morals and ethics (Gleason, 2015). It is important that all law enforcement agencies conduct ongoing education with realistic scenarios to help be ready to make the right decisions. When responding to a situation there are two issues that occur for the law enforcement professional, reaction and action. The reaction is the feelings and thoughts, and the action is what is actually done. The action is the one that must adhere to the law (Gleason, 2015).
To understand the ethical challenges in the criminal justice system, I took a look at the three parts of criminal justice, Policing, Courts, and Corrections. In doing so I found that this is quite a large topic. The areas I would like to touch on are; those areas in which the newly hired police officer, lawyer, and corrections officer my face. Having only the training he/she was given in their respective academy’s or in the case of attorneys Law School, and with the Oath of office they had just sworn to, hopefully still in, and the men and women they are placed with to guide them; above all their own sense of ethical behavior and morality. Ethics is a very personal thing; it means many things to many people.
Similarly both attorneys and police officers face dilemmas that are entwined with their line of work. Two main comparable ethical dilemmas are personal gain and the abuse of power. Some attorneys deny the liberty or even the bail of some defendants, when it is reasonable, just because they want to. Certainly this leads to the ideal of abuse of power. Also, many attorneys receive “compensations, benefits, and pay-offs” in order to get someone off-the-hook or to speed up the case. Equally, police officers abuse their power and constantly ponder on personal gain.
Police misconduct has been in existence since the 1600’s, European Influence on American Policing. Ironically, Police Officers in modern day continue the legacy of the police “culture” (Barry, 1999). A culture of abuse of authority or discretion, code of silence amongst officers, discrimination, and a strong belief that “cops — and firefighters — stick together, in life and death situations” (Wetendorf, 2004). Regardless of the abuse of authority officers conduct, it is a clear sign of poor ethics and morals amongst officers.
The ten specific pieces of knowledge I have learned as a student of Fall 2017 Criminal Justice Ethics Class would definitely be the following:
Police ethics are extremely important because ethics are the typical of “fair and honest conduct” (pg 460). People may have a different definition of what is fair and what is honest, and there are different circumstances where officers may not be able to be honest; such as covert investigations. Society in general determines what our ethical standards and moral principles are. Individual morals vary among all of us as they are what we as an individual consider to be right or wrong. We also have morals that are set by society. These are what we as a society consider to be right or wrong and may go hand in hand with individual morals. Morals change as society and people change, therefore we as a country have to adapt to what the changing morals are.
The fact that Law enforcement are now being trained in the area of ethics is something that is very essential to them as a whole. Law enforcement officers have endured a lot of ethical problems, which deal with them having to make choices under certain circumstances that may present themselves to them on a daily basics. Ethics are founded on the overall moral choices that deal with wrong or right things to do. When it comes to those individuals that deal with criminal justice, these professionals deal with those problems in ethics when they are dealing with those circumstances each and every day.
Ethics is moral principles that govern a person 's or group 's behavior. Law enforcement should have good ethics that is what the community expects. There are many opinions about what are good ethics. Some ethics may or can even cause problems. For example protecting is a good ethic that law enforcement should obtain. If their is a man who is not on their five senses either on drugs or drunk carrying a lethal weapon, any firearm, device, instrument, material, or any other substance that is capable of producing great bodily harm or death from the manner it is used or intended to be used. The police morality is to protect in order to do that they may have to agriate the man to a certain extent. For me That is a good ethic or moral since i see protection for the people who were around this unstable man. On the other hand others see it as police brutality since the man was not conscious of what he was doing, so is this protecting behavior good or bad for our law enforcement. For me ethics is just a way for people to judge you on what kind of person you are. There is a problem with that because people judge on what they think is going on not on what the situation is encountering. For law enforcement ethics are codes that the choose to follow on their own not because they are being criticized, but because they want to. Law
The University of Guelph-Humber Justice studies program instills to students that professionalism is to follow student conduct in order to succeed in school. Justice is a program that the topic drugs is something fearful and to be swept under the carpet, rather investigating the fundamental aspects and benefits to marijuana. Marijuana is seen as a drug which drives and controls human impulses and is an ethical issue that cannot be an effective treatment. As my years of studying are near to the end I have reached the ethical dilemma of whether to continue recreational marijuana use while be in the criminal Justice field. The reason I participate in recreational marijuana is because it is what I find it helps me flourish and relax when engaging in social activities.
Fire does not care if it burns wood, pig fat or the flesh from one’s own body. Much like this fire, a revolver has no preference. Murder is murder no matter what the circumstances are. Although some people believe Absalom Kumalo kills Arthur Jarvie as an act of self-defense, it is, in fact, murder, and the decided sentence for Absalom to be hanged, is just.
Values are a core set of beliefs and principles by one or many. A number of factors contribute to the development of values. These include membership in a community or culture, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Values determine what is important in decision-making. Ethics involve conduct, the ability to determine right and wrong. All organizations face ethical dilemmas. Organizations develop corporate social responsibility in reaction to the values and expectations of society. Corporate social responsibility initiatives aim to protect public health, safety...
"A policeman’s first obligation is to be responsible to the needs of the community he serves…The problem is that the atmosphere does not yet exist in which an honest police officer can act without fear of ridicule or reprisal from fellow officers. We create an atmosphere in which the honest officer fears the dishonest officer, and not the other way around.", -Frank Serpico.
Ethics play a huge role in a police officers line of work. Since police are given such a high degree of trust and authority, it can unfortunately be very easy for an officer to fall into some unethical behavior. This can range from just minor acts that are frowned upon, to actual downright illegal activity. Even though there are a countless number of acts and behaviors that can be considered unethical, in the following paper I will focus primarily on those incidents involving police officers who steal for their own personal gain, and discuss my position on the issue.
Criminal Justice professionals make decisions everyday and they have to be able to recognize when an issue involves ethical considerations. Therefore, in order to recognize these issues and make appropriate and correct decisions, it is important that the criminal justice professional study ethics. In order to make a good ethical decision the professional will have to have the ability to apply knowledge of ethics, know the ethical terminology and the concepts needed in making a good ethical decision.