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Ethics in law enforcement
Ethics in law enforcement and policing
Ethics in criminal justice
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When we think of ethics and professional conduct how does this tie in with our police officers? Ethics can best be described as knowing the difference in right and wrong. Ethics are the principles that play a huge part in deciding a person’s behavior. When we think of law enforcement its very important they handle their job in the most ethical way possible. The police are looked at as the pillars of the community, and the slightest lapse in judgment can change how the citizens view them. It is extremely important they go above and beyond to do their job in a professional way. There are several different kinds of ethical problems law enforcement officials often face. Some of those instances are as follows:
• Corruption
• Discrimination
• Racial profiling
• Violating constitutional rights
• Use of excessive force These are all some very important problems the police officials are having to deal with. One of the biggest incidents to date has to do with racial profiling and the use of excessive force. There have been several cases that have claimed police officers used excessive force against black males they were attempting to take into custody. This has brought a lot of scrutiny to police officials across the nation. The shooting of Tamir Rice was a cased that
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Values are those things most of us can define as something worth fighting for, and those things we are all willing to make certain sacrifices for. Our values help to determine who we are and the kinds of things we stand for. These are the things we all consider to be very important to us. These are the things that drives us to become better human beings. Values and ethics are policies that work together to help us form an even greater understanding. We place so much of our emphasis on our personal and professional lives, but are we able to separate the two? Values form the basis for our understanding of
The job of a law enforcement officer sometimes can be tough. Officer are sometimes plagued with situation that test their ability to enforce the law and maintain order. Police officers today face a constant battle to maintain higher ethical standards. This mission becomes tougher each day when one considers the importance of fighting terrorism, drugs, human trafficking,
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.
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 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.
Police misconduct. Police corruption. Police brutality. Who doesn’t remember the Rodney King case or the Abner Louima case? It does happen; it happens everywhere as a matter of fact; on the streets, in your very own home, and even in correctional facilities. It is one of the most controversial topics when it makes its way to the Internet or when it makes the morning or evening news. Misconduct of an officer can be defined as “the violation of state and federal laws or the violation of individual’s constitutional rights by police officers.” Also included in the definition was that police commit crimes for personal gain. I thought, how can misconduct happen for personal gain? How is this beneficial to any officer? Then I recalled the terms corruption and slippery slope. What officer doesn’t want to be a local hero or an increase in pay for doing the job solo? Police misconduct comes in approximately four forms, which include police crime, abuse of authority, occupational crime and corruption. This day and age police officers go to great lengths to protect their secrets.
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.
In this essay, I will examine the ethical issues surrounding police corruption and discretion in the criminal justice system. I will also define legality and equity and how they relate to police corruption and discretion. Police corruption and discretion are ethical issues that have been negatively impacting the criminal justice system for years. Police corruption weakens the public 's confidence in law enforcement officers. It also hinders the effectiveness of law enforcement officers whose job is to serve and protect. I will also define police corruption and discretion and the reasons behind police misconduct.
The following will critically assess major ethical conflicts within the criminal justice system that can be found within the CCA Corrections Corporation of American and the Stock Market, College Students and Local Policing the Role of Informants, and the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003. Each ethical conflict will be assessed by applying Lebacqz’s work, Six Theories of Justice in order to identify the ethical breaches within each case, and prescribe ethical corrective actions based upon the six theories found in Lebacqz’s work. Although each ethical conflict is distinct in content and each has particular relationships to the criminal justice system, there are common ethical breaches among each case. One can find that within each ethical conflict people, whether they are incarcerated, in post-prison reentry programs, or a student informant are viewed in terms of their value for the
The brutality of the police department has gone out of hand and been recently reported more and more. The main problem of being a cop/officer is the lack of diversity, police department and justice system. An officer was convicted of
The United States criminal justice system is broken down into three different parts, first is the Law enforcement in the American justice system. It is responsible for upholding the law, investigating crime and apprehending the individuals responsible for committing the crime. Second, the courts in the American Justice system. The court ensures that an individual right is not violated, and a fair trail takes place. Finally, corrections in the American justice system, it ensures that a convicted offender serves his or her sentence as advised by the courts and supervises the convicts as they service their sentence.
All officers are held at a higher authority and is to protect and serve us. Does unethical behavior affect law enforcement image to the public eye? Of course, it weakens the amount of trust we have with police officers in general. Police officers are always placed in an ethical situation. It is significant to make society feel safe.
Values remind me of ethics and morals, necessary in any walk of life and imperative in the work place. These concepts are guidelines in which employees need to follow to be successful. “Values represent basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence.” (Robbins, 136) Integrity, courage, service, wisdom, respect and goal setting are a few of the values that are most crucial to me and what I hope to achieve within any work place setting. Values should be lived every day in the work place and should exemplify the
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).
Being a police officer requires high level of ethics and standards. Corruption within an agency can affect a community, state, and even a nation. Corruption may seem inevitable but using proper screening, extensive and continuous training and holding officers responsible can deter officers from becoming corrupt.
Challenges and benefits of social media in today’s Law Enforcement In today’s society, we have been overwhelmed with the internet and social media. This has had an effect on the way law enforcement has had to adapt to social changes. Since the birth of Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, Snap Chat, and YouTube we have had to make many changes to our operations. These changes are both good and bad.