Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Importance of police professionalism
Ethical dilemmas in police work
Ethical dilemmas in police work
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Importance of police professionalism
Ethics in the justice system is something that may have some harsh consequences if certain lines are crossed. Law enforcement is usually perceived to be ethically correct. With the recent history of officer involved shootings, we wonder how law enforcement really deals with ethics and morals daily. In the tutorial we reviewed, the situation that the second officer is put in is a tough one because of how many decisions he has to make in order to get the best outcome. If he was to use a deontological approach, he would most likely confront his partner and ask why he had to disregard the policies that have been put in place. The partner might get upset but he may also realize the mistakes he made may cost him to lose that case or face disciplinary
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,
The ethical dilemma presented was the planting of evidence which is an absolute no-no in policing but for some officers they blame this form of lying as a way to get their suspect. This is a form of the noble-cause corruption which simply states the end justifies the means (Pollock, 2015). In other words, the method the officer uses might be illegal but he justifies it as a mechanism to protect the citizen by getting the suspect off the street. When an officer goes to court after being caught most times they will plead the fifth refusing to testify on the grounds that it might incriminate
The important question every officer should ask themselves is if the method used to resolve a problem or the outcome more important to them. This is an ethical dilemma that tests every officer because of their influence on society — both the legal and anarchic. How an officer deals with a predicament says whic...
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.
The role of criminal justice professionals is to preserve and uphold the Constitution by enforcing laws, protecting citizen’s rights and promoting justice for all. Police officers in the field of duty must be able to discern situations to be able to act in the most appropriate manner as it relates to their job. In this case study, Officer Smith is threatened with being penalized for making a decision he thinks is good community policing, but his Lieutenant feels he violated protocol. Officer Smith responds to a domestic dispute between an intoxicated husband and wife. Normal procedure would be to arrest the husband and put him in jail until the decision is made whether or not to press charges. Instead, Officer Smith decides to intervene and asks the couple questions about if they love each other, and why they are physically assaulting each other. They respond they do love each other, but the alcohol makes them violent towards one another. Officer Smith then recommends counseling for the couple, as an alternative to putting the husband in jail. The couple agrees to
Society impacts ethical behavior of law enforcement by holding them to a higher standard of expectation. Police officers act as protectors and liaisons in highly stressful situations with the power to make decisions over society. Holding this position requires trust and the ability to lead by example. Police officers may have to be able to recognize the ethical dilemmas, decide the
Police officers have a significant level of discretion when ethical decision making is incorporated in deciding how to respond to a domestic violence call. For example, officers exercise discretion by deciding how to respond to domestic violence when a situation involves a fellow officer. America is a country in which many believe in privacy within the household and often choose not to be involved in a domestic dispute because families should resolve their own problems. However, discretionary powers abused by an officer are used to dissuade the victim from filing charges against the officer’s colleague. Officers often do not choose to arrest in a domestic dispute because they believe the family, not the justice system, should resolve the problem. If the police officer abuses his discretionary power by persuading the victim to not file charges, then he is going against community policing. This is because, he is not serving the interests of the community, but rather the code of silence within a police department. This discretion is exercised even more when the domestic violence situation involves an off duty police officer. When police officers commit domestic violence against their spouse it is usually explained by the fact that police officers deal with difficult citizens on a daily basis on the streets and as a result of the high levels of stress on the job bring their frustrations home and spouse becomes the scapegoat for his feelings (Wetendorf, 1998:3).
As stated in the textbook, police often have to make decisions on their own, with only their moral compass to guide them. Most ethical dilemmas that police officers face derive from their powers of discretion. Moral dilemmas that police officers face are often frequent and unavoidable. They are often unpopular with many people, resolved quickly, and are often dealt with alone.
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 use of discretion in the profession of law enforcement has shown to be an inevitable practice. Police officers routinely use their own beliefs and judgments to make critical decisions that include the life and liberty of the citizens in the community they serve in. Although discretion has both negative and positive sides to it, discretion is impossible to be eliminated from law enforcement. The best way to use discretion in a safe manner is to practice using discretion while on and off duty as well. While practicing discretion, officers should keep their own beliefs and prejudice to themselves and out of line of duty. When police officers are on duty, they must have knowledge of what is going on around them and eliminate discriminatory factors and use confidence to make a lawful
A Critical Assessment In defining police ethics, ethical policing and police ethics are not synonymous or interchangeable connotations to or for one another. Aside from establishing a police role independently from establishing any definition of ethics or police ethics, the semantics tend to complicate the defining process. Some of these complications include, but are not limited to, sociological aspects, psychological conditions, or philosophical reasoning. Examples of sociological complications include historical, political, cultural, or economic aspects. Some psychological examples include one’s ability to discern sociological implications from other implications; namely, the condition of post-traumatic stress disorder, hydrophobia, or even weary dreams. Lastly,
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.
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.
Ethics is grounded on right and wrong, as well as character. If a police officer doesn’t have character, then he/she is more often to act in an unethical manner compared to someone who has character. The cornerstone of policing has always been proper ethical behavior and is what society expects from our police officers. As citizens we rely on police officers to protect and serve in line with justice as we give up the right to enforce laws or take the law into our own hands. If we didn’t have police officers, then we would be a society of “only the strongest survive” as you see in various Third World Countries throughout the world. When we look at police officers and their responsibilities we can often associate their actions are drawn
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).