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Summary Of Ethics In Criminal Justice
Ethical issues in the criminal justice system
Summary Of Ethics In Criminal Justice
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Criminal Justice Ethics
Mark Dixon
Saint Leo University Abstract
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. Criminal Justice Ethics To start of everyone should understand that there should be a very basic understanding of ethics. The moral perception and procedure on whether
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The law enforcement officer has a conduct code that they are to adhere to so that they can impose the laws that are government for them to enforce to those that want to break them. They are to protect victims from being hurt as well as making sure that the individual knows his or her rights. Moral and ethics acts as an aid to make sure that the officer makes ethical choices when it comes to right and wrong and not based on an individual’s past experiences dealing with similar issues. The method that a law enforcement officer takes in a professional capacity is their ability to accept all that comes with the decisions they make in the community while upholding the departments reputation. Making the most ethical decision is simple, you have consequences for your actions that you take as well as choices and options. This is important because the community depends on the law enforcement officer making moral and ethical
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,
Officers are known as public servants, they are held at higher standards than everyday citizens. According to Wyatt-Nichol & Franks(2009) when officers behave unethically, it is a violation of public trust and damages the image of law enforcement everywhere (p. 40). Officer should receive in-death training of cases that make headlines within the newspapers or media. For example, the Freddie Gray or Eric Garner case could be used in scenarios with the steps taken to avoid any ethical dilemmas they could possibly run into. Updated training should be conducted every 6 months for ethics alone in addition to the yearly training that’s already in place. The civilian review board can recommend more training of officers that engage in unethical behavior or misconduct. Intense training, followed through with morals is important factors to avoiding the civilian review board and their process in reviewing investigations against officers. When all training officers receive has been overlooked and failed to comply. Police officers should be held accountable for their actions, through training officers learn to understand their position and need within the community. Although training is offered yearly and on an as need basics, officers are held to a high standard within their community. Some tend to lose sight of their mission of daily duties which are to maintain order and
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 people in our criminal justice system can lead to a weakened society, the ruining of lives, and even add to crime. For a start, ethics, or lack thereof, in criminal justice could be detrimental to citizens, and to the society as a whole.
Most often than not, law enforcement agents use some techniques that may be regarded as morally right or wrong depending on the ethical framework from which one approaches such
In this paper, the ethics of police management is examined in the framework of organizational justice and how management strategy effects police corruption through employee perception and proper employment strategy. Organizational Justice as studied by Muchinksy (2008) and cited by Crow, Lee and Joo (2012) is the concept of how employees perceive their treatment by management. (Crow, Lee, & Joo, 2012)
There are three parts that make up the law enforcement code of ethics. The first part consists of equal protect to the people. In corrections it is equal protection to the inmates, regardless of race, color, sex, and class. The second part requires all officers to follow and adhere to the law, ensuring civil liberties not violated under the constitution. Third part, as a figure of authority officers must not abuse their authority for personal gain (Lawrence,
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.
One may ask themselves, if law enforcement officers are working to protect the public, why would they commit corruption like they do? As it is described above, corruption is a big part in the law enforcement sector of society. The entire concept is quite complex although it may seem self explanatory to many people. Learning the many types of corruption and misconduct is only the beginning, then, to understand why the officers commit the conduct for which they do. With all this, it becomes apparent to the certain measures that need to be taken to rid society and police departments of the conduct that is constantly present.
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,
Ethic is connected with what the correct conduct within society is. It relies on what the majority is doing or saying instead of laws or what is right or wrong in a situation. Ethics derived from the Greek word ethos meaning character, which refers to my previous statement of the major concerns for the upright people, those that are reliable, and the ones that exemplify the appropriate conduct suitable within society’s line of approval. “Ethics challenge us to use the difficult practical task of applying norms and standards to ever new and changing circumstances”(Center for Journalism Ethics, 2015).
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.
Criminal Justice professionals are in positions of power and exercise power and authority over others. Therefore, it is important for them to study ethics because they must be aware of the ethical standards needed in making critical decisions involving discretion, force, and due process. It is also a fact that criminal justice professionals who exercise power and authority over others can be tempted to abuse their powers.
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.
The difference between morality and ethics is that you first need to understand the foundation concept (morality) before moving onto the next concept (ethics). Ethics in a social system refers to a philosophy whereas morality finds application. Morality involves the impartial thoughts of another’s interests. It also utilizes one’s understanding of the differences between what’s right and what’s wrong, and to live accordingly with that understanding. Morality comes from many outside sources, for example the parental units, culture, religion, society, and education. Moralities help people in choosing a course of action whenever faced with a dilemma. The morals become a guiding force in life and help in leading a decent, disciplined life. Ethics