Examples Of Ethical Issues In Policing

American policing has developed enormously in the last century concerning ethical values and the standard of conduct that is expected of police employees. In any case, moral issues still emerge, for example, corruption for profit, code of silence, racial profiling and social status. The purpose of this paper is to provide contemporary ethical issues relating to policing and criminal justice. This essay will showcase the perceptions of two practicing professionals in the criminal justice field on ethical issues that they face while working in law enforcement. Additionally, it will provide my opinion on both Detective John Watson of New York City Police Department and of Georgia State Troop County Sheriff Corporal Officer Basir Felder. The

(Delattre, 2011) Are police officers more ethical today than they were ten years ago, Detective Watson responded, I read the officers code of ethics book but, never really thought about after reading it. Until a couple of years later, a co-worker made a statement, if your ethics must be written down on a sheet of paper, then you have effectively lost. So, to answer your question, an officers training in ethics may have changed over the years but, it doesn't mean that they are more ethical, a person’s moral and ethics are derived from how they were raised. While on the other hand Corporal Officer Felder responds, law enforcement officers are more ethical now than they were 10 years prior. He goes on to say that new department regulations discourage officers from accepting gratuities and discounts from local restaurants and businesses. Overall, I agree with Corporal Officer Felder that implementing laws that discourages officers from accepting tips or discounts for just doing their job, can be helpful but at the same time Detective Watson made a good point when he says you can’t teach morals and ethics, it’s something that’s is imbedded in you from birth or it stems from your upbringing. I believe there needs to be some sort of a balancing act between ethics and policing, because it can determine how officers will conduct themselves while on the

(England, 2016) These violations include: planting weapons or drugs to justify improper actions; misappropriating seized funds or merchandise; physically attacking prisoners, and conducting searches without legitimate or probable cause. (England, 2016) Detective Watson believes that most police officers chose not become involved in misconduct but, the ones that do may feel pressure from their colleagues or may believe since they see other folks doing it that its ok. Similarly, Corporal Officer Felder responds, law enforcement officers are given duties and responsibilities, that without supervision can easily be exploited for financial benefit, this is something that ordinary citizens may not experience. In addition, he goes on to say that police officers come from this culture in which they must have each other’s back even when their co-worker does something wrong; this is code of silence gives birth to corrupt officers, at first, they think they are just defending their fellow officer and then it leads them down a slippery slope. Contemporary ethical issues police officers face daily; corruption for profit in policing, the misuse of authority; racial profiling focusing on people exclusively being target based upon their race, and polices officers code of silence which refers to officers knowing that illegal activities are taking place in the police department, and