NYPD Whistleblower Retaliation – Detective Labeled A Rat

560 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Conclusion on police corruption

In 2005 NYPD Detective, first grade, James E. Griffith called internal affairs to report he was being pressured by a fellow officer to lie and take the blame during an internal inquiry for the mishandling of a homicide investigation by his unit (Goldstein, 2012). Another detective and union official claimed in his deposition that Griffin was a rat because he went to internal affairs instead of the union (Marzulli, 2013). According to the United States District Court Eastern District of New York’s memorandum of decision the retaliation was immediate, included adverse personnel actions and continued though out his career in different units until Detective Griffith was effectively forced to retire due to the harassment in 2009 (James Griffin v. the City of New York, n.d.). Griffin eventually filed a legal sit against The City of New York, the NYPD and two of the officers involved individually. This case study will analyze the incident, whistleblower laws and the ethical challenges involved. While Griffin does not reveal information that endangers public health or safety, he does disclose illegal and inefficient activities within his own organization. Bowman states the ideal case for a whistleblower to reveal such information would be when the cause is just and where all administrative appeals have been exhausted (Bowman, 1980). In my opinion, the cause is just - as the other detective, that asked Griffith to lie regarding the incident, not only crossed ethical boundaries but also legal ones. However, because there is no mention of Griffith reporting the incident to his superiors prior to reporting the incident to internal affairs, I do not think Detective Griffith exhausted all of the administrative options available to him. Dissent... ... middle of paper ... ...d.). Vienna, VA: Management Concepts. Goldstein, J. (2012, June 24). Officers, Exhorted to Report Corruption, Still Fear Retaliation. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/25/nyregion/new-york-police-officers-face-retaliation-for-reporting-corruption.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 James Griffin v. The City of New York, No. 10 cv 02592 (RJD) (MDG) (D.C. Cir. ). Retrieved from http://abelllaw.typepad.com/files/ griffin-v-city-of-new-york-police-1st-amendment-case.pdf Lewis, C. W., & Gilman, S. C. (2005). THE ETHICS CHALLENGE IN PUBLIC SERVICE A Problem-Solving Guide (2nd ed.). Marzulli, J. (2013, December 3). NYPD Lieutenant Branded Whistleblower Detective a 'Rat' in Front of Squad: Former Colleagues. Daily News. Retrieved from http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nypd-lieutenant-branded-whistleblower-rat-colleagues-article-1.1535719

Show More
Related

  • Elliot Spector's Termination: Article Analysis

    619 Words  | 2 Pages

    What the author Elliot Spector concluded on the topic of Should Police Officers Who Lie Be Terminated as a Matter of Public Policy, is that there should be policies that are constantly reminded to the police officers. Ensure that the departments have the Honest Policy in place between the officers and the department. Mr. Spector, indicates that this topic will continued to be discussed because the departments need to interact with the Honesty Policy and Code of Conduct. The department needs to ensure that all the officers have a perfect understanding of the repercussions that can occur for the department and themselves when an officer has a record of lying. The most important aspect that Mr. Elliot makes

    Read More

  • The President Needs the Line-item Veto

    3295 Words  | 7 Pages

    al., Appellants v. City of New York et al. Supreme Court of the United States. U.S. 1998. Web. 6 May 2014.

    Read More

  • American Civil Liberties: Do Americans Have Enough Protections for Civil Liberties, or Not?

    1449 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wagner, F. D. (2010). McDonald et al. v. City of Chicago, Illinois, et al.. Supreme Court of the United States, 1, 1-214. Retrieved May 4, 2014, from http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-1521.pdf

    Read More

  • Police Corruption in LA Confidential and Training Day

    1403 Words  | 3 Pages

    For years police corruption has been a major problem in American society but where is the line between moral and unethical police corruption, many modern movies address this vary issue. Some films portray how types of police corruption can have a positive influence on society, while others show the dark side of police corruption. Many law enforcement agents join the criminal justice with the basic idea of “justice for all,” however, most of them do not realize that the nice guy doesn’t always win. Even though there are vast amounts of movies which specifically address police corruption we will use three main movies for our argument today, mostly LA Confidential, however, also Training Day.

    Read More

  • Police Corruption in Arizona

    621 Words  | 2 Pages

    Officers abusing their power can range from taking bribes, choosing who they decide to let go and who to prosecute, and even abusing their power by molestation. In July of 2009 two Phoenix police officers lost their jobs after they stopped a bikini clad woman who had run from a rear end collision. The officers handcuffed her, drove her back to the accident scene to complete the paper work, and then drove her to elementary school where they knew that they would be alone. When they reached the school one of them fondled her breasts, abdomen, and buttocks while the other one watched and did nothing to help he...

    Read More

  • Essay On Police Corruption

    1320 Words  | 3 Pages

    Police corruption is a difficult issue cities have to deal with and one of the oldest problems in the police force. Corruption can be defined as the mistreatment of public power for personal benefit or private and the use of excessive force, either emotional or physical. In this essay I will explain in detail federal indictments of Los Angeles County Sheriff officers for mistreatment of jail inmates and visitors. Another topic I will explain is the transfer of Los Angeles County Sheriff hired officers with questionable background. Finally, I will end by analyzing the hiring of new Sheriff deputies under the “Friends of the Sheriff” program.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Violation In Law Enforcement

    567 Words  | 2 Pages

    While reviewing the various instances of corruption by Law enforcement officers, it was shocking to see the increasing instances of repetitive and flagrant violations of abuse and corruption by law enforcement. Although it is conceivable that in some instances, such as the excessive use of force, the officer's perception of events at that instance could be skewed and could, therefore, result in an outcome less favorable than intended, however, there are some instances in which the actions of the officer(s) are intentional.

    Read More

  • Corruption In The Film Serpico Scenarios

    706 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the face of this problem, the NYPD allowed corruption because the superiors were more concerned about the bad publicity that corruption generates than the disturbing consequences of corruption itself. This weak and poor approach deterred good cops from coming forward because they didn’t have the trust or respect of their superiors. Also, officers were skeptical about investigators handling informants and their ability and willingness to insure confidentiality. As presented in the movie, the investigators were ready to disclose the identity of Serpico and tried to turn the focus of the investigation towards him because he violated the code of silence when he reported the corruption to other agencies. As a result, Serpico’s superiors and colleagues turned unsupportive and even

    Read More

  • Corruption In The Case Of NYPD Narcotics Detective Frank Serpico

    957 Words  | 2 Pages

    Corruption is a persistent problem that plagues the world and it knows no boundaries. Transparency International defines it as the “abuse of entrusted power for private gain” (2013). For the purposes of this thread, ‘corruption’ is defined as any individual, collective, or structural act or process that permits the use of public authority or position for private gain. This definition captures the broad and many ways individuals and institutions abuse power and the public trust. In regard to whistleblowing, much conflict stems from the context in which the whistleblower is viewed. We will examine the case of NYPD Narcotics Detective Frank Serpico who was regarded a snitch and a rat by fellow officers who were on the take and complete a what would you do dilemma.

    Read More

  • Police Brutality

    1354 Words  | 3 Pages

    Linch G., & Diamond, E. (1983) Police Misconduct. In Kadis, S. Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice. New York: The Free Press

    Read More

  • Police Misconduct Case Study

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    833), as well as polygraph examinations (p. 835). However, when individuals slip through these tests and into the police force other safeguards are needed to stop individuals from taking advantage. According to Rudy many officers do not like working with misconduct so they will report it if there are major problems (personal communications, November 11, 2015). Misconduct makes other officers look bad as well as the precinct so if there are rotten apples in an otherwise good group they would get reported. However, if an individual does something stupid/ minor police may not necessarily report that officer, because it is like if you see someone cheating on a quiz, you don’t always tell on them, how would that make you look (Rudy, personal communications, November 11, 2015)? With officer reporting they also have warning systems set in place to detect possible misconduct, which might help more in terms of the organized misconduct. These systems keep track of each officer in terms of statistics such as citizen complaints or overtime hours logged. To many citizen complaints can raise suspicion because if they are doing their job correctly, an officer should be making the general public happy. While with overtime, too much of it can mean that the officer is worn out, or having personal troubles such as needing more money (Rudy, personal communications, November 11, 2015). Both of these may influence an officer, making him much more likely to commit misconduct. So monitoring this can alert higher authorities to

    Read More

  • Blue Wall Of Silence Essay

    1910 Words  | 4 Pages

    However, police whistleblower is unfortunately all too rare. In the rare cases when other cops do muster the strength to and integrity to report gross misconduct of another officer, the whistleblower is often times ostracized, intimidated, threats made to the security of their jobs, and threats to their lives. For instance, Mr. Barron Bowling was awarded $830,000 due to the life long brain damage from a beating he received from a Drug Enforcement Administration agent Timothy McCue in Kansas City, KS. Timothy McCue claimed that Mr. Bowling resisted arrest. Fortunately a police detective names Max Seifert had the strength to report the wrong doings of the DEA agent. In doing so, he said reported that Timothy McCue threatened to kill Mr. Bowling, called him White Trash, and called him a system dodging inbred hillbilly. Members of the department destroyed photos of the physical damage done to Mr Bowling. Officer Seifert took the statement of witnesses and re-documented the physical and presented it to officials. For being a whistleblower, officer Seifert was forced into early retirement, lost a sizeable part of his pension, and retirement health insurance. In addition, his name and service was slandered and

    Read More

  • Short Story: Back To The Police Department

    633 Words  | 2 Pages

    Was Scott Adams, Anthony Williams, Anthony Berich ,MMI employees and construction works interviewed and have to write a police report out on Friday at quitting time ? When Harry was called Back to the Police Department He took union steward Scott . During that time Harry filling a police report out Alison was winking at Scott . This is not funny, we are routinely harasse with Julie Godzik Police dispatcher monitoring video cameras and relays information on cameras to her Husband Robert Godzik to cause a hostile work environment. I know this because every time I take the garbage to dumpster near police station, Julie comes out of Police Station Looking at me offensively or making slurs at me about where to hide from cameras. I feel uncomfortable with Julie Godzik surveying video cameras. Chief Gillilan was aware of the conflicts in the Maintenance Department And Julie Godzik harassing me. After He rescind the harassment increased

    Read More

  • Excessive Use Of Force By Police Officers Essay

    559 Words  | 2 Pages

    The ethical dilemma here is that officers use of power is getting out of hand and the reports keep getting dismissed. There is a family member working as an officer who work on the police force and this could cause a favoritism problem. Citizens could see these problems with officers as un-ethical behavior. We build relationships with the community and they analyze an officer every move. Citizens could lose trust and dependency when dealing with police officers.

    Read More

  • Police Corruption

    675 Words  | 2 Pages

    Police corruption is a nationwide problem that has been going on for many years. Not only is corruption a problem on our own U.S. soil, but police practices of corruption go as far east as Europe and Asia. Many studies, polls and examinations were taken to find out how exactly what the general publics’ opinions of the police are. Officers receive a lot of scrutiny over this issue, but for good reason.

    Read More

More about NYPD Whistleblower Retaliation – Detective Labeled A Rat

Open Document