Understand The Causes Of Police Misconduct

It is true that police officers have absolute control over their own integrity and professionalism; however, a portion of the responsibility lies with the police administration. The “six pillars” of character are trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, justice/fairness, caring, and civic virtues/citizenship which is the type of character a police officer should ultimately possess to properly perform the honorable profession of law enforcement. As my research has revealed, that is not always the case, and because of that I am proposing some policy changes to improve the policies currently in place. Understanding the causes of police misconduct is critical to prevent distrust, fear and cynicism among citizens and their views of police officers.

If the officers view their agency as fair and just in managerial and organizational practices, they are less likely to engage in police misconduct. Furthermore, police administrations might find it impossible to be responsive to all the needs of his or her constituents because of political influences that could lead to job loss. Police departments are accountable to local, state, and federal agencies; and consequently, this political pressure pervades policing and may conflict with internal pressures making the situation even more difficult and stressful for policing. Research on organizational and institutional influences is of critical importance as it can help guide the implementation of effective management strategies to reduce incidences of police

As such, the public should and currently are having more influence in the decision-making process for deterrence of misconduct and deviance by reporting the observed deviance through proper methods to agency supervisors and politicians, creating department investigations into the problem. Furthermore; the results of any investigation concerning misconduct should be divulged to the public which would help lower the chances of negative police deviance going forward. In theory, divulging the investigation results would keep the agency’s public persona intact with the community and would reduce the chances of any further deviance. With the advancement of cell phone cameras, the public is now able to record deviant actions and release it to the mass media which should also lower the number of deviant police actions. In recent years, the use of body-worn cameras by law enforcement has also provided better evidence documentation and increased accountability and transparency; however, there are many other factors that law enforcement executives must consider in the usage of the cameras, such as privacy issues, officer and community concerns, data retention and public disclosure policies, and financial considerations as the costs for body-worn cameras is quite expensive. Consequently,