The Police Officer Bill Of Rights

The criminal justice system is one of the most important components in the public service system. Since it is a system that citizens encounter daily it would be most beneficial for those who are employed to behave as ethical leaders. Leadership skills and ethical behavior are both parts of the duties of any officer serving the law. Often employees are placed in quick decision situations that can have fatal outcomes if not handled properly. By ensuring that all officers of the law have a set of functioning ethical leadership skills can not only develop a well-rounded individual, but also builds the relationship between the community they serve to protect. The police and other officers of the law have great discretion and power over an individual which makes having responsible, ethically behaving persons on the front lines even more important. With the right training and education, ethical officers can set the bar and improve the quality of life of the community they serve as well as other officers.

Law enforcers are supposed to behave in an ethical manner in order to achieve justice to the community. Where some of the police officers complete their duties ethically, others are caught in ethical misconduct that blurs their vision of administering justice. Several unethical practices have been noted in the course of duty of most police officers, and all corners of the world have their police officers affected by the practices (Klockars, Ivkovic, & Haberfeld, 2004).This paper looks into two most prominent and persistent ethical concerns in police systems, in the USA and worldwide.

There have been several studies and implemented policies within agencies all over the world directed to prevent and deter police misconduct / corruption. In the early 1990s, the Mollen Commission of Inquiry revealed a serious police corruption problem in the New York City Police Department (NYPD). One of the key recommendations of the commission was that their internal investigative structure the Internal Affairs Bureau (IAB) be reconstituted as it had failed to effectively tackle the problem. Almost a decade since the establishment of a new IAB, it is hailed as a noteworthy example of how such a structure should operate if police corruption is to be adequately dealt with. (Newham, 2003).

Organizational climate is essential in developing a culture of incorruptible individuals and this climate is set by the organizations leaders. Within the SCORE unit of the Kansas City, Kansas Police Department (KCKPD) at the time of the indictment, it was not clear if leaders set a tone of ethical conduct, nor did it appear that principled conduct was the cornerstone of the command leadership philosophy. Specifically, all ethical standards for Kansas City Police Department are derived from Wyandotte County Unified Government code of ethics and the police department lacks police specific philosophies toward ethical conduct (Unified Government Ordinance, 2009). Although, the International Chiefs of Police have established a code of honor adopted by many police departments, it is unclear bases on empirical information what KCKPD leadership expected of their Police officers. For instance, it is vital for executive to formulate as stated by Martin (2011), “an agenda that explains the moral purposes of the department” (para. 6). Therefore, not making an ethics based agenda and delivering a repetitive and deliberate focus on such an agenda to all levels is one failure by leadership to have contributed to creating a perceived environment of unethical conduct. On the other hand, senior managers cannot root out corruption without captains, lieutenants, sergeants and senior officers. Middle and first-line leader are essential to the command structure ensuring high standards are

Police officers are trained to read, write and analyze numbers. They are also trained how to handle firearms, identify non-lethal weapons, use defensive tactics effective, conduct search and seizure, driving techniques, investigate criminal acts and the laws of arrest, but how many police take a course on ethical conduct or learn the meaning of sworn oath? Some police officer feel ethics is not important and training is of low – priority. Law enforcement officers take oaths creates an ethical landmine. Officers have to weigh their personal values against colleague demands that may develop a hostile environment and cause ethical issues to flourish. When police officers demonstrate unethical practices, negative issues occur. Corruption scandals are painful reminders that officers need more

The Criminal Justice System is just like every other agency or corporation ever. Police integrity and ethics are fundamental to effective policing and helps with building trust within communities. Sound conduct by police improves the community interactions, enhances communication, and promotes shared responsibility for addressing crime and disorder. (USDOJ, 2014) Restoring ethics starts from the beginning, and that is too look harder into the employees or officers that you are going to hire. The thing is that it is much harder than it sounds. People can change or lie on their interviews. So you will never be able to fully prevent every person who might break ethical codes from entering into law enforcement. What you need to do first is let all new officers be aware of what they are getting themselves into.

Police officers are generally well-respected in American society. They should be, since officers protect the public from drunk drivers, gunmen and other threats to the commonwealth. However, in light of uncovered events involving the misconduct of police officers, these events call into question the ability of police officers to successfully protect and serve the American people. However, in 2010, 6,613 law enforcement officers were reported for involvement in misconduct which varied from excessive force, sexual misconduct et cetera (Packman). Having 6,613 reported cases of police misconduct in America is ridiculous, especially since it is hard validating the claims against officers and it is difficult to punish officers because of this lack of evidence. While the purpose of police officers in society is to protect the commonwealth of the people, the amount of police misconduct in the United States of America involving excessive force and sexual misconduct is detrimental to the credibility of all police officers. This in turn causes rifts and distrust among the American people concerning officers. Police misconduct can be reduced in American society by requiring police officers to wear cameras while on duty, having a clear definition on what excessive force is and defining how much force is legal for an officer to utilize, and better training geared to improve overall conduct with citizens, especially mentally ill citizens.

There are different basic principles of the constitutional law a police officer, but not always a probation officer must follow when conducting an ethical and legal search of a probationer’s house. “All states grant probation and parole officers the power of arrest and search and seizure as those powers relate to the probationers and parolees under their supervision. They do not have general powers of arrest and search and seizure over the other people.” (Fagin, 2016). When it comes, the probation officer the can do a warrantless search as the probationer has signed a waiver for the probation officer to enter their residence at any time as part of their conditions of parole. “Typically, the released convict agrees to submit his person,

In a survey 52% of police officers said it is common for law enforcement officials to disregard the inappropriate conduct of other officers. While 61% of officers claimed they usually do not report serious abuse that they have directly witnessed by colleagues. Yes, we all know that there are always going to be a few corrupt and unethical people within every profession, but these statistics show that within the police officer profession there are far more than a few corrupt and unethical

Although all employees should be assets to their organization, certain employees, because of their respective strengths and talents, may be better suited for certain tasks. In the organization I where I work, the Claiborne County Sheriff’s Office, there are several individuals who would be both happier and better suited for different areas of criminal investigations. Several problems persist within the organization that prevent both the agency and the individuals employed by it from achieving their full potential. While there are a host of departments within my organization, the focus of this essay will be on the Criminal Investigations Division in which I work. I will also include a few thoughts on the administrative structure of my department, address some of its problems and offer my own solutions for overcoming these

Police executives have always had different issues within the police department. Most police executives try to find a quick fix in order to solve the issue of police misconduct. Police misconduct is defined as inappropriate action taken by police officers in relation with their official duties (Police Misconduct Law & Legal Definition, n.d.). In order to solve this issue, one must acknowledge their different challenges, overcome the “code of silence”, and find out the role of organizational culture.

Among the other challenges mentioned is the absence of a strong leader whom police enforcement officers can emulate and look up to for inspiration. This is confirmed by Edward J. Tulley who said that a person must do the right thing always even if nobody is looking. The sad thing however is that there is nobody now who is willing to set a positive example.The lack of training or formal education is also a reason why law enforcement officers commit misconduct. I believe that no person would intentionally do something that is wrong. The problem however is that when people are faced with an ethical dilemma their lack of understanding of better ways to deal with the situation sometimes impels them to make a wrong decision. The task now is to make ethics a part of the training for law enforcement officers so that compliance with the code of ethics becomes a matter of instinct. The absence of a stringent hiring and selection process is also a barrier for compliance with high ethical standards. The conduct of interviews and psychological testing are important because there are people whose psychological profiles do not match with the profile of that of a police officer. While it is true that there are some people who can be educated and trained to become ethical police officers there are some whose personalities do not match that of a police officer

In this country we are seeing an increase in ethical violations in the field of law enforcement. I will go into detail about some of the main ethical issues we are seeing today and what can be done to prevent such acts from happening. When one officer is being unethical it has a huge effect on how the public views law enforcement as a whole. Many officers go undetected for a long time before getting caught, but an officer committing ethical violations will have their day it’s just a matter of time. In order to improve this growing problem we must first understand why there is such a problem in the field of law enforcement.

Some argue that corrupt police officers are simply the product of a corrupt culture of the agency they work for. These officers are socially introduced to a number of informal rules when they begin employment. This process and these rules serve two main purposes. First, this process is designed to minimize the chances of external or internal controls being mobilized to address the behaviors and, secondly, to keep corrupt activities at a level that is acceptable and likely undetectable. The rule most often referred to in this connection, is the “Code of Silence.” Officers are socialized into not cooperating with investigations regarding fellow officers. Whether or not the officer participates in corrupt activities for financial gain, an officer’s adherence to the “Code of Silence” places them squarely amongst the corrupt of the profession (Price, 1972).

These types of misconduct arise throughout police jobs that include routine procedures such as traffic stops, ticket writing, directing traffic, and discouraging potential threats to those in their community. What often go unnoticed, though, are the undercover works and the corruptions that go on within a department. The four terms associated with these conflicting values are deviance, which is behavior inconsistent with the norms, values, or ethics, corruption, which is forbidden acts involving misuse of office for gain, misconduct, which is the violation of departmental procedures, and favoritism which is unfair “breaks” to friends or relatives.