Ethical Law Enforcement Essay Example

to public welfare. We expect them to wield this power without favor or prejudice. As a public servant ones life will be judged by the community. There is a higher degree of scrutiny towards activities taken in the officer’s private life (Delattre, Edwin). Article nine of the IACP Canon of Police Ethics states that officers should refuse gratuities. Any gift or free offers that are given for a reason and to accept it is an act of corruption. Acceptance of a gift gives the appearance of accepting a bribe.

The public may view this as influence on the actions of the public servant. Officers must enforce the law with equality maintaining the integrity of the office. Loyalty should be to the truth the law and the public; Even if this means reporting the unethical actions of another officer (Hall). Noble cause corruption is committed when officers care too much about their work. This is the Dirty Harry Dilemma in which officers commit corruption to take bad guys off the street. Not everything in policing is black and white. There are many grey areas.

Dirty Harry does not play by the rules and as a result of this bad guys get off the hook. False and coerced confessions lead to wrongful convictions. The power of self is showing others correct morals and ethics through right behavior through fair play honesty and perseverance. The end does not justify the means in policing (Michael and John 56- 126). Noble Cause Corruption can lead to unethical interrogation techniques. Physical coercion is illegal unethical and ineffective. False and Coerced confessions lead to wrongful convictions.

In Miranda v

Arizona (1966), the U. S. Supreme Court held in a majority decision that statements made by a defendant may only be used by prosecution only if the person was duly informed of the right to consult with an attorney prior to questioning. Miranda rights may be circumvented through unethical practices and any information gained may not be admissible as evidence. Lying on a search warrant affidavit such as lying about an investigation into the reports of a confidential informant can have tragic results. Planting or manufacturing evidence can end in otherwise solid cases failing to get a conviction by creating reasonable doubt (Roger and Geoffrey 322 - 324).

In undercover investigations entrapment occurs when a person commits an illegal act due to police encouragement or enticement. Entrapment is a legal defense in the court room. There is no entrapment when law enforcement merely provides an opportunity to commit a crime. This is not the same as persuading them to commit a crime. The subjective and objective tests are used to determine whether entrapment has taken place. The subjective test determines the defendant’s state of mind such as not having a predisposition to commit a crime.

The objective test refers to governmental conduct for example when officers cause a normally law abiding citizen to commit a crime. If an undercover officer goes to a methadone clinic or Narcotics Anonymous meeting and pretends to befriend someone for the purpose of coaxing them to commit a crime entrapment is committed (Joyce 147). The Thin Blue Line represents the dilemma between loyalty to friends and exposing non ethical offending officer actions. According to Aristotle when a friend becomes

a scoundrel a moral individual cannot stand by and do nothing.

However, the informal practice of punishing whistle blowers is a distressing aspect of police culture. Instead of rewarding officers who expose wrong doing they are often reprimanded. Administrative sanctions, transfers to undesirable posts and poor performance reports may result from crossing the thin blue line. (Joyce 122) Officers have the legal right to use the minimum amount of necessary force in interactions with suspects. This includes lethal use of force when it is warranted. This is only an ethical issue when excessive force is used.

This is not a simple matter of Rodney King style beatings. Officers who have good intentions can use excessive force through lack of sufficient training resulting in death and lawsuits. For example while a choke hold may help get control of a combatant. Properly applied both carotid arteries are pressed resulting in a black out. Improperly applied the wind pipe may be crushed resulting in death. Sitting upon handcuffed suspects back may seem like a good way to keep them from running off again. However excessive pressure to the back can compress the lungs causing a death known as burking.

The presence of drugs or alcohol increases a suspects willingness to resist arrest while reducing the amount of pain that they feel. Officers should receive training and understand these risks. (Adrian , Graham, and Alan) There are different types and dimensions of police corruption. Corruption of authority is when an officer receives material gain by virtue of position. Such as freebies. Kickbacks are the receiving of money goods or services for giving businesses referrals. Opportunistic theft

is stealing from traffic accident victims or arrestees and the bodies of dead citizens.

Shakedowns are the acceptance of a bribe for not processing a criminal violation or complaint. Protection of illegal activities is providing police protection for persons who engage in illegal activities such as drugs, prostitution, and pornography. The fix is the act of losing traffic tickets or undermining criminal proceedings or investigations. Direct criminal activities occur when an officer commits crime for the purpose of personal gain. Internal payoffs are prerogatives such as scheduling holidays and promotions that are bartered bought and sold. Flaking or padding is planting or adding evidence.

Four strategies may be implemented to combat corruption. Human resource management involves recruitment practices training and ethics. Anti-corruption policies can be utilized by police forces adopting ethical codes of conduct. Codes serve a reminder of what is expected. Codes provide a common vocabulary for discussion of cases. The emotional language may help inspire officers to do more than they would otherwise. Internal controls consist of preventive control through tight supervision. Internal accountability is accomplished through holding policy managers responsible for the conduct of their staff.

Punitive control policies are practical applications of deterrence. Detection is gained through police officers, citizens and probing police activity. External environment and external controls refer to changing the environment to tackle corruption. Considerable pressure is placed on police agencies to become corrupt from the organizational environment. The task environment and the political environment are the major environmental elements posing a threat. Changes to enforcement policies may be effective in risk reducing parts of the task environment while not impacting the environment itself.