Police Officer Interview Essay Example

expected in forms of protection, additional police presence, or even something disreputable like fixing a ticket, or letting them off with a warning instead of a ticket.

Most people do not give things without expecting something in return. When Officer Davidson was asked if he felt that police officers are more ethical today or were they more ethical ten years ago, he replied I do feel that police officers are more ethical today. Having additional education and with better guidance, police are given more tools and information in order to behave in a more ethical manner” (2007). He went on to say that, ten years ago, police officers were not watched as closely, police officers were also not expected to uphold as many of the ethical standards as today.

At one time a free cup of coffee or a nice hot meal were accepted by the police as gratuities that they deserved for providing services to a community. It is known now that by accepting these gratuities police are being bribed, in a manner of speaking, to create additional sense of well being for those who are giving the gifts. These rules may have been in force for more than a decade, but more stress is being placed on ethics, to keep these things from happening now.

In regards to the text, Delattre says when speaking of the slippery slope of corruption, he says that it begins with small things which lead to larger actions until the actions become criminal in themselves. Addressing the subject of police officers who get involved in misconduct, Officer Davidson had the following remarks. The police officers I have known who got involved

in misconduct did so because they were disgusted. They felt annoyed with their life; they get distressed with their family. Police loss of faith in mankind generally spawns individual and departmental corruption (Delattre, 2007).

In high crime cities where the cost of living is high, police find that they are unable to pay their bills because the rent and the utilities are much too expensive and are not covered by their inadequate salary. Also in the large cities police officers find many times that they can get away with some misconduct, like police brutality, or skimming money from a drug bust. It seems no one is going to stop a policeman from beating a criminal who has been selling drugs to their kids; no one is going to notice a little money missing out of a bag of hundred dollar bills from a cocaine bust.

They don’t know how much was there in the first place. When asked if he felt that there is enough training offered in ethics at the police academy level the reply was that there is enough initial training offered in ethics for police at the academy level. To try to put too much information into the head of a person who is trying to learn all the laws and all the ethics, and maintain character traits that are necessary in order to be an exemplary officer. In Chapter 10 of Character and Cops by Edwin J. Delattre, the text states that “Instruction in ethics for police has to be more specific, precise, and espectful of time limits” (pg. 162, 2006). Ethics can also be taught or reinforced after the initial academy training

by the partners that are provided to the officer. If a refresher training course is offered after an officer has been on the force for a year or two, it would be more benefit to them than an initial inundation of the information. I also asked Officer Davidson if ethics training should be offered as an on-going process for law enforcement officers. He answered me by saying that one can never know too much, you can never know it all.

In order to continue to recall, or learn new methods to deal with every day situations and unique situations, one must continue to advance their knowledge; they must try to maintain a high level of education. A formal sitting is a good way to teach new ideas that have come up due to new problems that may arise or new more successful methods of dealing with everyday issues that need to be handled. I feel that officer Davidson has an open mind, and is willing to do whatever it takes to improve his own knowledge of ethical behavior, and would like to see this be a in all department practices.

He sees police officers every day that are not living in entirely ethical ways. They need refreshers and reminders, because there are temptations all over the place that cause the behavior of police officers to back-slide into less than ethical ways. In concluding my interview with Officer Davidson, I inquired; do you feel that education and/or training in ethics would reduce incidents of police corruption? He thought a few moments about this question before he answered me. His response was that he believes that training would help

to reduce the amount of corruption.

He believes that a lot of corruption comes from lack of information. If police officers do not have any training or input from others in how they are expected to behave, then their only source of information is their own belief structure from their personal experiences. When an officer is trained with ethical knowledge they have a better foundation in which to develop ethical behaviors. Unfortunately though some people are just unscrupulous, and will be corrupt no matter how much education and training is provided.

These people do not have any place in police work and need to be removed from their prospective forces as quickly as they are identified as troublemakers who will not change with training. During my interview with Officer Davidson, I found that he was of very good character. He showed patience and understanding as I spoke with him, and he took the time to answer my questions with thought and interest. He showed good character, and even refused my offer to buy him a soda while I was conducting the interview with him.

I did not hear him speak with disdain toward anyone he has had the pleasure or misfortune to come across. He gives the impression that he believes that most people are inherently good, with the potential for great things. I found him to be a bit idealistic, but he is relatively new, and still in his early twenties in age. He has not had the opportunity to be either corrupted by poor attitudes, or he truly does display the exemplary character that all police officers should be showing When it came to the second

officer I interviewed. I asked Officer Boyd the same questions from the first officer Davidson.

The first question was: why are ethics and character so important in the field of law enforcement? Patrolman Boyd provided me with some examples of his stance on good character and ethics. To paraphrase his answer, he said; in this field a person is dealing with a lot of potential for corruption. For instance say you are an officer and you bust someone who has a lot of drugs on them. You can be ethical and be of good character and turn the drugs in when the guy is arrested or you can take the drugs, re-sell them and make a profit for yourself.

Or, say you are an officer and you are arresting someone who is being very mouthy and making you mad. You can be ethical and of good character by ignoring him, placing cuffs on him and putting him in the car or you can use extensive use of force the on him. It is important to do the right thing because as law enforcement officials we are supposed to be role models for everyone else. My second question to Officer Boyd do you feel that police are more ethical today or were they more ethical ten years ago? Officer Boyd believes that police officers are more ethical today than ten years ago. Why?

Because there are a lot more people watching the police now than back then. They also know that most of the time they are on a camera, being watched, or recorded for future review. I believe that what Officer Boyd was saying here is that technology

has a new way of policing everyone, and making sure that they do what they are required to do by checks and balances that were not in effect even a decade ago. With more people paying attention to what police officers are doing, and advances like video cameras and camera phones, everyone is being watched, and this does not exclude police officers.

The problem with this thought for ethical behavior is that it is prompted by fear of being caught and not the good character of the police in general. Why do police officers become involved in misconduct? Officer Boyd was specific with his answer to this question. He said when a police officer takes the oath and desires to provide a secure environment for the community sometimes things still can go wrong in his personal life which can affect his personality. Money issues become a headache.

He provided the following example; an officer shows up to work with a chip on his shoulder and the first call of the day is a family dispute. A large African American man is beating up on his girlfriend. The police arrive on the scene and the guy is arguing with his significant other but is not witnessed doing any other abuse. The woman is bleeding where he allegedly punched her. The guy approaches the officer with a bad attitude and so the officer pulls out his stun gun and zaps the man a few times even after he is convulsing on the ground.

Back-up officers arrive and then they begin punching the downed man in the stomach, shouting at him to hold still. After a few elbows to his head

the suspect is subdued. The man now needs medical attention and treatment because of a broken nose. After an investigation, the officers are suspended without pay pending an investigation as to why such forceful abuse was needed to subdue one unarmed man. Misconduct may vary from officer to officer. In the above situation, one of the officers may have found out that his wife has gotten pregnant from an African American man and now he is on the warpath.

The man chose a bad day to hit his girlfriend but the police officers also did not show good judgment and showed poor character in their apprehension of a suspect. I think this is a good example of misconduct by police officers, and provides personal feelings which culminated into the poor judgment chosen by the police officers. The example provides two reasons why a police officer may begin to conduct himself using poor judgment. One officer is annoyed with his life in general, having a bad day, and has decided to take it out on the first person who agitates him more.

Another officer has found a slight prejudice because of a personal experience that has distressed him, and the man who was involved in the domestic violence case just chose the wrong day to get angry with his female friend, and felt the wrath of the angry police officer. Do you feel there is enough training offered in ethics at the police academy level? If not, why is that? Officer Boyd said that the police in this country are getting way out of hand. They need to sit back and re-evaluate the training system they have in

place now. Either training needs to be extended or it needs to be revamped because it is not working.

If training were offered in personality traits, and how to handle ethical dilemmas, then more police would be better able to handle stressful or unique situations as they come up. In addition to this, they would also know how to handle even the most mundane and typical of upsets that may occur on a daily basis (Delattre, 2006). Officer Boyd, being a veteran on the police force, is more aware of the training he received twenty two years ago when he attended the academy than the new methods of training that are provided to the recruits now.

I asked him if he considered going back to observe a new training course, and he said he would consider it, to see what has been improved since his time. When asked if ethics training should be offered as an on-going process for law enforcement officers, Gonzales replied; “Excellent idea however you have to realize there will still be those people applying for the job who are simply in need of power and although they may be required to take the course none of what it is trying to teach will sink into these individuals. Officer Boyd who is a veteran of the police force, has seen many people who appeared to be of good character when they began their work at the police force become a menace to the uniform. They began strutting around behaving in such a way as to embarrass the police instead of improving the relations between the force and the citizens who they were hired to

protect. These officers were re-trained, put on desk jobs, or other non-public tasks. If they were still unable to display good character and ethical behavior, they were asked to turn in their badges and guns, and were removed from the force. Delattre, 2006) also mentions in the text, Character and Cops, which police with uncontrolled character exhibit traits that are negative, and they should not be included in the police force. These individuals do not display the characteristics that would assist in improving or reinforcing good public impression of the police in general. Do you feel that education and/or training in ethics would reduce incidents of police corruption? Since the late fifties and early sixties the standards of education for children has been lowered. One of the first standards allowed to be lowered to oblivion is what I can remember.

Aggressively encourage and indoctrinate children with the ideas of ethics and morality with the purpose being integration into law-abiding society. It is important to include education and training concerning ethics to all members of law enforcement. Such has already been incorporated into the police academies everywhere. Why then is there an obvious increase of and disregard for ethics among a minority of law enforcement professionals? I believe that the lack of early ethical instruction has affected their decision to obey the law as they enforce it.

Most importantly, these individuals may perceive that there are so few role models for ethical behavior, both within their professional lives and in society as a whole, that ethics and deciding to adhere to their advantages to society. Ethics and good character are increasingly more important in police work. In order

to be able to maintain good rapport with citizens, and safe, efficient working with criminals, a police officer must be able to handle all situations with a degree of composure that will better ensure that everyone will come out of every situation alive and well.

With a good ethical background using personal experiences and training, a police officer may be able to talk someone off a bridge, they may be able to convince a young gang member to turn himself in, or he may be able to squelch a violent man who is beating his wife. Without the ingrained good ethics and character mistakes can be made which could be harmful to a citizen, or to the reputation of the police department. When a reputation is harmed, then no citizen is safe. The police force will lose the respect of the community, and will not be as efficient in handling cases as they arise.

Philosophies have found that after two decades of studying police behavior. Policing profession has out looked different attributes based on past experience. In which expectation will expand in their role that include other then law enforcement. Organizations have been using officers to increase interaction and communication in non crime related problems. The most problem is administrators on practicing the dynamics of culture beyond the police department. This in many situations was a problem. There have been many articles in the paper on police misconduct and the main person controlling those held responsible for them.

If it’s on the job or off duty police offices need to feel appreciated the community because you never know when they need help. The history of modern law enforcement

began 166 years ago with the formation of the London Metropolitan Police District in (1829). American policing developed along lines roughly similar to those of the London police. Most major U. S. cities had established municipal police departments by the Civil War. Reforming also sought to change the role of the police in American society. olicing is the most widely used term for a loosely defined set of police philosophies, strategies, and tactics known either as problem-oriented policing, neighborhood-oriented policing, or community- oriented policing. In the early (1960’s) due process was recognized as to improve police community relation. One thing to get straight more educated officer not always succeeds. Control of police discrimination needs to improve in order for them to be helping the community. The three elements that have to be tactical are enforcement of law, proactive and crime prevention oriented.

In (1994) the mission of the “Crime Act” continues to advance the practice community policing to improve public safety. Five years ago the (COP) invested over eleven million and added over one hundred community policing to the streets, schools and deputies. The comparison between community policing and problem oriented. Primary emphases are to substantive social problems within the police mandate. Police corruption is a big part of some of many cities nationwide. It is also believed that police started to dominate and engaged because of their low moral values. Crime in general has been studied as a higher level.

This has meant that police officers with propensity has been towards corruption is not static some officers that start off as rookies from been discharged from the military. There are different then an officer that has

no experience. In all the media on officers that been caught doing illegal stuff. It has been bar bonded with mixed messages. People are losing respect for officer day by day. There can be many ways to prevent society to disloyal to officers because of their mixed feeling. It is also the media fault for putting things in the paper for everyone to read.

The department has to screen all officers because of the risk of putting the police department in a bad name. Police Officers are human. When you cross section of humans that are bad, you will have the same number as police. Your word as an officer is what makes you an honest officer. Some lie and some steal and some take bribes but they aren’t true officers, just a person wearing a uniform. A person that is ethical as a human doesn’t need any further training. One that has no amount of training won’t change him. Ethics and character are very important for officers, because of the nature of the job.

When police violate the public trust- it takes years to mend that relationship. Officers are often put in situations where they can not only violate someone’s rights, but become criminals themselves, thus good ethics and moral character is vital. Police do get on going training at the academy level and in service in ethics, but I don't think that that is where the problem lies. Background investigations and psychological testing procedures, and field training programs need to be more stringent in order to recruit more ethical officers.

If a person is of bad character before he becomes and officer he will be a

bad cop. Some times officers slip past the background and that makes us all look bad when they go corrupt, but unfortunately that too is part of the process. I feel that the situations can come across an officer in their career. Many are not cut out in law enforcement. The interviews didn’t make me feel uncomfortable. There wasn’t a minute that was being rushed. The officer had six days to retirement and some questions he paused to think. I feel education is most important. When you are in the academy there are steps you take.

There are many that don’t make it because of different situations. It is hard to make through training. It all depends on the person. Some have it in them most just give up. It can be years before an officer shows misconduct. It is caused from stress and some are prone to the bottle. I know my friend experience it. It started with an off duty officer at a McDonalds and he started to hit the horn many times because the line was long. Then his friend told the car behind him to chill. That triggered the officer to started a fight the off duty officer when to the door and told them he was a police officer.

He was drinking prior to the incident. The officer opens the door and there was an augment. Then fist went flying but the two didn’t hit back. This is misconduct because the officer handled it very wrong. The two males were just caught in a bad time. The place was out of his jurisdiction. It could have been handled differently but the temper

of the officer was uncalled for. There are too many lawsuits all over. It cost the department thousands of dollars and an internal affair gets involved. Some of the officers get let go or suspended.