Ethical Behavior In Law Enforcement

Eventually, every organization faces staffing challenges. However, the difference lies in the manner a company reacts to staffing issues. Staffing issues can be internal, external, or both. In addition, the intensity levels of the issues may vary from company to company. Recently, the Virginia State Police suffered from several staffing issues. This paper will address the specific staffing concerns with the Virginia Police Department, the ineffectiveness of the situation illustrated in the article, and ways the police department could have done differently or prepared itself better.

The State of Florida takes pride in pioneering the nation in Florida's Government-in-the-Sunshine Law, enacted in 1967, which establishes a basic right of access to most meetings of boards, commissions, and other governing bodies of state and local governmental agencies or authorities ((Statutes & Constitution :View Statutes : Online Sunshine).

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in Florida is the tenth largest suburban agency in the country. The sheriff’s Office annual budget estimated to be 370 million. The current chief law enforcement in charge is Sheriff David Gee, who elected into office in 2004. After he had been elected to his position, subsequently, in “2007, he was awarded “Sheriff of the Year” by the National Crisis Intervention Team. In 2015, he was awarded the Liberty Bell Award by the Hillsborough County Bar Association” (“HCSO Gee,” 2004). Prior elected as Sheriff, Mr. Gee has served the Sheriff’s Office and the public for over thirty-seven years. He is responsible for managing one the largest agency in the nation. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office requirements

My first interviewee officers jack Davidson, patrolman from Somers point police department. When interviewing Patrolman Davidson, I found the following to be his impressions of the police force in general. Officer Davidson spoke of why ethics and character are important in the field of law enforcement. His response was that ethics and character go hand in hand. In law enforcement it seems that there are so many reasons to do the right thing. The reasons began with public opinion and also should include their influence on the youth who will be growing up to be citizens of the city, state, or country. If a police officer does not behave with

Two important legal cases have given employees specific rights during investigatory interviews. The case, NLRB v. Weingarten, Inc., 420 U.S. 251 (1975), gave rise to employees’ Weingarten rights: Employees that face disciplinary action, or questioned about matters that could lead to disciplinary actions against them are entitled to their Weingarten rights. In the case Garrity v. New Jersey, 385 U.S. 493, decided by the United States Supreme Court, the Garrity Rule was established. The Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to order police officers to answer questions under threat of losing their jobs, and then to use the answers to incriminate them. These two rights are important for employees to know

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

“Ethical issues regarding corruption and off-duty behavior have become an increasing challenge in criminal justice” (Writing, 1999-2013). Within the criminal justice system, ethics can be complicated by the moral implications of actions. Differences in cultures and different circumstances can affect the individual moral compass. However, all departments of criminal justice operate by a certain code of ethics and by certain standards. But those standards and ethics often become challenged due to issues relating to police brutality, off duty conduct and corruption that we hear about all of the time through the media.

New officers need to know that no profession demands a higher ethical standard than law enforcement. Whether or not there are other careers that require a similar dedication to doing the right thing, it is undeniable that there is a tremendous degree of expectations placed upon police officers. Every officer knows, or at least should know by now, that they live in a fishbowl. Friends, relatives, neighbors and strangers watch every move law enforcement officers make, both on and off duty. The fact is that the public scrutinizes police officers more than most other professions, either because they are cynical or hope to catch them screwing up or because they are hopeful

Law enforcement (police) subcultures have specific set of moral values and a certain mentality exhibited by those in law enforcement. It’s always the public against the police so they form an alliance for supportive reasons. However, people may believe police subculture is breaking down. Police subculture is breaking down because it is inconsistent with the formal morals and values related to the culture and that police are not the same as each other in their qualities and attributes. Examining ethics and its relation to the police subculture is important to help delineate not only the grey area of ethics but also the grey area within which the police operate (McCartney and Parent, 2015). For example, police officers are known to defend their own whether its something right or wrong. However, if another officer feels that the situation interferes with their morals, then it becomes inconsistent with the other officer’s

It is crucial that administrators develop safeguards to ensure that internal investigations are conducted fairly and ethically, demonstrating the best interest of both the officer and its employers. This paper discusses the Police Officer Bill of Rights created by a subcommittee created by the Legislative Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and the importance of it being implemented and standardized across the United States.

According to Webster’s Dictionary, ethics is defined “as the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation” (Merriam-Webster Online). This concept is prevalent in the world of police work since police officers are supposed to be the “good” in whatever is considered a “bad” situation. Many police departments offer training in ethics during the time in which a cadet is in the police academy and after officers are put on the streets, which is called in-service training. It is the hope that while this training is available to officers, that they hold a basic code of ethics within themselves which

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.

The American people look at individuals who work in law enforcement as individuals who are supposed to protect and hold up the constitutional rights of all individuals. The fourth Amendment clearly states that a person has “The right to be secure in their purses, houses, and

This paper discuses in regard to the demanding situations that a Florida law enforcement officers needs to deal with on a daily basis as a result of trying to combat potential terrorist threats. By relating to various laws given by the state of Florida and to various duties that an officer needs to complete, the paper attempts to demonstrate that it is especially difficult to be a law enforcement officer in the contemporary society.

Ethics by definition states that it’s the study of morality. Ethics are the basis of our criminal justice system. From the arresting officers who take an oath to serve and protect, to the attorneys and courts, we assume the behavior and rules are ethically and morally sound. We as the public should think we are in good hands when it comes to the Criminal Justice System. I think we should have people in the system with good morals and great values. We want to be assured that our laws and those enforcing them are supported.