Ethical Standards In Criminal Justice

Those thought to be ethical or moral are described in terms of their values in regards to honesty, integrity and good character. Our ethical conduct originates from our values which are greatly influenced by our morals; they provide guidance and are our standard for the ways in which we carry out and view right and wrong decisions. For these reasons, personal ethics are said to be our foundation and, as such, often influence how we administer ethical codes of conduct in our personal lives, and the ways in which we carry out our organizational duties. The normative foundations of public service ethics are those standards used to justify and defend one’s conduct, i.e. reasoning about obligations, consequences and ultimate ends in specific situations. In addition to personal codes of conduct, leadership in the public sector requires the ability to apply ethical reasoning based on formal controls and technical standards.

It is important that police officers be ethical especially while on the job. An officer’s

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.

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

Professions are guided by codes of ethics to aid them in performance of their duties and to ensure maintenance of high standards of conduct. Police officers are faced with a maze of obligations in the performance of their official duties. The “Law Enforcement Code of Ethics” and “Canons of Police Ethics” were created to make explicit the conduct considered appropriate for police officers and to guide them in the performance of their duties. Although police have these guides, many are faced with ethical dilemmas, also known as a moral dilemmas. This mean the officer is challenged to make a decision which sometimes conflicts with societal and personal ethical morals and values and provide no

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

In rewriting the code of conduct, key standards would which must be included are employee professionalism and conduct, chain of command, and use of force. These standards are an essential part in the day to day operations of any law enforcement organization, and failure to include these standards would create the potential for offices to implement the law as they saw fit, with disregard for authority or a specified chain of command. A comparison of the standards of Pine Bluff and New Mexico’s standards indicate that while the topics may be identified differently, each agency addresses the same issues respectfully. While each identifies specific violations which are seemingly more common to their operation as the Pine Bluff Police Department’s Standard B (2) (d) (11) “Purchasing from or for a prisoner or giving or accepting gifts from or for a prisoner” (Pine Bluff Police Department Policy & Procedures Manual, 2008), others provide a general sweeping policy encompassing all areas in general terms.

Cronkhite’s (2013, p. 298) principles of public service ethics, which includes “public service, objective judgement, accountability, democratic leadership, and responsibility,” are well covered in this statement. This statement was well researched and any agency looking to develop one or wanting change should contact them.

“protect those that need protecting, perform the job with integrity, keep others information confidential unless the performance of duty or legal provision requires otherwise, use discretion based on reasonableness, never employ use of force unless in the defense of life, and behave in a manner that does not discredit the office in which they are employed” (Ethics and Law Enforcement, 2002).

Ethics are very important in the Criminal Justice Field because it keeps up community and department moral and ensures that the right person will be charged with the right crime. It also ensures that justice will be served. If an officer has shown unethical behaviors in the past, who is to say that they won’t do it again? This loses faith and trust in the entire system and justice can never be fully served. Because of this, we must all do our parts in order to make sure that we, and our fellows, are practicing good ethics.

Abstract Ethical issues in the criminal justice system have become undesirably common in the past decade and no matter how hard we try to eliminate those issues they have a way of coming back in various ways that continue to test our morale integrity. Ethical issues don’t exist solely because of law enforcement and public servants making unjust decisions but because two groups of people have failed to fully honor their positions held. Whether it’s the law enforcement and servants of the public offices taking pride and upholding the oath they took or America’s citizens actually being law-abiding citizens.   Common Ethical Issues in the Criminal Justice System Introduction Criminal justice and ethics are believed to be conjoint, working hand

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.

Federal Employee Fourteen Code of Ethics Principles These fourteen codes are guidelines to provide a direct outline of the ethical rules established for all federal employee. They represent the standards of ethical conduct that all employees should know and follow. Enduring Aspects of High Moral Standards

These principles shared with us by Sandi Nazemi in Sir Robert Peel’s Nine Principals of Policing included such ideals as preventing crime and disorder, being able to perform their duties is dependent upon the approval of the public, seeking public favor not by catering to the public but by providing utter unbiased service to the law, the usage of physical force, and drawing upon the idea that the police are the people and the people are the police, and that the police are the only the paid members of the public giving of their lives to perform the job in which they have been entrusted with. These principles of Sir Robert Peel still have meaning in today’s policing society because they guide our law enforcement officers in their everyday behavior. The Fort Worth Police Department exemplifies some of this within their code of ethics, “As a law enforcement officer, my fundamental duty is to serve society, to safeguard lives and property, to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence or disorder, and to respect the constitutional rights of all people to liberty, equality, and justice.” (Code of Ethics,