Ethics : Ethics And Credibility

In Normative Ethics there are three distinct schools of thought, and each differentiate through moral intentions. Consequentialism relies on the consequences of an action in order to distinguish whether or not something is morally acceptable. Deontology considers the morality of an action by one’s reason for doing a certain deed. Lastly, virtue ethics bases morality off of virtuous character, and how a virtuous person would act given a certain predicament. Ultimately, consequentialism provides the most practical explanation for morality due to the notion of providing the best possible result. Contrarily, deontology and virtue ethics do not always provide an individual with the most sensible course of action, and therefore prove to be

Police officers take an oath to protect and serve the community. The community looks to police as a leader. I believe leaders set the standards, so police officers should be held to higher standards than the general public. Police officers are considered to be at the top of the organization chart. A wise saying states, “If the head (brain) is not working correctly the other parts of the body is lost.” The police are considered to be the head and the community is the other part. How could they enforce the laws that have been set by the government if they had no ethics and morals? There would be complete turmoil through the country.

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

What exactly does the term “ethics” mean? When asking this question among several different groups of people, I’m sure all of their answers would be different in many ways, but would all draw the general theme that ethics is somewhat of a study of what is right and what is wrong. This is a mostly correct conclusion, except for the fact that it encompasses not only determining what is right and wrong, but attempting to systemize and defend those ethical positions which one holds. Almost all of the controversial headlines you see in the media today involve some sort of question of ethics. Abortion. Healthcare. (“Should we take money from the rich and give to the poor to pay for medical expenses?”) Gun laws. Euthanasia, etc. The topic I want

The culture is filled with dishonesty because police can get a pass by lying within the criminal justice system without taking accountability for their actions. Officers should take in perspective that their dishonestly may not only have their careers on the line, but the chances of the accused offender being wrongly convicted based on false reports and statements are can be avoided. Unfortunately, depending on the severity, some police organizations do not find anything wrong with dishonestly. In fact, most police agencies and organization may allow officers to fabricate small things that can be crucial to the

Their study utilized eleven Midwest and East Coast police agencies to measure the relationship of police integrity among 604 police officers. The police agencies ranged in various sizes from very large municipal agencies (more than 500 sworn officers) to very small police agencies (fewer than 25 sworn officers) in their published research. The authors used a voluntary online questionnaire for their research and their response rate was 34% of the officers in the study completed the questionnaire. They avoided demographic and identifying information, while at the same time, they framed hypothetical scenarios for the volunteers to respond to. There results were that the more serious the police corruption, the more likely the officers were to say that they would not tolerate it without reporting. However, for less serious infractions, the officers appeared to follow the code of silence (Ivkovic et al 2016:177-184). The “Code” appears to be inherent within police organizations and does serve an important element of the policeman’s position within the organization. The downside of this research is that quite possibly only the police officers with the highest ethical and moral standards chose to voluntarily complete the

Individuals who decide to become law enforcement officers take on a huge role before their community. By doing so, these individuals take an oath of honor before officially exercising their police powers. When police officers are sworn, they vow to support, obey, and defend the Constitution of the United States (“Law Enforcement, 2013). Moreover, once they become police officers, they are held at great ethical and professional standards. Unfortunately, there has been occasions when certain law enforcement officials become problematic for an agency. In the early 80’s, the United States Commission on Civil Rights endorsed all agencies to create early warning systems that would identify warning indicators of officer misconduct (Burns, R., 2009).

Integrity is one thing that must remain unscathed throughout the career of a law enforcement officer. It means being morally upright and having the quality of being honest (integrity, 2016). Trustworthiness, virtue, righteousness, honor, and honesty describe what it is to be a law enforcement officer. These are the attributes communities expect of the men and women who take an oath to protect them. Three United States Supreme Court cases deal with lying and the liability it presents for law enforcement agencies. These cases are Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150 (1972), and United States v. Agurs, 427 U.S. 97 (1976). The decisions in these

If he can successfully complete all the integrity obstacles, then it becomes more likely that he will be honest. Unfortunately, because policemen are human, no department has been successful in creating test that will reliably predict officer conduct. However, the department can reinforce ethical behavior by example, just like it can reinforce the idea that the Academy does not know what it is like on the streets. If law enforcement agencies are going to foster an atmosphere of unreproachable ethics, they must implement a comprehensive strategy throughout the agency. Officers have to be aware of and accept the "Continuum of Compromise" as a potential reality that can effect all members of the agency. They must learn skills to help them change the "Victim Perception" and internalize a "Survivor Mentality." Teaching officers to appreciate and understand the difference between what they do and do not control is essential for creating ethically sound officers. Strategies for accepting the fact that officers do not control their police role, but do have absolute control over their integrity and professionalism have to taught and

Since my journey here at Bryant began in September, I have changed so much. Coming here, I expected certain things such as my study habits, daily routine and friend group to be altered. One change I was not anticipating making was my approach to ethics. Over the course of the past fifteen weeks, my knowledge of ethics as well as my approach to ethics has changed. I have become more knowledgeable about the different approaches to ethics and have gained insight as to where I stand in my approach to ethics.

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.

Having each specific technique stated within the reported findings from the officer's responses in pages 118-124 in Policing & Society by J.Goldschmidt and Anonymous was helpful in developing a correlation between the two. I particularly am a fan of the list of forces motivating police dishonesty on page 124 for it summarizes all the points into a concise and comprehensive list. The findings of the study conducted raise attention to the hypocritical nature of police officers who engage in deviant activity. We often idealize police officers as noble characters with true and worthy aims in protecting the public, although those same individuals share the flaws of criminals when it comes to maintaining an identity that satisfies personal approval and public acceptance. Although, I can understand the burden placed on officers to conduct proper protocol and further a prosecution simultaneously. A true testament to the culture of police work lie in the way the workers conduct themselves. If deviant behavior is necessary in order to effectively accomplish the mandate of the job, then the issues lies within the system. The employees of any company are only as good as the environment they are placed in . At an operational level , police officers are hindered in their success by an immoral occupational culture, improper management, a need to satisfy a public audience, and the challenge of adhering to legislation that focuses on protection over

Law enforcement officials are in a position of authority and power that allows them a great amount of discretion. With this power there is a need for the individual to uphold the high ethical standards and accountability to the local community that the individual has sworn to serve and protect. When an officer does not follow the ethical standards that are placed upon him or her, the reputation of the department and profession is placed in jeopardy. Having on officer to breach the ethical standards presented with the position can have a negative impact on the communities’ opinion of all officers. It is important that individuals in upper management consistently maintain an environment that consist of integrity and maintain the trust of the

With all the recent issues that are currently seeing on the news from the Travon Martin Case, Michael Brown in Ferguson, Corruption in Law Enforcement there really needs to be some policies put in place to address untruthful officers. Unfaithful Officers are a subject that has been in the news for many years and will continue to be. Being labeled as an untruthful officers is not a brand an officers would like to wear. The essay will discuss how important trust is when working in Law Enforcement, Termination or not of officers who are caught lying.

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).