LRPS Case Studies

Police officers may or may not actively support noble-cause corruption. Sometimes when officers become aware of corrupt or illegal forms of misconduct, they are inclined to “turn a blind eye or look the other way.” It puts their fellow officers in a very difficult position, most officers tend to think that if they turn away and ignore it and do not acknowledge what is going on that they are not part of the misconduct or illegal activity. Most

When it comes to police officer disciplinary actions, the lines becomes thin and more difficult to read between. It is not such a black and white situation and when it comes to properly disciplining a police officer it can become difficult to do so especially when that officer has either been on the force a long time so there is an established relationship, or the inappropriate act they committed happened just once and they claim it will never happen again. These types of things make it much harder to decide what the right discipline may be for that officer.

After the civil war, local politicians rewarded their supporters with jobs as police officers. The officer were not trained and there was not a standard to become an officer. The are were event when entire departments were involved in misconduct and corruption. There was not much hope in this era because there was a lack of supervision that allowed officers to behave the way that they pleased. (Walker, Samuel, and Richards, M. 1996)

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

Policemen not only have to follow a set of rules and legislation, but they also must behave in a decent manner while on duty as well as off duty. Unfortunately, nobody is perfect, and police officers also make wrong decisions that could jeopardize the integrity of their police department. Often people do something that they know is wrong. However, they still do it because they feel no harm will come to them or they think nobody would ever find out. For instance, cheating on a test is wrong, but people do it because they think they can get away without the professor finding out.

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

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 a survey 52% of police officers said it is common for law enforcement officials to disregard the inappropriate conduct of other officers. While 61% of officers claimed they usually do not report serious abuse that they have directly witnessed by colleagues. Yes, we all know that there are always going to be a few corrupt and unethical people within every profession, but these statistics show that within the police officer profession there are far more than a few corrupt and unethical

The Amendments found in the United States Constitution contain several provisions to protect citizens from various infringements from the government. These provisions have greatly influenced what law enforcement is today. Due to the power of a law enforcement official, the public expects officers to be held to a higher ethical standard. Part of that expectation entails that officers will follow in the law and lead by example. Unfortunately, no one is perfect and departments will always have those law enforcement officers who stray from what is right and act questionably on and off duty. To ensure that officers are being held accountable for their actions, departments will employ their own Internal Investigation division to help identify, discipline, and/or remove employees found guilty of misconduct. Therefore, it is important that administrators develop safeguards to ensure that internal investigations are conducted fairly and ethically, demonstrating the best interest of both the

Police executives have always had different issues within the police department. Most police executives try to find a quick fix in order to solve the issue of police misconduct. Police misconduct is defined as inappropriate action taken by police officers in relation with their official duties (Police Misconduct Law & Legal Definition, n.d.). In order to solve this issue, one must acknowledge their different challenges, overcome the “code of silence”, and find out the role of organizational culture.

As a law enforcement officer, their standards should be higher. They should be constant checking a validation of all actions right or wrong. As much as I hate to say this, unless the current law enforcement system is removed completely and made from scratch their will never be the change required.

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

The role of a police officer can be rather intense at times, but they play a central part in the law enforcement system. Police officers monitor criminal activity, take part in community patrols, respond to emergency calls, issue citations, make arrests, investigate crimes and testify in court as needed. Although officers have a delegation of authority such as their chain of command, they are also given the discretion on which laws to enforce based on their trustworthiness, experiences, situation and training. Though I'm for officers having the entitlement of discretion, I strongly feel their background, values and beliefs can also cloud their judgement. While an officer's discretion has been up for debate publically due to the unnecessary

Police “officers work and live in a constantly changing environment in which they are exposed to a myriad of ethical conflicts. When either unprepared or unaware, police officers are more likely to “go with the flow” than they would be if they were adequately prepared to face potentially ethical risks.” (Gilmartin & Harris, 1998) Most ethical violations are committed because the officer is exposed to a situation in which he was inadequately prepared. The lack of time to think about the situation before committing an ethical violation has detrimental life changing consequences. Police work can be very exciting and very rewarding but if not properly prepared and trained an officer can easily find himself involved in an ethical violation. Understanding the issues and being mentally prepared will help police officers become more responsible and make better

No matter where law enforcement officers are they should maintain their professionalism. For instance, it does not make a good impression on the public if an officer is off duty and out with his buddies at a bar getting drunk and belligerent. If other patrons know he?s a police officer, it damages his reputation and public image as well as the department he works for. Police should also always be careful of what they say. You never know who could be listening. Perhaps a co-worker?s wife stopped in at the department store for something and another officer made crude comments that were over- heard by the wife. Not only is an incident like that downright rude and unprofessional, it could also be interpreted as harassment. Police officers must realize that they are expected by the community to maintain a level of integrity that others are not held to. This off-duty behavior could be misread as the officer being insincere about his job when on duty.