Police Reporting Misconduct Research Paper

Unlike the past, when a police career was highly regarded in keeping morality and order in the society, in our times, people have lost respect for the police. Rather than doing the duty bestowed on them by the community, a big number of law enforcing officials are making use of their authority to do immoral things. Many police officers have been engaged in different scandals and even drugs. The police are using the power given to them in an unethical manner. The public no longer has trust on the police due to their conduct toward the people. The so-called “law enforcers” have been seen beating and harassing people for no apparent reason. The community has witnessed police brutality and broad daylight theft being carried by the police. Differentiating between the real criminals and the police on eyes of the public is

In previous decades police offenses, most particularly in today's Society Police transgression has tragically turned out to be excessively common in our society. Independent broad-based anti-corruption commission (2011) has characterized Police offense as an activity performed by a cop that incorporates declining to perform their duties, carrying on disgraceful or unfittingly while on duty or taking a break.

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

If a department does not change the ways in which they handle and see things, then progress can never be made to establish understanding in the community. Every year there is a new cause or feeling in the community and the police department must be able to deal with the changes in society. These changes heavily dictate how the community perceives law enforcement. Officers must be able to adapt and overcome these changes in order to keep the relationship positive so that the trust can be kept/maintained between them and the people they

The building of trust within the community is the cornerstone of a successful police department. A great amount of effort is needed in order to maintain the communities trust. Establishing a trusting relationship between law enforcement and the community has the ability to assist in police officers doing their job more effectively, makes the job safer and helps to decrease litigation issues that have often been an issue for local departments. Unfortunately, decades of mistrust make it difficult to establish trust. This combined with the lack of positive police presence within the community has built a hostile relationship between law enforcement and the community (Skogan, 2005). A large amount of citizens’ interaction with law enforcement is

There are many reasons why the police have a difficult time interacting with the communities they are supposed to protect and serve. These issues did not occur overnight however the string of police involved shootings throughout the United States seems to wedge a bigger gap between the pubic and the police, along with poor communication skills and lack of positive engagement with the community. Police officers deal with many types of people from different cultures and age groups and should be able to adapt no matter where they are. When these officers take an interest in the communities they patrol, there is generally a sense of peace, when officers don’t care and aren’t in sync with the residents residing in the communities the disengagement is apparent. By finding ways to improve the relationship and actually applying them, there may be a chance to bring a positive light back the police-community relationship.

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

Law enforcers are supposed to hold the ideals of honesty, integrity and responsibility at all times in the line of duty. This is even more profound for police officers whose work should always inspired confidence among the communities they serve and protect. In fact, one of the core values that police officers ought to uphold at all times is inspiring public trust. A huge percentage of police officers use their positions and authority to serve the public while upholding the highest standards of ethics at all times. However, on most occasions, just like in any other profession, law enforcers are faced with a multitude of ethical dilemmas. Ethical dilemmas occur when an officer faces a situation where he does not know the right course of action, when the course of action considered as right is difficult to follow or when following the wrong course of action was very tempting.

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.

I want to focus on the public’s trust in the profession of law enforcement. Law enforcement administrators are always looking for ways to enhance their departments image to the communities they serve. This is a tough task because there are many factors that go into the public’s perception of law enforcement. While a local agency may have a good relationship with its community an incident may happen across the country with the police misconduct and the local agencies reputation is damaged because of it. Police Officers have accepted a position that holds a great deal of authority and their actions are performed in the public eye. They are held by their communities to very high standards, with traits such as honesty, integrity, equity and professionalism being some of the most important. Every day thousands of police officers throughout the country do their job in a manner that is exemplary but it takes the actions of just one officer to tarnish all of these good works. Unfortunately these situations happen too often and seem to be increasing at an alarming rate.

The importance of following the code of ethics in law enforcement is crucial. The public depends on you to be there to help them not to turn your back and violate their constitutional rights. The public will lose respect for you and when you’re in need of assistance either injured or trying to solve a case they will just turn the other way and avoid you. As law enforcement officers we need the public more than they need us, they have the power to

What constitutes “unethical behavior” when working in law enforcement? Lieutenant Lape pointed out that short of losing one’s life; the worst thing that a law enforcement officer can lose is their credibility. In order to be an effective cop, one has to be trustworthy and honest. Examples given by Lieutenant Lape of unethical behavior in the work place is “lying” and acting with “malice.” Lape went on to elaborate that, “A lie is a lie. There is no such thing as a little white lie.” Doing your job with malice is “being evil.” Examples would be using “excessive force”

The police department attempts to hire the most ethical individuals they can. When a person decides to become an officer, they become the protector of the community. Police officers are known as Gate keepers of the criminal justice system. Police officer are value-based decision makers so every decision they make can determine how the community sees them. An officer duty is to make sure there is public order maintained, deal with people who negligent the law and enforce the law. Officer are challenged everyday with ethical issues. The police have the power to take away civilians’ liberty, arrest them, take them into custody and use force to control them. They should ensure that there is order maintain because they’re seen as the protector of the community. The job of an officer is very critical because they are always being watched and under reviewed by the government agencies, including federal state and local agencies; the media; and the public. Across the Untied States police officers do hundreds of thousands of good acts from helping find a lost child, to bring the sick and injured to the hospital. Even with majority of good officers out there, there are officers who are corrupted. Corruption is defined as “acts involving misuse of authority by a police officer in a manner designed to produce personal gain for the officer or other” (Dempsey, 2010, p.211). What motivated these officers to become corrupted? It can be the lack of supervision, personal gain, or even the greed of money. It can be numerous of reason why an officer becomes corrupted. THESIS STATEMENT:

"A policeman’s first obligation is to be responsible to the needs of the community he serves…The problem is that the atmosphere does not yet exist in which an honest police officer can act without fear of ridicule or reprisal from fellow officers. We create an atmosphere in which the honest officer fears the dishonest officer, and not the other way around.", -Frank Serpico.

According to the law enforcement code of ethics, “honest in thought and deed both in my personal and official life, i will be exemplary in obeying the law and the regulations of my department.” As law enforcement officials, we must be aware of the ethical responsibilities attached to our positions, we must strive to live up to the highest possible standards on-duty and off-duty. On-duty, law enforcement officials are a direct representative of our department and government. We are to conduct ourselves in appearance and department in such a way that will inspire confidence and respect for the position of public trust we hold. Because we hold a position of trust and confidence in our communities and are given a lot of power to carry out