...Police Ethics and Use of Force Bernardo Harper AIU Online Abstract Police Ethics and use of force is always a topic up for discussion in society today. There are many cases where the use of force that police officers choose is questioned on whether or not it is excessive. There are also quite a few cases that question the ethics of the officers who are charged with serving, and protecting the people of the public. Public safety is always the number one priority of the departments of many cities, and towns in the United States. The decision of when to use force and, and how much force to use is made in a split second. The aftermath of a case when deadly force is used will be investigated and questioned by the people in charge as well as the victims or their families. Police Ethics and Use of force Police officers are in charge of maintaining order in the community. Without the police there would certainly be more chaos where we live and work. The job of the police is to deter criminal activity to allow the citizens to be able to live their lives without having to worry about being the victims of criminal activity. The system is not perfect and crimes are still going to be committed, but it does work and for the most part regular law abiding citizens are able to go about their lives without harm. The people of the police department are citizens as well and are not perfect. They have a responsibility to protect and serve the people of the communities in which they...
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...Code of Ethics within Police Agencies Abstract Ethic is one of law enforcement’s greatest training and leadership needs never has it been more vital then now that leaders in law enforcement confront the ethical issues that are facing the profession of law enforcement. This is a summary of law enforcement and ethics today. The major topic discussed are leadership, recruitment training and the police code of ethics. Also discussed is the alternatives and suggestions for impacting ethical misconduct such as modeling ethical behavior and the way ethics are taught by leaders in education. Introduction Integrity, courage, responsibility and honesty are all words that have been used to describe the term ethical. Ethics has become a popular topic in law enforcement. Law enforcement should represent the highest level of ethical conduct in a community, today the view of what is considered acceptable police behavior by society has changed. Throughout the country there is a decline of the public’s confidence in police and the entire law enforcement community. Most men and women in law enforcement hold the public’s trust as sacred they are hardworking police officers who are proud to serve their community with the highest standards of ethical behavior. The focus of this paper is to define ethics and its role in the law enforcement community. The areas of leadership selection and recruitment and training will be discussed along with the officer code of ethics. In police departments...
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...careers which you labeled 1,2,3, and 20. For each one, explain why you labeled the occupation with that level of status. For example: 1) Auto technician: I ranked auto. technicians number 1 because nearly everyone relies on automobiles for transportation. Without transportation, most people would not be able to support themselves or a family. Auto. technicians serve a crucial role in maintaining our standards of living. Exercise 1.1 First Impressions 1. I am a student athlete. 2. I need to stop procrastinating. 3. I want to graduate with my AA in May. 4. My current life stage in selecting a career has been altered recently, but is still moving in the right direction. 5. I would like to change my work ethic to be a little stronger. 6. If all goes well in the next five years, I will be doing the following things: Settled down with a family somewhere, financially stable, with my career established, possibly kids on the way! 7. If things go poorly in the next five year, I will be doing: more schooling to get another degree to change my career paths, not married or not even in a relationship, and financially unstable, but would find my way back on my feet. 8. Reviewing past jobs or volunteer experiences I have had, what did I like best/least about each one? Is there a pattern? My first job was a waitress at a pizza place and I liked it for the most part. I enjoyed getting to meet all kinds of interesting people Exercise...
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...Police and ethics Holly McCullough Unit 5 AIU Abstract Local police law enforcements are held to a higher standard then society. When ethics are abused and broken this can cause mistrust among the people and community’s. The community’s in which these police departments work must keep ethics under control and know how to handle the people they are working with dignity and respect. The public expects the law to work on both sides even when a police officer has broken the law they should be treated as a regular person if not harsher because of their job. Police and Ethics At Cook County hospital a very busy emergency room a 59-year old stabbing victim sat in the lobby waiting to be treated became disruptive by cursing and yelling he believed he was waiting too long and was not being treated fast enough. Nurses asked police to intervene to help elevate the complaints coming from others sitting and waiting. A uniformed officer went to the man and handcuffed the man to his wheelchair and then began to beat on him with his baton. It was all documented and caught on videotape. After an internal investigation...
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...How Can We Reduce the Police`s Use of Excessive Force? Police`s use of excessive force happens in the United States every year. Even more, excessive force by police causes a thousand civilians to be killed in 2014 (Scott Shackford). In the quote, “We have an incredible warrior class in this country. People in law enforcement, intelligence and I thank God every night we have them standing fast to protect us from the tremendous amount of evil that exists in the world” by Brad Thor, describes clearly about police, and they have seen as a shield for civilians. They can protect civilians from the harms from criminals. On the other hand, a lot of civilians get over harm during law enforcement. If we want police to become better effect for communities, the top priority is that we need reduce the police use of excessive force. First of all, police should wear body camera to reduce police brutality. According to the article, “Self-Awareness to Being Watched and Socially-Desirable Behavior: A Field Experiment on the Effect of Body-Worn Cameras on Police Use-of-Force." By Barak Ariel, PhD describes “body cameras can give police some limitation by creating self-awareness. (8)” Once they want to abuse their power, they will think that they can get punishment from those evidences recorded by cameras. Second of all, ethics training reduces excessive force significantly. Furthermore, it can improve police ethics during the law enforcement, and it will help them thinking before they pull trigger...
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...Chief and sheriff are two different positions. A Sheriff is generally (but not always) the highest, usually elected, law-enforcement officer of a county. Chiefs of Police usually are municipal employees who owe their allegiance to a city. Oftentimes, Chiefs are appointed by the Mayor of a city; or, they may be appointed by or subject to the confirmation of a Police Commission. Being a chief in a large city or county sheriff is a very challenging profession and rank. They are the leaders that control a squad. The three skills that are required of a police chief in a large city or a county sheriff would be: communication skills, leadership, and management skills. A police chief must have good communication, because they are the head of the department. When an officer needs help to address a situation the chief takes the officer place to address the situation with the individual. They have to know what to say at the right given time to the right person. According to Greene (2007), “The chief, as a communicator, must build lines of communications not only within the police department but among the community and other government entities” (p. 930). Being a chief holds great responsibility, since the public hears what the chief says on the news. The community looks for answers that the police cannot give. Another skill that a chief in a large city or county sheriff needs is good leadership skills because they must be the leader and set an example to their fellow officers. They must...
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...the books as the founder of the first form of an English police department: the London Metropolitan Police. This was after his London Metropolitan Police Act passed in 1829, giving greater power to the English police force and establishing what he is known for today. Peels ideas were very well defined and offered a lot to policing even up to modern day. To understand the impact of this, we must take a look at Peel's act, and know how it would change policing. Peel was Home Secretary of England when his act passed in 1929. Sir Peel’s mission in creating his police force was to establish control on crime. He wanted to obtain this through crime prevention. Thus far, policing had been reactive for the most part. His ideas of crime prevention reflected the proactive idealization, that is that preventing crime is more effective than responding to it. Sir Peel's principles were heavily influenced by the military as well. He implemented the military’s organizational structure such as their uniforms, ranks and rank structure, discipline, and an authoritarian system of command. In an authoritarian system of command, one single person is in charge at the top of the command chain. This same military approach is still one of the most commonly used command structures in today’s policing. Although Sir Peel established these groundbreaking principles for policing, he was not a police officer himself. Sir Peel guided London’s police department with “Peel's Principles of Policing”. The principles...
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...According to Cole and Gertz (2013), community oriented police focuses on maintaining order in local neighborhoods (p.103). Their presence helps ease problems within the community such as domestic violence, rowdy teenagers, and drug houses. But the role of community police is changing as they face new challenges such as immigration, protest movements, and terrorism (Cole & Gertz, 2013). The 9/11 attacks added a dimension to policing that expanded their role beyond maintaining order. They have new responsibilities that include “fixed geographic responsibilities” as a method of preventing local terroristic threats. Police now examine their areas of responsibilities and help to determine the possible areas for attacks. In addition, they help to...
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...Criminal Justice Ethics 1 Criminal Justice Ethics Delono Walker Devry University August 8, 2013 Criminal Justice Ethics 2 Making choices as a police officer can be difficult and as an officer if you had a problem with your partner who would you tell. Police officers have a brotherhood that allows them to spare each other. Officers also have human resource agents that work from within their organization to remove those who are not fit. The newspaper is the voice of the people and will allows the civilians that officers swore to protect to decide. Making choices as a police officer can be difficult and as an officer if you had a problem with your partner who would you tell. Within Economics Utility is based on goods and services; which means whomever has more can attain from another that has less however wants the same. This is a basic fundamental of business and can become a problem within an organization with officers; some see personal gain ahead of duty. If I had a partner within a room that didn’t turn on the cameras and denied representation I would notify the news papers. Police officers have a brotherhood that allows them to spare each other. I believe that if I told a supervisor he would tell me to let it go or find a way to make it so that we could all get along. His duty should come first before the thought of personal gain…...
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...Principles of police activity are generalized as the main provisions that guide the relevant bodies and officials in the solution of the tasks assigned to them. Researchers emphasize that the principles of police activity cover objectively established patterns, traditions, legal norms, and ethical rules that are gradually entrenched in the field of policing and are designed to ensure the stability and efficiency of the police apparatus (Rogers et al., 2010). It is quite justified to point out the advisability of a broader interpretation of the legal principles of police activity and the need to correct narrow-minded (positivist) understanding, including the development and implementation of a code of ethical conduct for employees of the police department. Currently, police have to work in turbulent environment, an increasing number of new challenges, such as the problem of illegal migrants and criminality among them, the growing problems of interethnic and interracial discord, the emergence of new radical social movements, as well as the diversity of the workforce in the police itself. Considering the above, the development of an ethical code should involve employees of all levels, all units in the police department. Namely, they,...
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...Ethics in Policing Darlene Freeman CRIJ 5322 Introduction This paper explains issues that shape the role of ethics in policing. Police ethics involves hard choices as well as avoiding violations of basic moral standards. Police officers inevitably face ethical issues when it comes to what’s right or wrong. The authority that police officer are given to protect the public presents the temptation to abuse the power that’s given to them. This paper will explain the rule- of-law and how it represents societal standards that define police duties and responsibilities. Police officers are given a significant amount of discretion simply due to the nature of their job. Officers are faced with many threatening situations forcing them to react quickly yet appropriately. They have the power to infringe upon any citizen’s rights to freedom and therefore must use their power effectively. One major concern with a number of discretion officers have is their power to decide when to use force or when to use lethal force (Lee, Lim, Moore, & Kim, 2013) Additionally, public perception of policing will be discussed, police brutality and due process within the criminal justice system. Accountability is one of the most important components when it comes to public perception of police officers. When officers begin to use force to control the community, citizens began to review officers as authority figures instead of protecting and serving the community. This results in a breakdown...
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... Abstract During the 1960’s, police officers executed arrests and dealt with problems in a way that greatly differ from law enforcement of today. This time frame involved racial riots, women rights, civil rights and important court cases. Mapp v. Ohio was concluded in 1961, and concluded that the fourth amendment applied to state courts and not just federal. Women achieved major milestones in the 1960’s, and Civil Rights were one of the biggest topics of the times. In the criminal justice field, a law enforcement official is expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner on and off duty. Part I – Policing Research Police Trends and Issues during the 1960’s During the 1960’s, law enforcement was completely different from what it is today. Officers were taught to handle situations in a way that would be illegal and in some opinions, morally wrong. When there was a riot, regardless of what is motivating the crowd, law enforcement officials would use excessive force and various, unnecessary tactics. People today probably wonder what made police officials believe that this type of crowd control was an acceptable response to any type of situation. Unfortunately, police officers were taught this in the academies and honestly believed that what they were doing was right. Also during this era, the first female officers came into play for law enforcement. In conjunction to females being allowed to be become officers, the first black police officer was hired in the 1960’s...
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...challenge of promoting greater racial harmony as the future grows nearer. Community policing also prevents the police from being misused and taken advantage of as they have been in the past (Trojanowicz, 1991). Community policing contributes to the developing and improving the racial development in obvious and subtle ways (Trojanowicz, 1991). Community policing changes the possible relationship between police and residents. Community policing can provide and develop a relationship of one with respect and truth (Trojanowicz, 1991). Community Policing takes a different role to crime, drugs, and disorder, one that can augment and enhance traditional tactics, such as rapid response and undercover operations (Trojanowicz, 1991). Community policing allows direct contact with the people to the community. It gives the average citizen by allowing him or her to join as partners with the police in efforts to make his or her communities better and safer places in which to live and work. This builds a more trustworthy partnership between the citizens, community police, and police. Community officers have a stronger relationship with the citizens of their area since they have that face to face factor every day. Community police are also there to listen to the needs of people within their communities. Communities police can give the police the suggestions and needs to the police and allow them set up priorities and create solutions to help the communities. The relationship between...
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...POLICE CORRUPTION AND MISCONDUCT Police corruption became widespread shortly after the formation of the first American police departments in the 1800's. Police misconduct can range from minor cases to criminal acts that are considered to be corruption. Misconduct can be defined as mismanagement especially of governmental or military responsibilities or intentional wrongdoing; specifically: deliberate violation of law or standard especially by a government official; or improper behavior. Corruption is defined as impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle: depravity; decay, decomposition; inducement to wrong by improper or unlawful means (as bribery); a departure from the original or from what is pure and correct. Police corruption is a very gray area because people and society disagree on what is classified as corruption. One of the most famous police officers in the United States is Frank Serpico. Serpico had pride in wearing his police uniform, but it quickly dissipated when he realized his partner was picking up pad money (payments by store owners to ensure cops would be there in case of trouble, but also ignore minor violations of the store owners and their customers). Serpico did not want anything to do with that and didn't want the ...
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...of your temper results to disintegrating a situation. This paper provides two examples of police-involved shootings where better judgment could have applied. I will express my opinion on what I think should been to develop proper demeanor of law enforcement officers. Lastly, this paper pinpoints training deficiencies and will provide feedback of the area of training needed to satisfy the deficiency. Law Enforcement Guidelines We, as ordinary people, oftentimes find ourselves in situations where people push our buttons, or they try to see just how far they can push us before we totally loose our composure. Our temper is an additive tool that is essential in helping if a situation is diluted or if a situation is escalated. Today, there is much scrutiny of excessive force, corruption and brutality within our local police departments and among law officials. According to Sir Robert Peel’s first principle, the main goal and accomplishment for the police is to hinder disorder and criminal offenses (New Westminster Police Department, 2013). It is of the police ethics and duty of not wavering by one’s threats or any type of language, especially offensive. The advantage of displaying such ethical behavior is in the event that the police needs any help the by-standers and/or witnesses will be more willing to assist the officer (Ethics, n.d., para. 3). There are too many police-involved shootings and in many cases, the victims or suspects are unarmed. For instance, a...
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