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Police Department Ethics Policies Police Departments main purpose is to serve people and to protect them from harm and various kinds of offences from the side of other people. Every police department has a certain code of rules and ethics, which predispose their actions and attitudes towards the society. In this research we are going to compare and contrast two police departments ethics policies and codes of conduct. Police brutality has been a long lasting problem in the United States since at least 1903 when police Captain Williams of the New York Police Department coined the phrase, There is more law at the end of a policeman's nightstick than in a decision of the Supreme Court. In the 1920 s the Wichersham Commission had a number of instances of police brutality. Many of these included the use of the third degree (beating to obtain a confession).
This is a very effective way to get a confession out of somebody. However, beating the accused could easily elicit a confession from a scared and innocent person. Also, this puts the accused persons life in danger. Police officers must make snap life and death decisions daily.
Officers work in an environment where death (theirs, their partners, and an innocent or guilty person) is one decision away. How does that constant fear effect an officers perception? Unfortunately, many that are attracted to law enforcement are aggressive and prone towards violence as a solution. The police code of conduct works in conjunction with the law enforcement code of ethics. The code of conduct consists of ethical mandates law enforcement officers use to perform their duties.
These guidelines include acting impartially; exercising discretion; using only necessary force; and maintaining confidentiality, integrity, and a professional image at all times. These codes are only pieces of paper with words printed on them. Society judges ethical behavior by actions, not words. These documents provide the guidelines for law enforcement personnel to conduct ethical investigations, use only the force necessary to apprehend an individual, and avoid conflicts of interest and corruption.
These ethical statements, along with appropriate training and strong leadership, encourage law enforcement officers to become members of an ethical profession. (Houppert) Nothing suggests that an agency has to have an officer dedicated solely to the internal affairs function. In fact, with the chemistry of a small agency, an objective internal affairs investigation may not be possible if only one officer handles every case. Many factors, such as personal bias, grudges, and friendships, may cloud the judgment of even the most well-intentioned investigator. In most small agencies, the task falls to an uninvolved superior officer or detective who, ultimately, reports to the chief. What do internal affairs investigators try to find out? The truth and, sometimes, the truth hurt.
They try to learn whether an officer has violated departmental policies or any laws. In some instances, they discover that the officer acted within a certain policy, but that the policy itself is flawed. In most cases involving the investigation of a violation of law, the investigator has a clearly defined statute, ordinance, or judicial review by which to measure an officers conduct. However, this may not be the case with departmental policy violations. Well-written, clearly defined policies and procedures represent the foundation of a successful police department. Agencies in the unfortunate position of defending themselves in a civil proceeding stemming from an internal affairs investigation often find that this comes from having been vague when preparing written directives for their officers.
What is conduct unbecoming to a police officer? If a policy is not specific, an agency may find that this catch all phrase does not. If an agency finds a certain behavior unacceptable, it should state it clearly in the policy. Agencies should specify exactly what their employees should not do and what they should do. Then, if an officer acts contrary to the policy, the chief has a bright line that measures the officer's conduct and finds it faulty. This bright-line standard must apply to all policies, procedures, rules, and regulations before agencies can hold their officers truly accountable.
Without rules specifying the conduct, any perceived shortfall resulting in charging an officer with conduct unbecoming will not be upheld. (DeSantis) Due process requires that agencies provide their officers with guidance in their jobs that is not overly broad, vague, or ambiguous. (Safari) The courts have held that managers must tell their employees what they must do and what they are prohibited from doing. What then becomes difficult is walking the fine line between overregulation and allowing officers to exercise some discretion. Too much discretion and an agency find that it cannot regulate behavior, promote professionalism, support integrity, or hold officers accountable when so-called violations occur. It is not enough that the chief has a binder full of regulations; it is not enough to simply distribute these and expect officers to comply. To be effective, every agency member must have full access to agency policy manuals.
All members must receive training and acknowledge their understanding of the regulations. Agencies must ensure that even the most junior member of the force can understand any policies and procedures and can use them as a comprehensive guide when attempting to accomplish a task without immediate supervision. Finally, every regulation must be legal, ethical, reasonable, and, most important, uniformly enforced. (Herbert) Police officers have a lot of power. With this power comes responsibility. Police brutality can be defined as the excessive or unreasonable use of force in dealing with citizens, suspects and offenders. A nationally known example occurred on the morning of March 3, 1991.
Rodney King was pulled out of his vehicle and beaten by two Los Angeles police officers. The LAPD had originally given chase to Mr. Kings vehicle due to a failure to yield. Officers fired a 50, 000 -volt Taser electric dart gun at Mr. King. They also hit King with batons.
Mr. King, according to police officials, was hit approximately 56 times. Mr. King had 11 broken bones at the base of his skull. Also, the bones holding his eye in the right socket were broken (LA Times March 19, 1991 p. A 20).
The policemen reported that Mr. King appeared to be on PCP at the time he was pulled over. Subsequent tests indicated Mr. King had no drugs or alcohol in his system (Serrano, 1991 p.
A 1). The Rodney King incident was however, captured by a private citizen on videotape. This videotape has subsequently been broadcast nationally and the ensuing trial against the police officers involved captivated our nation. (LA Times March 19, 1991 p. A 20).
Twenty-seven uniformed officers witnessed this incident from various law enforcement agencies. None of the officers (those individuals who are supposed to protect citizens) made any effort to stop this abuse. (LA Times March 19, 1991 p. A 20). The level of escalation even went so far as to call in a police helicopter! (Ironically, the lights from the helicopter actually improved the lighting for the videotape. ) The King beating brought complaints from the Mayor of Los Angeles Tom Bradley and national attention from civil rights leaders. Many believed the beating was racially motivated and extended from a pattern of abusive behavior by police towards blacks. (McDonald 1991) This act of violent behavior from police officers has brought many questions to the national table, such as: Is police brutality on the rise?
Are police officers hiding behind their badges? How does the public view police brutality? How can we raise public awareness? Is police brutality on the rise? This is an important question to ask ourselves and the police departments.
A study in seventeen counties in Northern California indicated that in the past two years excessive force and neglect has resulted in at least seven deaths and fatal injury. (Safari, no date) In fact a nine-month period from August 26, 1996 to June 29, 1997 seven citizens died as a result of police brutality. Sonoma County California currently has the highest rate of custody deaths in the bay area (Safari). In many cases the situation (according to police accounts) has rapidly escalated to a point where police feel the need to use deadly force. Many of those committing crimes are mentally ill. The Sonoma County Alliance for the Mentally Ill advises that police officers in confrontations with people experiencing psychiatric episodes: Speak calmly and quietly Slow down the pace Be willing to repeat yourself Do not try to hurry a resolution This increase in violence is part of a toughened criminal justice system, which includes the war on drugs, the building of new prisons, and the garnering of federal habeas corpus rights. (Kerstetter, 1985 p. 160) This rise in police brutality may come from a quick criminalization of people because the public wants safer streets and quick action by the police. (Rockwell, 1997) Pressure has been put on police to deal with the criminals, juveniles and other public problems, so it reasons that an overburdened police officer finds people or a group of people committing some kind of crime that they just beat the hell out of them to save time instead of arresting the assailants and filling out the proper paper work. (U.
S. Department of Justice. (1994) An incident in the New York subway illustrates what (due to the publics level of fear) police officers are doing to suspicious albeit innocent citizens. July 1998 around 11 oclock at night 18 year old Lani Soto was riding the New York subway train (Herbert, 1999). She had just left work and was on her way to Williamsburg, where she lives, when one of two officers came up to where she was sitting. The officer started asking her questions when one of them told her to stand up, she said no and the officer grabbed her by the hair and pushed her face into the train door. Then the police officer claimed to be frisking her.
Instead of doing a routine frisk the officer put his hand in between her legs and then on her breasts. This was done for longer than necessary to ascertain whether or not she carried a weapon. When the train stopped and the doors opened Lani stepped off the train and the police officers stood on the train laughing at her. It is not uncommon for officers to stop and ask...
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Research essay sample on Police Department Ethics Part 1
