The Ethics of Police
Nature of police
The police department always closes their comments at the ubiquitous statements such as stay safe or be safe. We will not find any profession in which being safe is a secondary objective. However, there is one department which has a primary objective other than safety. Its the law enforcement agencies, specifically police department. In police, ethics triumphs over safety. The police officers are trained not only to put them in harms way, but also to remain stalwart and a beacon of integrity and honesty. If the police officers loose their morality, the society will start to breakdown as well.
When we talk about police, we must keep in mind that police has to be discrete and flexible in nature. This is due to the fact that the police officers have to provide a wide array of police services to its neighborhood in a very supportive, non-aggressive and legally questionable crime fighting tactics. Similarly, the police officers have to adhere to the laws and remain accountable to the general public. In order to achieve these goals, the police must undergo a training program, commonly known as Police Ethics Training. Below I will be discussing certain training procedures that were actually adopted by the Huntsville, Alabama, Police Department.
Controlling Police Behavior
The law enforcement agencies controlled the officers via paramilitary structure traditionally. This was accompanied by the written rules and procedures for the conduct of the officers. But the problem lies that if these policies are detailed and numerous, then they may fail to serve as a guidelines for the conduct of police officers. Similarly if they are imprecise and general in nature, they may again become dysfunctional.
More recently, in order to ensure accountability and to deal with the misconduct of the police officers, the tort liability claims have been identified. This civil liability or civil judgment does not have constituted a valid strategy to prevent misconduct of police. We do not see noteworthy structural changes in police even after civil judgments or threats of civil sanction against police agencies.
Another method for controlling is the concept of community policing. On one hand this is good as it decentralizes the police authority and the officer determines the best response for a particular problem is. In community policing, they also coordinate and work closely with the citizens. However, on the other hand community policing also increases the chances of corruption as the police officers are in direct contact with the citizens who may be have money, power or influence.
The problems discussed above conclude us that the police conduct cannot be managed by rules and procedures only. They must also inculcate value system. This value system must be supported by community reporting and review mechanism.
Management through values
The management values say that the departments value helps in shaping the actions of the departmental officers. This means that if the police department itself has a value system, it will be automatically transferred in the police officers as well. These management techniques also help in determining and strengthening the relationship between the police and the community.
The police agencys official values must be reflected in the police environment, such as during the class discussion. Tests, case studies review and field officers program. This management tool can be effectively used ion aiming at the superior performance of the officers. This management-through-values can only be implemented if the professional ethical standards are emphasized throughout the police department.
The Huntsville Prototype
In 1992, The Huntsville Police Department designed and implemented a police ethics training program that aimed at providing ethics training to the police recruits. It developed into a three-tiered approach by 1994 and provides different standards of training to the different levels of police officers (Jones et al, 1995). The essential features of this prototype are
First Tier Recruit Training
Second Tier Inservice Training
Third Tier Police Supervisors Training
The Huntsville Police Departments ethics training program gives participants the opportunity to reflect on and to discuss important issues with other police professionals. This helps them in sharing the ideas necessary for the effective functioning of the police department.
How can American citizens ensure that police officers take this responsibility seriously
We must bear in mind that ethical training alone will not help in increasing the level of trust that people have on the police, nor will it help in ending power abuse across the nation. This profession needs a series of changes, and ethical training is nothing but a part of this serial changes. The ethical training helps in improving the department and it s problems. Unless the police agencies do not put en effort in selecting the right candidates, they will not succeed in framing an ethical police department.
The selection process should recruit those individuals whose character has been good over the years. These people are those who feel proud for working as a public servant rather than the power that is accompanied with the position. Ethical training will fail to change eh behavior of the person whose primary concern is to join the police force for power purpose.
Staying ethical
We often hear Our countrys last line of defense in association with the American Police Officers. This is referred to as these people who are guarding us against the one who are intending to commit a violent act. We can say that the American Police Officers stand to guard the epitome of civilized society. The police officers are responsible for balancing the welfare of the citizens by enforcing the law. Similarly, they will also adhere to the moral and ethical conducts in concert with the constitution (Klein, 2009).
The Police officers are taught stay ethical. This is not because they already are ethical, but because they must remain ethical. By ethics we mean that it is asset of system that is based on the principles of honesty and integrity. Ethics have been accepted as professional standards around the globe. For police officers, the ethical standards mean no cheating, no stealing and no lying. There are simply no excuses and no exceptions when it comes to ethical behavior.
Purpose of police
The purpose of police is to maintain the social control in a society. Every nation is found to focus on two major points i.e. order and liberty. The government utilizes the police force to maintain a balance between the security and freedom. When we talk about United States of America, we talk about experiment in ordered liberty. USA emphasizes more on freedom rather than order.
In United States, the police are assigned with an enormous power. Common public does not even fear the President or the representatives of Congress as they fear from the police officials. The police have the power to deprive them of their normal liberties, use physical force against them, search their personal belongings or simply detain citizens. But this awesome power of police officials means that there lies a humongous responsibility on the shoulders of police officials as well. They are responsible for acting in the best interest of the citizens in accordance with the democratic principles.
Do police needs ethics
The police officers do need ethical standards. They need to uphold the law regardless of offenders identity, race or social status. They must keep in mind that they must not make wrong use of power by taking advantages or by providing a comfort zone to the offenders. They must also not give social treatment to the people. The police force is build to offer its services to the general public. They are always ready to serve, protect and maintain the public order and peace. They must align themselves with the constitutional values. The police officers should be careful and work accordingly what the law dictates. They must be well aware not to cross the restricted boundaries of constitution.
Conclusion
To conclude we can say that the police officials are engaging in the business that is concerned with the ethical behavior. The ethics can be termed as their forte, stock-in-trade, persona, signature and their identification. It is the ethical conduct that distinguishes the profession of the police officers with the other professions. Even of one police officer is seen to have violated the law, the trust and that people have on this law enforcing agency is vanished. They society goes towards barbarism. Only and only the adherence to the constitutional rules and morality can help a society in flourishing towards success.
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