Defining Police Ethics

Introduction 

It is often said that no other profession requires the highest degree of ethical standards that it is in the law enforcement. Regardless of whether or not there are other professions that require the same degree of ethical dedication, it remains undoubtedly clear that the policing department demands the highest degree of ethics. As a body entrusted by the public to lead in the maintenance of law and order in the country, ethics within the police is absolutely essential in order to gain the public confidence. While ethical decision making needs to focus on doing what is right and discouraging the wrongs, it does not mean making decisions that everyone would agree with, but it rather means making the best ethical decision among competing alternatives ( Caldero & Crank, 2010 ). However, the foundation of the ethical decision making within the police department can be based on the professional code of conduct of the police, the statement of the ethical principles and the oath of the office that a police officer takes to protect and obey. If the ethical decisions within policing can be seen to embrace the adopted policies, then they can be viewed within these ethical principles that guide the wrongs and right. While the issue of an ethical decision within the policing remains a very complicated matter, it remains the sole responsibility of the police to act ethically and make appropriate ethical decisions as this is the expectation of every public member that the police serve. 

Ethics in Policing 

The criminal justice ethics or the police ethics is the study of ethics as applied in the area of law enforcement. The law enforcement agencies usually operate based on the established practices of the police as well as the ethical guidelines that are consistent with the ethical standards of the community ( Barker , 2011). The police ethics and integrity are primary aspects of the law enforcement sector that enhance effective crime control. There is a combination of law and standards that help police adhere to and maintain ethical behavior while on the course of their duty. These standards guide the police officers on what is required of them while at the same time prevent them from engaging in certain unethical behaviors such as abuse of authority or corruption which could have negative impacts on the policing department. It is therefore important that the officers get well trained on the ethical standards of the profession so that they understand what is wrong and right in the profession. 

The primary role of the police officers is to protect and serve the members of the public. The fulfillment of this mission requires the police officers to embrace an ethical code of conduct. The ethics of the police is essential in building the trust between the police and the public they serve. Without ethics within the law enforcement agencies, public trust will be lost, and as a result, this will negatively impact on the service delivery of the police officers. When members of the community which the police serve see and believe that there is ethics among the police officers, there will be improved communication between the two, a process that will promote shared responsibility between the police and the community in addressing the crime ( Perez & Moore , 2012). The ethics of the police officers are contained in the ethical code of conduct within the policing organization. The principles and ethics of the policing require an individual police officer to exhibit the qualities of what is considered as a superior character that will not only guide the officers in their actions but also enhance and develop high moral standards within the community. While under training, it is usually important to acknowledge that the police officers will need to exercise discretion in the performance of their duties. 

The policing department and the police officers are therefore expected at all times to act ethically and engage in ethical decision-making processes so that all their actions are within the morals of the community as well as that of the profession ( Westmarland & Rowe , 2016). There are obviously laws to guide the ethical decision making of the police officers, and at the same time, personal morals and values of an individual police officer play a crucial role in governing the conduct of the police while on the course of their duty. The major issue in the police ethics and ethical decision making is the fact that there are always laws that govern one as they take an oath of office, which conflicts with the individual values and personal interests. The rules when a police officer takes an oath of the office offers guidelines of the profession so that one can determine what is wrong and right and what to do in a given situation. 

According to Menzel (2016), making ethical decisions requires one to develop a positive intellectual perspective, empathy, and reason that are necessary to understand the consequences of individual’s own actions and make a balance in the use of force with the principle of least harm. The minimization on the ambiguity that is inherent in the ethical decision making, it is essential to focus on the three core values within the constitution of the United States which include Equal Protection, Equal Enforcement and Least Harm possible. In the entire ethics in the policing, the various major concepts and values, freedom, rights, and duties, as well as their application to the criminal justice and the maintenance of law and order, needs to be all examined. 

Ethical Actions and Core Values 

Milgram developed a theory to show that human beings are communal in nature and require a system of the authority. The ethics and morals of an individual always act together in determining the conduct of an individual. Despite the conflicts that may arise between the need to remain ethical and one’s personal values, police officers must at all times remain highly ethical as this is what is required of them in the profession. The notion has always been that the police officers are representatives of the government and are therefore expected to act impartially by performing their duties respect, dignity, courtesy and due diligence. At the same time, an ethical decision made by the police must not be compromising the issues of the integrity or any act that involves the conflicts of interest. 

Studies have confirmed that the public put more scrutiny on the police officers than any other profession, probably because they are cynical and hope to get them screwing up or because they are hopeful and looking for the best from the police ( Martin, 2011 ). In either circumstance, it is up to the police officers to act ethically and make ethical decisions both in public and private life so that they meet the expectations of the public. On a daily basis, it is normal to hear of the issues such as excessive use of force by the police, abuse of authority and misuse of public office. These are the ethical areas that the policing department has been expected to make the right ethical decisions in. The inappropriate responses to the race riots and peaceful protests have affected the way police officers approach their duty. Despite the efforts to make reforms in the police sector, there has been an erosion in the public trusts, a situation which affects the way the police perform their duty. Studies have shown that the best method to eliminate the crime rates in the United States is the use of community policing which require coordination between the police officers and the community members. While not many law enforcement officers may act unethically, unethical conduct by one officer usually impact the entire law enforcement profession due to the increased scrutiny from the public members. It is therefore vital for all the police officers to look and conduct themselves ethically in the eye of the public as well as in the private life as this is essential in building trust with the public. 

Understanding Ethics 

Understanding ethics require a deeper comprehension of what values mean to the society. Values are the ideas, behaviors, and actions that are worth and have been considered essential in a community or a particular profession. The individual values strongly influence one’s decision making and can be helpful in determining an individual’s personal and professional life. Within any society, there are both personal and societal values. The personal values of an individual depend on the upbringing of individual, ethnic, cultural and personal experiences ( Menzel , 2014). Societal values are those that have been considered by the members of the community as the ideals that are worth upholding. Understanding ethics, therefore, requires specific understanding values in the society that have been considered as ideals. Integrity is one of the values that help guide an individual towards being ethical. The practice of integrity is a core value that directs one to act and remain ethical in all life circumstances, both professional and private life. Police officers need to have integrity amongst them so that in every action they do, this will always guide them towards what is accepted. 

Honesty, kindness, empathy, justice, and compassion are other values that are also essential for an individual to remain ethical. Ethics require honesty, and a dishonest individual cannot be said to be ethical. Acting with kindness, empathy, and compassion is essential for a police officer to maintain high standards of ethics while at the same time promoting a good relationship with the community members ( Braswell, McCarthy & McCarthy , 2017). These ideals which form part of the universal values are important in guiding individuals towards ethical behaviors as well as ethical decision making. Such ideals help inform individuals of what actions are right and what is expected of everyone. 

Ethics is therefore based on doing the right thing as defined by the values of the community as well as personal values. The ethical principles are based on the notion that the right remains right and a wrong remains a wrong whatever the situation. When police officers fail to do what is right and instead do what is wrong, the public confidence in the law enforcement officers erodes leading to loss of trust from the public members with whom they serve. Adhering to the high ethical standards is therefore essential if the overall goals of the modern policing are to be achieved throughout the community. 

Promoting Ethics within Law Enforcement 

Achieving high ethical standards within the police sector is based on the need to inspire police officers from the very first days of their training into the police force. The police agencies have always employed various ways of promoting ethics among police officers. The first step that is used by the police agencies to enhance ethics within the law enforcement sector is taking an oath of office ( Ortmeier & Meese, 2010 ). The oath of office usually contains various provisions that require one to protect, uphold and defend the constitution of the United States. While taking an oath of office officers are required to make a promise that they will serve diligently and uphold the rule of law at all times through honesty, and integrity. They swear to be honest and upstanding citizens who will always abide by the law of the land while in the course of their duty. 

The oath of office lays the ground for the development of ethical behavior among the police officers. However, it does not end at taking the oath of an office but rather proceeds to another level where they are required to adhere to a certain professional code of ethics. Every profession has rules and regulations that govern the behavior of its members. Members are therefore required to act in accordance with these rules and regulations, failure to which there are set procedures and penalties that one faces, including being thrown out of the profession. The police agency has codes of ethics that certain state provisions aimed at promoting ethical behavior of the police officers while in the course of their duty while at the same time making them understand that the badge is a symbol of public interest which they must always fight to protect. 

The uniform that the police officers wear is a very important representation of the public a show that the public must need to develop trust among the police. The most crucial thing that the officers ought to remember is what they do while they are in police uniform as this not only affects them but also the whole agency. The officers must, therefore, understand that the badge is a symbol that the public can put their trust on them and as a result, they ought to do what is right always so that the public trust on them can increase. 

Police Role and Behavior 

There are many images and crime that reflect the law and order ideology. The role of the police is to offer protection for the citizens and ensure maintenance of law and order. However, many incidences have emerged where police get involved in activities that are deemed to be against their mandate. The excessive use of force has been witnessed in many parts of the country leading to loss of life and injuries. The increased rate of crimes in many streets in the United States has called for the need to have more police officers being added to provide protection. While this has been successful as the rate of crime has dropped for the last few years, incidences of police using excessive force and violation of the rights of individuals have been reported. Ethical issues come in when a police officer who took an oath to protect the constitution and guard the citizens goes ahead to violate the rights of these citizens. Major examples where the police have acted unethically by violating the rights of the individuals are the stop and frisk policy. Under this policy, the police are only allowed to stop someone if there is a proof beyond reasonable doubt that a person is about to commit criminal activity. However, this is not always the case, as many cases have been reported of police harassment and misuse of their authority to violate the rights of innocent citizens ( Prenzler & Ronken, 2016 ). 

Unethical behaviors among the police officers also occur in other forms such as corruption, discriminatory practices and flaking of evidence. Many incidences of police getting involved in corruption have been reported. Forms of corruption include police taking bribes from the citizens in exchange for service or someone offering a monetary bribe to the police officer to avoid arrest. Such actions amount to high levels of unethical behavior and can taint in a bad way the name of the policing department leading to loss of public trust. A police officer is a public servant who is mandated under the constitution to provide protection and maintain law and order in the country. Engaging in any corruption or other forms of scandals go against the ethical conduct of the policing profession. Many other forms of unethical behaviors from the police officers usually go unreported especially those that take place at the streets and fail to reach the media. Police brutality, discrimination in the service delivery and other unethical behaviors has been reported to take place from time to time, but most incidences usually go unreported. 

Public Perception of the Police 

Research concerning the public perception of the police has generally revealed that most people hold a positive view of the police officers and their legitimacy. A survey conducted in 2012 showed that majority believed government agencies were spending very little on the law enforcement sector. A survey of 1997, however, showed that between one-fourth and one-third of the Americans reported some confidence in the police ( Menzel , 2014). Only 10% of the public reported very little or no confidence in the police. These findings generally show that people have approval and that people recognized the importance of policing in the society. 

However, research has also shown that members of the public hold a negative view concerning the police. The negative views are usually specific to the individuals, contexts, and neighborhoods. Holding negative views of the police usually vary depending on the individual’s race, education or other types of lower-levels abstractions ( Menzel , 2014). It is however clear that the determinant of the public perception of the police officers is the ethical behavior that they display before the public. Many studies have shown that people tend to lose their trust in the police officers if they constantly engage in unethical behaviors such as violation of the rights of individuals and excessive use of force on citizens. Studies have also shown that race influences the public perception of the police. For instance, most minority groups tend to have a negative attitude towards the police for what they believe as being unfairly targeted. The stop and frisk policy is an example where the minority groups tend to be targeted more by the police making them develop a negative view towards the police. In many instances, the race has been demonstrated to correlate strongly with the perceptions of the police in several surveys. Hispanics and blacks have been found to have less confidence in the police and are more likely to believe that misconduct and biases is a major problem within the policing agencies. The blacks and Hispanics are also more likely to report of either having personal experience with the police misconduct. 

Any good reputation that the police service bears with the public is dependent on the favorable relationship that exists between the public and the police. The public always has high levels of demand for the servants, and as a result, subject them to constant scrutiny. At the same time, maintaining public confidence is essential for the policing profession calling for the need of the police to remain ethical at all the time while on the course of their duty. Most rules and regulations in most of the police departments are mainly concerned with the specific techniques and processes than to the conduct of the officers in their public relationships. In the United States of America, police are required to remain habitually courteous as they recognize that they are public servants. They are required to remain attentive and committed to offering assistance to the members of the public. They are also required to regard their office as a public trust, and as such, they should remain mindful of their obligations to serve the public while they remain ethical. 

The police officers are expected to remain committed to their duty and avoid conflict of interests which may make them lose their integrity and ethical values of the profession. Conflict of interest can make the officers get compromised in the course of their duty thus limiting their ethical behavior. Studies have shown that despite the current criminal justice system in place, the rate of crime in the United States have not changed much calling for the need to adopt other policing mechanisms that will help lower the crime rates ( Martin , 2011). The most preferred method that has been tested and found to be effective is the community policing. This involves coordination between the public and the police where the two work together to help combat crime in the society. However, the close relationship between the police and the public requires high levels of public trust for the police officers. Without trust, it gets difficult for community policing to work effectively. Police officers, therefore, need to build their relationship with the public by demonstrating the highest degree of ethical behavior that will earn the trust from the public. 

Conclusion 

Police ethics is essential in improving the service delivery within law enforcement sector while at the same time keeping a high level of public trust. Like any other profession, law enforcement also has an ethical code of conduct that governs the actions of individuals within the profession. All police officers must, therefore, remain ethical while they undertake their duty to protect the citizens and maintain law and order. 

References 

Caldero, M. A., & Crank, J. P. (2010).  Police ethics: The corruption of noble cause . Routledge. 

Barker, T. (2011).  Police ethics: Crisis in law enforcement . Charles C Thomas Publisher. 

Perez, D. W., & Moore, J. A. (2012).  Police Ethics . Cengage Learning. 

Westmarland, L., & Rowe, M. (2016). Police ethics and integrity: can a new code overturn the blue code?.  Policing and Society , 1-17. 

Menzel, D. C. (2016). State of the art of empirical research on ethics and integrity in governance. In  Ethics in public management  (pp. 24-54). Routledge. 

Martin, R. (2011). Police corruption: An analytical look into police ethics.  FBI L. Enforcement Bull. ,  80 , 11. 

Menzel, D. C. (2014).  Ethics management for public administrators: Building organizations of integrity . Routledge. 

Braswell, M. C., McCarthy, B. R., & McCarthy, B. J. (2017).  Justice, crime, and ethics . Taylor & Francis. 

Ortmeier, P. J., & Meese, E. (2010).  Leadership, ethics, and policing: Challenges for the 21st century . Prentice Hall. 

Prenzler, T., & Ronken, C. (2016). Survey of Innovations in Development and Maintenance of Ethical Standards by Australian Police Departments. In  Contemporary Issues in Law Enforcement and Policing  (pp. 89-106). CRC Press.