Explain three (3) reasons ethics and integrity will be important in your future career choice in law enforcement.
Integrity and Ethics are essential for a law enforcement officer. Arrigo (2012) defines ethics as the philosophical exploraytion of morality. Miller (2013) defines the phrase “police ethics” as the code of principles which influences decision making, behavior and conduct of law enforcement officers. Law enforcement officers ought to have an insight into the importance of ethical conduct. Miller (2013) defines the term “integrity” as the set of beliefs which result in the success of the operations of an agency grounded in the implementation of personal and professional ethics. Indeed, integrity is an important attribute of a law enforcement officer since it encompasses such concepts as honor, morality, responsibility honesty, as well as dedication to one’s duty. According to Miller (2013), integrity is mirrored in the official Code of Ethics.
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There remain 3 key reasons which could be utilized to illuminate the significance of integrity and ethics for a law enforcement officer. To begin with, integrity and ethics make a law enforcement officer behave more assertive, honestly and legally. On the word of Miller (2013), the Code of ethics claim that every police officers must not simply behave honestly, but “be honest in thought” as well. Secondly, integrity and ethics are vital for a law enforcement officer since any police ought to be a role model in observing the established regulations, rules and law. Scholars point out that integrity is simply very vital to being professional police such that it can’t be compromised in the police’s professional or personal life (Miller, 2013). This point implies that a law enforcement officer must act as an exemplar, representing ethical conduct as well as decision making. Lastly, integrity and ethics help law enforcement officers to improve community policing, upholding the public confidence via interaction and partnership between the community members and police. This, in turn, will help in making a society a better place. Without the ethical behavior of police, a community will be miserable.
Determine at least two (2) aspects in which ethics, morality, and law differ in regards to affecting the decisions of your local law enforcement officers.
Since the law, morality, and ethics differ a police officer must be properly-prepared to behave ethically in diverse circumstances, observing the established regulations, laws and rules and employing morality. The major focus of a police officer is to exhibit ethical conduct, applying morality and law to diverse circumstances. Even though ethics has a direct association with laws and morality, there are some dissimilarities between these concepts (Miller, 2013). Police officers ought to be familiar with these dissimilarities so as to make the right decisions.
One aspect involves off-duty life. Here, law enforcement officers are apprehended to a very high principle which necessitates their private lives to mirror the integrity of their profession. Police should uphold a professional reputation all the time since they are under persistent community scrutiny and depend on the community's confidence to preserve their supremacy position. Whereas a majority of jobs conclude when a person clocks out, a police officer is challenged with the ethical concerns of upholding their social respect level and obedience to the law all times. This normally puts the police in direct dispute with community, particularly persons with pintsize respect for the badge or the law.
Another aspect concerns necessary force. The recent Black Lives Matter (BLM) crusade underlines the community's concern against the application of excessive force by law enforcement officers. BLM is an effort to hold the law enforcement agency liable for all instances of excessive force. Every law enforcement officer has the power to apply the necessary force to defend the law, nonetheless, in certain instances; their application of force is not justified. This ethical issue police officer faces every day may and does, places their lives at risk when handling those persons who are non-compliant. In most instances, police need to make an instant decision about what degree of force is needed and a miscalculation might bring about death or injury for the police. A study concerning compliance with authority demonstrated that an individual's notion of losing their liberties would incite them to react and law enforcement officers could easily be compelled in high tension situations to apply excessive force.
Recommend at least two (2) ways law enforcement officers should use ethics, morality, and a code of conduct in both their professional and personal lives.
Since the integrity of law enforcement officers is influenced by their obedience to the established rules and standard conducts meant to promote civic order and security within the community, law enforcement officers must be accountable for their decision making and conduct. The code of conduct and ethics might help law enforcement officer to make suitable decisions (Miller, 2013). Two ways the police must use morality, ethics in addition to the code of conduct in decision making involve unwritten and written policies. Unwritten policies encompass moral rules and personal values, while written policies denote adopted documents, like the Police Code of Conduct. A law enforcement officer must understand that police brutality is unethical. What is more, police unethical conduct can result in racism as well as a defilement of human rights. Therefore, the law enforcement officer must apply the code of conduct and ethics in making a decision so as to properly perform their tasks, employing main values in addition to the mission statement.
Using the Law enforcement code of conduct for the state of your choosing, identify and discuss the two (2) most important aspects of the code as they relate to law enforcement activities in your state.
According to the Birmingham Police Code of Ethics, when executing own assignments and interrelating with the societal members, a law enforcement officer will take into consideration the dissimilarities in their lifestyle, customs and traditions (Kessler, 2012). This is a very important aspect since Birmingham is a State with diverse persons with diverse lifestyle, customs and traditions. Another important aspect is that a law enforcement officer should respect every person’s right to life. A law enforcement officer to the degree possible should use non-forceful techniques and not choose to use firearms or excessive force to subdue a crime. This is vital since every person in Birmingham has a right to life.
References
Arrigo, C. R. W. B. A. (2012). Ethics, Crime, and Criminal Justice. Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Pearson.
Kessler, B. (2012). White, Black, and Blue: The Battle Over Black Police, Professionalization, and Police Brutality in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963-1979. Thesis and Dissertations, Virginia Commonwealth University.
Miller, S. (2013). Police ethics. International Encyclopedia of Ethics, 1-8.
