The ethical perspective eliminates any and all forms of shades of gray and considers all actions and decision as either right or wrong. However, the definition of right and wrong may vary, based on perspective. Currently, law enforcement has been extremely focused on issues of ethics and make ethics a cardinal rule during recruitment and training of their officers (McDonald, 2015). Yet in spite of these measures, ethical issues continue to dog law enforcement agencies in the USA. In all fairness, however, law enforcement is one of the most difficult professions in the world. This situation becomes exacerbated in the recent times where a lot of animosities have been generated between police and the communities they are supposed to be safeguarding (Rosenfeld et al, 2003). Further, crime levels and the abilities of criminals to cover their tracks and merge with the society has also enhanced this animosity. Instead of a scenario where police and the community are pulling together to ensure law and order, the police have been forced to seemingly combat both crime and the society. This fact has had a gradual impact on law enforcement officers themselves, causing them to develop a unique cultural attribute that has come to be referred to as the police subculture. This subculture, however, albeit not wholly adverse per se, has had a major negative impact on law enforcement from an ethical perspective.
Background
Qualification of the Topic
It is important to indicate from the onset that the intent of this term paper is not to vilify the police subculture. Indeed, as shall be shown in the herein below, this subculture has many positive attributes. The term paper, however, focuses on the impact of the said subculture of the ethics of law enforcement. The article by Holt, Blevins and Burkert (2010) reflects on the correlation between what may be a positive subculture and its adverse attributes. The article relates to the subculture of ardent internet users which has gradually spread across the globe. This subculture has many benefits to the world. It has not only made a majority of the global community more knowledgeable but also enhanced commerce among other positive attributes. However, a negative attribute of this subculture had been the proliferation of child pornography, a major global vice. In a similar manner, there are many positive attributes of the police subculture that assists officers to carry out their obligations efficiently and safely. It is, however, how this subculture operates as a bearing factor on police ethics that is of focus herein.
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Overview of Police Subculture
Two social psychological concepts come into play when considering the subject of police subculture both of which relate to police officers as also being human beings. This is based on the concept that behind each and every professional, lies a primal human being. The first concept is that the human being is learning and adaptive in nature. Therefore, the environment that a human being is placed in will have an impact on the character of that human being. Secondly, human beings are social and associative in nature (McCartney & Parent, 2017). The general character of a group will more often than not be reflected on the new members of the group. Based on these two concepts, when police officers join the force at recruitment, they only have their primary culture. However, as they continue to serve in the police force, they develop secondary cultural attributes, based on the nature of their work as well as association with their colleagues. It is these secondary cultural attributes that inform the police subculture. Among the attributes of this culture include the fact that safety comes first for every police officer (McCartney & Parent, 2017). Secondly, police generally take a cynical and suspicious approach towards the populace. The police have also developed a macho outlook externally and internally, thus will always go out of their way to avoid showing any weakness. Another important attribute is camaraderie, support and oneness, and empathy towards one another which fosters an exclusive approach towards society. Further, bias, prejudice, and close-mindedness have also been noted as an attribute of this culture. Finally, the police have also been known to be extremely authoritarian, bordering on being dictatorial (McCartney & Parent, 2017).
Impact of the Subculture on Ethics
The Safety First Perspective
It is the obligation of the police force to ensure the safety of the community, but they cannot achieve this unless they themselves are safe. However, as the police subculture developed, it resulted in an over-focus on police safety and security over and above that of the community (Crank & Crank, 2014). Today, police classify killers into two general categories. The first is those who kill members of the public and the second, cop-killers. Cop-killers are always an exponentially high priority for the police across the USA. Indeed, a police department will stop everything they are doing, including the pursuit of a serial killer or child molester when there is a cop-killer in the loose. When the cop-killer is finally apprehended, the police tend more towards a kill than an arrest in the fear that the suspect might find an escape through legal loopholes and technicalities (Crank & Crank, 2014). Further, the safety first aspect has also made police to be trigger happy when in a confrontation with perceived criminals. Many extra-judicial killings undertaken by police have been justified on the basis that the police officers had an apprehension that they were in danger. In some instances, it has later been realized that there was no danger at all, yet the damage has already been done. Whereas safety is a positive attribute of the police subculture, over-emphasis has clearly resulted in an ethical flaw.
Cynical and Suspicious Approach to the Populace
To be fair to the police officers, within a few years of service they will usually have heard all the lies, excuses and false statements possible. Many citizens overemphasize their situations to the police akin to crying wolf so many times and in some instances, prank calls are made as a form of mischief. On the other hand, ‘I didn’t do it’ is a common chorus that even the guiltiest give to the police. This has in result caused the police to develop a tendency to err on the side of caution when a report is made yet err on the side of speed when they apprehend a suspect. From an ethical perspective, police officers should always be impartial in their treatment of a member of the populace (McDonald, 2015). However, the cynicism and suspicions nature embedded within the police subculture has adversely affected this. In many instances, the cynicisms has caused genuine complaints and concerns to be ignored because police either believe it to be a hoax or an exaggeration. Similarly, many individuals have fallen victim to false indictments and wrongful convictions because the police never believed them when they alleged innocence. This is ethically wrong.
The Macho impression about Police being Unbowed
As earlier indicated, police work is seldom easy and is mostly thankless. Police officers will often place their lives in danger, combat criminals, and still get castigated by the same community they had sought to protect. Deaths and injuries of police officers in the line of duty are also common, more so in the urban setting. Any human being would get emotionally affected if and when taken through what police officers have to go through every day. However, the police as part of their subculture have developed a macho outlook that they are unbowed physically and emotionally (Malmin, 2012). They will, therefore, push down their emotions and continue to work by pretending to be functional. However, many a time, this police officer will internally be emotional and barely functional at all. A police officer is the principal assessor on personal functionality and ought to speak out when overwhelmed so as to take some time off or even seek help. When a police officer insists on working when emotionally unstable, the populace and fellow law enforcement officer will be placed in inordinate danger (Malmin, 2012). This also is an unethical attribute of the police subculture.
The Solidarity Perspective
The sensitive nature of their work, as well as the fact that the police are usually under siege from different quarters, fosters a lot of oneness within the force. A strong camaraderie spirit, unity, and oneness develop. Whereas this has many positive attributes and is focal to the success of police work, it also comes with adverse effects to ethics. For a start, the principle duty of a police officer it to the law, then to justice and fairness (Crank & Crank, 2014). Therefore, whoever breaks the law, be it a fellow officer or a member of the public must be treated equally in the eyes of the law. This is the ethical standpoint that every police officer and department must take. However, when a police officer breaks the law or flouts procedure, it is common for the officer’s colleagues and department to seek means of protecting the officer. Police divisions in America have been found culpable for cover ups with the intent of protecting their own (Crank & Crank, 2014). Indeed, in most cases, it is only where incontrovertible evidence of police undoing such as video evidence is available that disciplinary action is taken against police officers. This also flies in the face of sound ethical conduct.
Bias and Prejudice
This is one of the most controversial subjects relating to police officers in contemporary America. The main essence of the controversy lies in the bias and prejudice being given a racial perspective. Racism is a controversial and emotive subject in America and its use in the instant subject has caused the discussion to shift from the real issues. It would, therefore, be ideal to handle the issue of bias and prejudice with and then without the racial issue. Racism is a serious problem within law enforcement in the US. Research has shown that there is a higher likelihood of a colored American to be suspected of a crime that a white American (Chan, 2011). Further, there is a higher ratio of colored Americans who have been indicted, charged and convicted than white Americans. Yet research shows that the propensity for crime is equal with American races. This difference in treatment by law enforcement is caused by racial bias and prejudice. There has been a mentality that colored communities, mainly blacks and Hispanics are more prone to crimes than other communities (Chan, 2011). This creates more focus in these communities by the police, resulting in unbalanced police work which is unethical.
When the racial aspect is eliminated, bias and prejudice still exists. Humans are psychologically learning beings and will adjust and adapt to the environment. An activity that establishes trends to a human being will instinctively develop a form of acquired reflexes in many cases without the knowledge of an individual. It is in a similar manner that bias and prejudice develop with the police subculture. For example, a police officer patrolling a known safe street during daylight will be less cautious even in the sight of danger. The same officer might be apprehensive and almost trigger happy when patrolling the back alleys of a known gang infested neighborhood. Yet even in a safe street, dangers may lurk and in the most dangerous corners of the city, hapless and harmless citizens can still be found. In 2016, Charles Kinsey, a black behavioral therapist was shot by a Hispanic police officer who is quoted as having said he does not even know why he shot him (Shoichet & Berlinger, 2016). In Milwaukee, riots ensued in the same year when Sylville Smith was shot dead by a Black police officer under unclear circumstances (Palumbo, 2016). The two cases showcase shootings reflecting bias and prejudice against African Americans yet not committed by white police officers. These fact relegates the problematic subject of racism, leaving bias and prejudice as pure ethical issues. There seemed to exist a presupposition to the Hispanic and black police officers respectively that the two black men they shot posed a threat, albeit not directed at the police officers themselves. Bias and prejudice make it difficult for police officers to act fairly thus becoming a recipe for ethical conduct.
Close-mindedness and Authoritarianism
Law enforcement has existed for millennia and, therefore, has a lot of kindred history and well established formal and informal procedural rules. One of the cardinal ones among them is authoritarianism. Among the dictates of authoritarianism is the understanding that it is only through the use of brutal force or a threat thereof that law enforcement objectives can be achieved (Crank & Crank, 2014). Contemporary ethical approaches to law enforcement, however, dictate that law enforcement agencies ought to treat members of the community with dignity and respect since they are primarily human in spite of the existence of any negative character. This ethical provision ought to have the impact of eliminating authoritarianism within the police force. However, because of close-mindedness, this has not been the case. There are still many police officers who believe that the traditional way of doing things is still the best way of doing things. Fear has been used as a law enforcement tool for centuries but this should not be the case in a free society (Crank & Crank, 2014). The combination of close-mindedness, which makes sections of law enforcement to be averse to change as well as the traditional culture of authoritarianism has also stood in the way of ethical conduct within the police force.
The instant term paper should not be misconstrued as an indictment against subcultures in general or particularly police subculture. Indeed, subcultures are a natural social phenomenon that is endemic to humanity. Further, police subculture is an integral part of law enforcement that in some cases have fundamental functions. It must be noted, however, that police subculture in several ways acts as a negative bearing factor to ethical police work. Some of the elements and aspects that act as the building blocks of the police culture encourage acts and omissions that can only be construed as being unethical. When police officers consider their safety to be more important than that of the general public, the belief itself is unethical. Further, when police officers treat members of the public differently based on presuppositions, prejudice, and bias, it becomes unethical. Refusal to change with changes in the law, rules, and procedure because of a belief in the traditional way of doing things is also unethical for a police officer.
References
Chan, J. (2011). Racial profiling and police subculture. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice , 53 (1), 75-78
Crank, J., & Crank, J. P. (2014). Understanding police culture . New York: Routledge
Holt, T. J., Blevins, K. R., & Burkert, N. (2010). Considering the pedophile subculture online. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 22 (1), 3-24. doi:10.1177/1079063209344979
Malmin, M. (2012). Changing police subculture. FBI L. Enforcement Bull. , 81 , 14
McCartney, S., & Parent, R. (2017). Ethics in law enforcement . Retrieved June 05, 2017, from https://opentextbc.ca/ethicsinlawenforcement/chapter/8-1-police-culture/
McDonald, J. R. (2015). Developing a peace course in police studies: How a culture of peace can enhance police legitimacy in a democratic society. Journal of Peace Education, 12 (1), 74. doi:10.1080/17400201.2014.948412
Palumbo, M. (2016, September 22). After BLACK cop shoots BLACK suspect, victim's brother says .... Retrieved June 05, 2017, from http://www.allenbwest.com/matt-palumbo/black-cop-shoots-black-suspect-victims-brother-says.
Rosenfeld, R., Jacobs, B. A., & Wright, R. (2003). Snitching and the code of the street. The British Journal of Criminology, 43 (2), 291-309. doi:10.1093/bjc/43.2.291
Shoichet, C. E., & Berlinger, J. (2016, July 22). North Miami shooting: Police accidentally shot man, says union . Retrieved June 05, 2017, from http://edition.cnn.com/2016/07/21/us/miami-officer-involved-shooting/index.html
