The prospect of a single collective traditional culture and the traditional values that connected police officials lose their essence as the groups that have been excluded from the police culture now join the police department; as they join, they might question, or outwardly reject, the attitudes, values and norms previously associated with it (Paolline III, 2003). Some researchers (Broderick, 1977; Brown, 1988; Muir, 1977; White, 1972) diverge from the traditional characterisation of police culture, suggesting that police officials may use different mechanisms that vary as they endeavour to cope with the strains of their occupation. This is supported by the argument that police officers cope with the strains of their occupation differently due to the fact that they see the world through different lenses (Paolline III, 2003). People of different ethnic groups are socialised at an early stage of their lives to conform to the norms, beliefs, and values of a particular culture.
The role of policing in our culture can be categorized in two broad models; crime fighter or public services role. These two models view policing in different ways as seen by society as a whole. The views of policing at stated by Pollack (2017), in with the crime fighter model focus on the “presumption is that criminals (who are different from the rest of us) are the enemy and police officers are the soldiers in a war on crime” (p.116). This view by police and society helps to formulate the style of policing they utilize leaning more towards force and not viewing all members of society as equal. The public servant view of policing described by Pollack (2017) as the “presumptions are different and include the idea that criminals are not so different from us and, in fact, may be our sons and daughters” (p. 116). This approach creates more of a protector for all people mindset with limited use of force and more fair treatment when working the beat.
A single standard of ethics cannot be applied to all criminal justice agencies. The world is too complex to legislate morality and ethics. The cultures that make up each part of the world are not the same. The branches that makeup the criminal justice agencies are also different, as each area is responsible for it’s own role. For example, the duty of a police officer is much different than the duty of the judicial system. In regards to ethics, each branch contains a varying role.
Policing in this present day is defined as an individual or group of individual who prevent and detect crime within a community. Policing compares in many ways. They all attempt to provide services, keep the peace and reduce crime. Policing has evolved into something much more than what it used to be. Within this essay are the many different perspectives and how ethics were learned. Although it is questionable, that policing in America has different time periods. There is an agreement of three major eras of policing in America. Those three era's are, The Political Era, Reform, and Community Policing.
Police accountability is responsible to deliver crime control and maintain order, while treating individuals fairly and within the bounds of law. Police officers are expected to uphold laws, regarding due process, search and seizure, arrests, discrimination, as well as other laws relating to equal employment, and sexual harassment. Holding police accountable is important to build trust with the public's and for them to have faith in the system. There have been many complaints from the public against law enforcement, rather than relying on police departments. Integrity and accountability issues in policing is one of the reasons why the community feel unsafe and bias towards police officers because of the physical abuse of some police officers who are careless and abused of their power. Another issue is prisoner mistreatment, there are many people who have been incarcerated and are victims of abuse emotionally, physically, and mentally by correctional officers. Finally, corruption is problem because personal gain is a primary motivation for all criminal behavior because of the special trust and responsibilities placed in police officers the opportunities for them to abuse that trust to obtain money or advantage are considerable. Therefore, these are some reasons why the public have no trust in the police officers which is understandable, but as a community we need to also understand and be aware that not every police officers are bad there good ones too and we must treat them and everyone with
In the discussion of moral objectivism and moral relativism, it is important to understand the difference, and the impact that a moral system has on the criminal justice community. The community exists to enforce the laws. Moral judgments are made with votes, and the decisions on how laws are crafted are made by elected officials. For this reason, it makes sense for the criminal justice community to separate themselves professionally from their own moral views.
Since graduate school I have identified that I have trouble writing papers on subjects that are not of interest to me. I struggle to remain focus, and I get writer’s block often. It has been established that when and individual has selective attention they are generally working at the basic levels of perceptual identification (Weber & Johnson, 2009).
While it can be interpreted as standing for ones beliefs, a police officer must uphold a high moral code in accordance to the society which is being served. The ethics to which police officers holds themselves, must include the character traits demonstrated in personal life, in addition to operating as public servants. If an officer is deemed untrustworthy at home, they cannot be trusted to work legally within the police department. Honesty within policing is just as important, where failing to admit a mistake can weaken a reputation and call previous cases into question. Although these traits can be trained into an individual, integrity must be developed personally before it can be applied
As we see changes in the way of policing, ethical leadership and behavior is becoming more challenging for law enforcement officers. Police officers should be ethical leaders committed to the law and professional standards. Police officers with ethical leadership posses a philosophical moral foundation and his/her actions and decisions will be based on that; many officers may face challenges or difficulties while trying to adapt to the new way of policing, especially when working with unethical peers. With this being said there are specific characteristics in addition to strong ethical and moral values that can successful develop ethical leaders.
A modern law enforcement officer is taught to think critically and reflect on expected circumstances to possess some effective skills on leadership. Furthermore, law enforcement officers who has a strong problem solving skills and effective communication skills also develop community policing potentials. Improving a better understanding of leadership allows the public to respect the professionalism that a police officer upholds. Immanuel Kant’s ethical theories believe that an individual has the ability to make rational decision based on the action given to them (Kant 's Ethics, 2002). Immanuel Kant’s ethical theories are to illustrate the importance of duty and moral standards.
Over the past three and a half years I have spent my life studying in school. I have studied for hours and hours about the field of criminal justice; the reason it exists, its history and development, theories that are used to explain topics in criminal justice, and cases that have been monumental in changing the way that criminal justice works. While all of these are great to learn about the field of criminal justice itself cannot be learned from reading textbooks and memorizing theories. This is why I am interested in an internship with the Griffin Police Department. I want to learn how the criminal justice system is in action, how things actually play out outside of the scholastic setting. It is easy to learn about a subject from a book, but it is an entirely different matter to learn about a subject through real life experience. I hope to learn how to serve and protect while implementing the law correctly, especially in today’s world when the level of support for police officers is very low and the level of misconduct cases concerning the police are very high. It is not easy to know what to do in every situation, especially when some reactions are needed with very little or no time to think about. It is one thing to hear about a crime happening and the response that would be best to give, and another thing to need
Many police agencies today have established a code of ethics, or codes of conduct, and it easy to find parallels between Peel’s principles and present policies and
Deontology which is derived from the Greek words Deon (meaning obligation/duty) and logia (science/study) combined to be also known as duty or rule-based ethics or the study of duties or obligations. It is a branch of ethical theories that deals with ethics of conduct, which theories are based on the sort of actions people must perform. It is based on non-consequentialism where the ends do not justify the means and thus deontology is an approach to ethics in which a sense of duty or principle prescribes the ethical decision (Preston, 2007). Deontology affirms duties must be obeyed regardless of the consequences. The theory of Deontology has its flaws as well and this essay will present three criticisms of deontology namely that deontology relies on moral absolutes, allows acts that make the world a worse place, two permissible duties that are right can conflict with each other and will demonstrate these flaws with relevant case studies and dilemmas.
Decisions about right and wrong fill each and every day. Turmoil exists due to deciding if Deontology, where one acts based on the right motives, or if Utilitarianism, where one should act in a way that would produce the best results and consequences, should govern decisions and their morality. However, I believe Deontology, which is reason and duty based, serves as the superior way to dictate morality. In this paper, I will explain both the principles of Deontology and Utilitarianism, discuss the superior aspects of Deontology as compared to Utilitarianism, as well as grapple with objections to Deontology. While both ethical frameworks contain parts of ideologies that could be seen as valid, Kant’s theory on Deontology holistically remains
Law enforcement requires not only physical strength within the policing work field but also strength within one’s values and their ethical as well as moral beliefs. ‘’Values is the term given to those ideas, behaviors, and actions that are important to us. Values are those things worth fighting for, and those things worth sacrificing