We know that police officers use excessive force, and they also use their authority to verbally abuse people. So what causes police officers to abuse their authority, and (or) leads to brutality? One of the challenges with this is that not every citizen reports a police brutality, whether they see one happening, heard of one happening from their friends or family or if they themselves were a victim of one. Another challenging issue too is that we know some brutalities are not reported; therefore it makes it harder to measure those versus what is actually reported. Police brutality wouldn’t be an issue if we didn’t have to police our law enforcement officers.
The police personality fosters and “us vs. them” mentality that cops are always the good guys and everyone else is a potential bad guy (The Brotherhood). There is a subculture in Police work that in some cases can carry severe penalties towards officer’s if they were to “rat” on another officer. This subculture code of “Don’t give up another cop” has been described as the code of silence, or the blue curtain of secrecy (Pollock 119). In this subculture police officers are often ostracized or deemed unfaithful to the badge if they were to turn on another officer and testify against them during an investigation. Police officers must trust other officers to back them up in a struggle that could potentially be a life or death situation.
It is usually recommended that any career use honesty as a quality, but it is extremely important that criminal justice professionals have honesty as well. Law enforcement is occasionally known for being corrupt, and it is so important for our law enforcement officers to be truthful on all applications, reports, and everyday work. This provides for more efficient and trustworthy public servants. The most important reason for honesty is simply to ensure that the innocent stay that way and are not caught in the lies of the accusers. Criminal justice professionals play an important role in the court system, and if they lie on accusations and evidence, the innocent become victims of the dishonesty.
A police officer tends to be authoritive because of the constant danger he or she is in while on the job. Having this trait will help the officer handle all situations and help the officer pay close attention to what is going on around him or her. Suspicion is more or less a belief or opinion that is solely based on facts but does not require proof. Suspicion is also a feeling of doubt, uncertainty, or slight indication that something is up. An officer tends to be suspicious after working the job for awhile because of the criminal acts that go on.
Professional behavior is needed when using ethical behavior. For example an officer sees a man drunk in public the ethical thing would be to arrest him. The professional way to do it is by following protocol on how to manage the situation. Without ethical and professional behavior the law would have little meaning because the way the law would be applied would be unreliable. Criminal justice administrators make important decisions daily, which can have profound effects on our lives (Gleason, 2006).
We must be sure that finding those answers are done ethically from the crime scene to trial. The Investigator Ethical Considerations From the moment the investigator gets a case professionalism, knowledge of laws and procedure is what has to be followed. If at any time the investigator became biased and used emotion instead of just facts of the case could be compromised. Remaining unbiased in either homicide or rape can be extremely difficult for even the most ethical investigators. Handling evidence properly is one of the most crucial points of any investigation.
If someone has been in a lot of trouble with the law, they probably aren’t going to have very many good things to say about police officers. Where as if somebody is related to or close to a police officer, they might have a better perception. Police-community relations are very important for the police and for the community. The community needs to be able to trust the police and vice-versa. If an individual has a bad experience with a cop, they are going to tell everybody they know and therefore those people might form negative perceptions based off of that.
When misconduct or mistakes are made it can have very damaging effects on individuals and their lives, but also to the credibility of the criminal justice system. This can happen and does on occasion (Meyer & Grant, 2003). How can we improve consistency in how prosecutors accept case work? When assessing possible improvements to the consistency of how prosecutors accept case work, there are no simple answers. Putting strict demands on what a prosecutor
Use of force is a very important part of an officer’s ability to keep themselves and the public safe, but is also very controversial. The first thing anyone should try, if not in immediate danger, is to verbally diffuse a situation. If an officer can use words to get compliance from a criminal, then he or she won’t have to worry about defending their actions in court. There are no ethical issues involved with this level of the continuum. The use of restraint holds and chokes is a very dangerous thing if used improperly, but has many advantages when done correctly.
Ethical Dilemma Executive Summary Ashley Gallegos October 26, 2012 Christopher McQuillin CJA/474 University of Phoenix Ethical Dilemma Executive Summary Law enforcement agencies and employees are to represent and uphold ethics as they are role models for their communities. A police officer is well aware of what is right and wrong ethical and unethical. It is their job to make sure their community members are kept from harm and provided justice if they become a victim of a crime. In this summary there is a dilemma of whether a police officer is willing to reveal a fellow officer of being unethical. The dilemma will have the officer fearing of being unethical or taking a professional hit themselves if they chose to or not chose to disclose their findings.