The Blue Wall of Silence and Police Ethical Culture Jason Jarvis CRMJ 308 Ethics in Criminal Justice AMU James Conroy March 20, 2012 Arguably, every institution in the world possesses its distinctive and personal organizational culture. Police agency also has a culture in the world which seems to be universal. Police in most cities unite in defending the wrong doers among them, this act and culture is inhumane and totally unacceptable. The Blue Shield Wall of Silence is a rule that is unwritten among officers. The rule advocates defending their colleagues when they do an error, misbehave or commit a crime.
In chapter five of Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice, Pollock states when one asks most people what the role of policing is in society, the response is some version of “catch criminals” or “fight crime”. (p.105) The majority of police officers are professional and ethical; however a small minority abuses their power. This leads to close suspicion by the public of all police. Police have great power in our society to arrest, use force and also have the power of life and death. Police have two types of perceptions of the police mission, either a crime fighter or public servant.
There are also county, regional, and municipal police as well. The surrounding community may have certain expectations that they have of the police, and the individual police departments have their expectations of the officers to whom they oversee. According to Police and Society 2006 “Police have been dealing with issues of racial profiling, eyewitness identification, deinstitutionalization of mentally ill individuals, and computer crime. Privatization is a trend that, contrary to popular thought, is not new. Private police existed before public police.
What age group and race are targeted the most? As today’s young people consider a career in law enforcement they must considered the fact that they can be assaulted or killed by a member of the very same society that they are sworn to protect. Police officers are not impervious from being victimized. Officers are assaulted, robbed, burglarized and victimized in all the ways
This is a pivotal part in terms of maintain the functioning of society and to ensure that people don’t go around breaking laws wherever and whenever they want. The criminal justice system is therefore a central part of society and without is society would quickly deteriorate into chaos. There are however a number of issues in the criminal justice system. Some of these issues include false convictions and bias within the courtroom. The tutorial discussion this week was essentially discussing how the system operates and some of the flaws within the system such as false convictions which come about through human error or in extreme cases racial bias (Alberto F. Alesina, Eliana La Ferrara, 2011).
Above the Law Police officers are given the authority to uphold the law and to maintain peace. They risk their lives every day and will have to use the rules of engagement to determine the threat level of violence towards them or society. They are able to use excessive force towards people who are violent and unable to comply. But in some scenarios, officers who think they’re above the law, abuse this rule and that’s when police brutality take place. Officers use brutality for the wrong reasons such as being racist or discriminating the individual.
Police brutality has been a problem within our society for some time now. Due to the many amount of cases, police brutality has shaped a view amongst the lower class that enforcers of the law tend to take advantage of their given power. Seems like police officers feel as if their implementation of the law is a congressional shield against the consequences of violating laws. In most cases of police brutality there is excessive force being used and unnecessary physical force and sometimes even deadly force. Police brutality has impacted our society because it changed the view of local authority; they went from being heroes of our communities to the vigilantes that we watch over our shoulders.
The primary and most difficult portion of a police officer’s duties is to protect themselves and the public from harm or death. This sometimes requires the use of excessive force but the degree the officer uses can always be in question. Deadly force is defined in the Rampart Independent Review as "responsible and necessary" to protect others or themselves from bodily harm (Drooyan, R, 2000). Deadly force is essentially broken down into three categories: immediate defense of life, to prevent crime where people are at risk of death or serious bodily injury and to apprehend a fleeing felon who poses a serious risk to others. An officer must exercise deadly force appropriately by always using alternatives and only resorting to such extreme measures when deemed necessary.
Introduction Crime and criminals had been historical events since the beginning of human existence. The ability to stop an individual from breaks laws and stealing property of law-abiding citizens became the focus of law enforcement. Law enforcement was established to minimize and control crime, and to protect law-abiding citizens. The effect of law enforcement can be negative and positive. The job of a law enforcement officer is not easy.
Law Enforcement Danna Robbins CRJ 201: Introduction to Criminal Justice Dawn Aldrich 05/06/2013 Law Enforcement Law enforcement broadly refers to any system by which some members of society act in an organized manner to promote adherence to the law by discovering and punishing persons who violate the rules governing that society. It is most frequently referred to those who directly engage in patrols and surveillance to dissuade and discover criminal activity and those who investigate crimes and apprehend offenders. The public view of policing is police officers patrolling streets and responding to emergency crime calls; police detectives interviewing witnesses, examining forensic clues, checking records and interrogating suspects;