Advancing this organizational culture will encourage police officers to act in a manner consistent with the high trust we vest in this vocation. Justice, Truthfulness and Good Loyalty have been defined by the great Philosophers throughout history and should all be incorporated into the decision-making process of police leaders. Police play an important role in the maintenance of our democratic society. This role compels police officers to maintain high ethical standards of conduct. Police must protect the rights of citizens, yet are charged with restricting the rights of suspects in the furtherance of society’s good.
The contingency theory is based on the approach to achieve specific goals, such as crime control. This theory would suggest the creation of specialized “task forces” to handle certain crimes committed in the jurisdiction. The downfall with this theory is that a department can become too specialized and broken into different departments that it cannot adapt to changes. The final theory, resource dependency, is as the name suggests. Agencies following this theory would believe that in order to survive they need to adjust their policing efforts to a style that will yield the most money coming in.
2. You should never 'wing it' before going to court, leaving you to go to court unprepared. The court will need specific, detailed information about the case. Your credibility as a witness will be enhanced if you have reviewed your case file and have a good understanding of what the case is about and what work you’ve done on it. 3.
One of the issues facing police throughout time is the issue of police accountability. When the police are doing a “good job” in the public’s eye, no one has complaints or questions how things are done but the minute a situation arises that is out of the ordinary or one that is manipulated by the media there is public outcry and the allegations start challenging the integrity of the police department involved. As I have referenced in other papers that I have done on various topics in policing and criminal justice classes, I am a firm believer that the police will never be given a “break” no matter what they try to keep the public happy and am a strong supporter of working collaboratively to get the best possible results. With this in mind, I believe that a community collaborative board would be the best way to monitor police activity and insure the highest integrity of the police department. Additionally, I feel that there needs to be a detailed manual that outlines consequences and plans of action for incidents that occur, so there is a set standard.
Police Code of Silence Some experts will explain that people become police officers for the power and status of the job, while other say they join in order to help people but over time become cynical and corrupted by other officers. The culture of being a police officer instills a sense of entitlement to power and authority over the rest of society (The Brotherhood). This sense of entitlement breeds the police personality. That is, when an officer puts on the police uniform they also assume the role of authority that goes along with it many times commanding the obedience and respect from the public as a whole. 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).
Criminal justice administrators make important decisions daily, which can have profound effects on our lives (Gleason, 2006). Within the criminal justice administration critical thinking also play an important role along side with ethical and professional behavior. Within criminal justice law enforcement, corrections, and courts all use critical thinking to make ethical and professional decisions. Police officers must use critical thinking to conclude how the law was broken, how to respond, and if to arrest a person or not. When a police officer does not use critical thinking that is where problems can arise.
Controlling Police Brutality The police have served an integral part in society as out protectors. Throughout the years, however, scholars as well as we citizens have begun to question the use of force, racism and internal corruption as well as other forms of misconduct by our officers of the law. The excessive use of force by police officers persists because of overwhelming barriers to their accountability. For instance, when police do get in trouble, it is normally a slap on the wrist, a lecture or loss of a vacation day as it stated in the article “Good Cop Bad Cop.” This fact makes it possible for officers who commit these violations to escape punishment and then often repeat their offenses. Every report of abuse is often met with denial or explanation of why the abuse was necessary instead of taking any real action like a suspension or removal of their badge in most cases.
In contrast, the due process model emphasizes "protecting the rights of the accused through formal, legal restraints on the police, courts, and corrections" (Gaines). Under the due process model, the same case would face would be put under a microscope and carefully examined; every piece of evidence, every witness testimony would be scrutinized in order to ensure a fair trial is delivered. The due process is more beneficial to the criminal justice system because it protects everyone's rights equally by regulating the police and courts. The due process model is what separates
For these problems, solutions will be discussed, focusing on political reform, education, and citizen review boards. These measures are necessary to protect ourselves from police taking advantage of their positions as law enforcement officers with greater permissive rights than private citizens. Because of this significant differential, all citizens must take affirmative action from physical brutality, rights violations, and information abuse. Discrimination can lead to legal problems for an officer of the law. If discrimination due to an officer’s use of discretion results in a violation of due process it is a violation of the law.
Others argue that these incidents can be traced back to poor training and policies. Still other selected persons maintain that the whole system needs to be changed and that with the rise in crime, officers have become enforcers more than protectors. A policy is defined as a definite course of action to determine decisions or a guide to decision making within a structured framework. A procedure however is often considered to be simply a consistent method of operation. In cases of police brutality officers may see strict policy, which is the product of thoughtful analysis, as just procedure, which may not be detrimental to the officer if broken (Kinnaird203).