“We are human too. Of course we are going to make mistakes. Officers are the only thing that stand between criminals and the rest of society; and sometimes, police officers give in to temptation, greed, and the pressure of others… that is why we are called the ‘thin blue line.’”
The results, of the crime control model are wrongful convictions, being over-turned and this is a major downfall in the criminal justice system. On the other hand the due process model is more concerned with the structure and the efficiency of the law. The due process focuses on evidences and facts in a case and ensures that a person in innocent until proven guilty in the court of law. In addition the due process model goal is the prevention and the elimination of crimes within the criminal justice
Ethics in The Field of Criminal Justice Sara Markowski March 27, 2013 CJ340 In a police organization, the slippery slope, unfortunately, rears its ugly head where gratuities are concerned. Society is very appreciative of the job the police officers do in order to make our society safe. Human nature wants us to show that appreciation in various ways to officers who go out of their way to make our lives better. Society encourages corruption by consistently offering gratuities to police officers. This is called society at large hypothesis.
The criminal justice system relies heavily on eyewitness identification for investigating and prosecuting crimes in that, it may be the only evidence present for identifying criminals in certain cases (Wells & Olson, 2002). The strong weight given to eye witness identifications is nonetheless a matter of concern as it eye witness identifications have been demonstrated to be flawed, even when witness confidence is high. Experience has shown that the convincing and sincere witness can often be mistaken. Memon (2008) explains where eye-witness testimonies have been greatly unreliable; where Jean Charles de Menezes was shot by police as a result of mistaken identity. According to eye-witnesses he was described as suspicious, jumped over a ticket barrier and was wearing a wearing a bulky jack supposedly concealing a device.
It is difficult to hold prosecutors accountable for acts of misconduct. Since prosecutors are often viewed as the “good guys” by the public, many times unethical, as well as illegal acts will be tolerated by the courts and criminal justice system as a whole. Prosecutorial misconduct is considered any action taken by the prosecutor in a criminal case that is against the law and/or unethical. Prosecutorial evidence can be anything from harassing witnesses on the stand, pressing unfounded charges against defendants, tampering with evidence, withholding evidence, up to taking bribes. Prosecutors can sometimes get away with misconduct as it is extremely difficult to prove that misconduct had actually taken place.
The first step to corruption is using the wrong factors when they make decisions. For example, basing their facts or decisions on race, the ability to gain influence, or pay offs is start to corruption. Police corruption is “when the officer is acting under his or her official capacity and receives a benefit or something of value (other than his or her paycheck) for doing something or for refraining from doing something.” (Depsey, 2005) Many times, an
This paper will discuss police corruption and misconduct in different areas of the world as well as the ethics involved. Police Corruption First we start with what corruption is and what is considered to be police corruption. According to Pollock (2010), “ Corruption has been described as acting on opportunities, created by virtue of one’s authority, for personal gain at the expense of the public one is authorized to serve”(pg.178). Corruption occurs in different situations that include corruption of authority, kickbacks, theft, illegal activities, payoffs, and shakedowns (Pollock 2010). Police corruption has become a big deal and can be taken back to years ago when Rodney King who was a harmless civilian at
The first reason is Government Misconduct a. According to the book Innocent: Inside Wrongful Conviction Cases, Government misconduct includes Errors in identification procedures, Coercing false confessions, Lying or intentionally misleading jurors about their observations, Failing to turn over exculpatory evidence to prosecutors, Providing incentives to secure unreliable evidence from informants 2. According to the book False Convictions by Tim Green, the second reason many wrongful convictions happen is Bad Lawyering a.
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.
Cang Truong Period 2 English 2A Masks of society Being a Police Officer is mask of society, because it allows him/her to justify the means for his/her’s evil deeds. For example, if an ordinary civilian were to try to commit an evil, barbaric action, they would be chastised heavily. As a police officer however, you can commit any sort of barbaric, savage action, and get away with it. As a police officer, you are even handed the weapons needed to commit these heinous crimes, and an ample amount of excuses and privileges. Police officers command authority, and most of the things that police officers do aren’t chastised or critiqued by others.