Criminal Justice Ethics

Police Ethics

Organizational culture is a system of standards of perceiving, believing, evaluating, or acting that relate human communities to their environment settings (Organizational Culture). It can impact personal decisions in positive or negative ways. For example, if the organizational culture is one of fear if an employee does not comply, the employee is prone to decide to do whatever it takes to keep the job. If the organizational culture is one of honesty and openness, the employee is prone to evaluate for what is the right thing to do.

The dilemma the officer is faced with is the fact that this is high superior. With the actions of the lieutenant instructing the officer to falsify the report, it is obvious the organizational culture was one where you follow instructions and keep your mouth shut. The situation is unethical in the respects the officer is instructed to follow a false scheme instead of report the facts that are known. Without performing the blood alcohol tests, the department is considered to have failed in their proper procedures under the circumstances of the case. It also ignores the morality of the fact that the deputy chief had not only damaged a patrol unit, but had also damaged an individual's car and caused damage that may not be compensated for without the proof the deputy chief had done the damage.

One of the options in this case is to stick with the details of the report and ignore the known knowledge. The fact that under investigation, the truth could come out and involve everyone that was covering things up, even though they were instructed to do so, and everyone could be faced with falsifying as well as aiding and abetting. Where procedures with the blood alcohol test were ignored, it would also complicate matters in a case against the deputy chief.

Another option is this case is to report the known facts. The lieutenant and the officers could face reprimand for falsifying the report, not following procedures, and aiding and abetting the deputy chief. The person who reports the known facts could also face hardship with the organizational culture. There could be retaliation from superiors as well as coworkers for reporting instead of following along with the organizational culture.

The organizational culture starts with the tone from the top. If managers follow a strict code of ethics and demand that department employees do so as well, or face appropriate consequences, the organizational culture would reflect that. Employees would understand the consequences of not following the code of ethics. Another strategy is openness. The strategy of openness allows any employee to voice unethical behavior without retaliation for doing so. Most organizations have whistleblower hotlines and compliance officers that are available for the employees to report unethical behavior and noncompliance issues.