Law Enforcement and Ethics

Ethics in Policing It is crucial for organizations to clearly define ethics and ethical behaviors in the workplace and to also clearly tell its employees what constitutes unethical behavior (Roufa, 2016). There is a strong push to uphold the high ethical standards set for the law enforcement community. However, without clear definition of those ethical standards, such efforts would likely not achieve any significant results. Our understanding of ethics and ethical conduct is based on our personal and societal values.

Personal values are those which are based on our personal experiences, religious beliefs, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. These values are unique to every person, which means they are not the best values to inform our professional conduct. Other values, however, are dear to the entire societies or groups. They are derived from the groups' history and understanding of ethical behavior. This is the proper platform on which to base professional conduct/ ethics. Conducting oneself in an ethical manner basically means doing the right thing at the right time.

To promote ethical conduct within an organization or institution one simply has to clearly define what ethical conduct is and what it's not and the consequences of not following the said conduct (Roufa, 2016). The Role and Value of Ethics in Policing According to Roufa (2016), ethics play a great role in guiding the conduct of everyone in law enforcement and it should not be thought of as something to be turned to only when one is alleged to have behaved unprofessionally.

In other words, the emphasis of ethics ought to be on what good professional conduct is and how law enforcement officers ought to behave rather than on how to punish individuals found to have behaved unethically. Ethics and integrity are important to effective law enforcement and normally play a great role in building trust between the police departments and the communities they serve. Professional/ ethical conduct by the police promotes shared responsibility, improves communication and enhances community interactions.

Police departments must work hard to make sure that their officers are what the public expects them to be. Officers should lead by example by carrying themselves and their duties in an ethical manner if they are to succeed in policing. It is only in this way that law enforcement officers will be able to deliver the level of service demanded of them and make a difference in the communities they serve. Case Study of Unethical Police Practices Early 2014, a former East Haven law enforcement officer, a Mr.

Dennis Spaulding, was convicted of violating the civil rights of several individuals in the community he served and sentenced to five years' imprisonment by Judge Alvin Thompson. According to U.S. attorney Deridre Daly, officer Spaulding repetitively violated the rights of Latinos in East Haven. The offences he was charged with included arresting individuals without probable cause, conducting illegal searches and use of excessive force resulting in injuries. Officer Spaulding's actions humiliated, demeaned, intimidated and assaulted decent community members, making the community to fear their police department.

Simply put, he damaged the community's trust in law enforcement despite having taken an oath like every other officer to serve and protect with honor and integrity. His case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut, 2014). Police Ethics Discussion Police officers are public servants tasked with the responsibility of enforcing justice and protecting citizens (Davis, 2014). Their day-to-day duties are normally guided by instances which require individual decision-making which demands good judgment.

Even though there exist regulations and policies to guide officers on what to do, individual decision-making is often necessary when an officer is faced with ethical dilemmas while on patrol. Moreover, most of the time these decisions have to be made immediately, meaning there is no time to consult or ask for instructions from a supervisor. These are the kinds of situations that provide opportunities for unethical conduct.

And when a person entrusted with a position of power behaves unethically in public, the behavior is often quickly noted and swiftly changes the public's perception of that individual and the position or office that he or she holds. The change in perception of attitude diminishes the public's trust and confidence in that office (the police department). Thus, police departments should always be working round the clock to ensure that their officers know the difference between ethical and unethical conduct and that they behave ethically all the time.

Punishment for those found to have intentionally behaved unethically should be swift and severe so as to ensure that the public's trust in law enforcement is not diminished. Methods or Training Used to Prevent Unethical Behaviors As mentioned above, to make sure that officers behave ethically, clear policies should be put in place to raise awareness among officers about ethical conduct and to move swiftly to discipline those found to have behaved unethically. In the above case study, officer Spaulding was investigated.