Morals and ethics are words that can be used interchangeably. For instance, when a police officer accepts a bribe from a lawbreaker, it is unethical. Whereas when a police officer stands firm to condemn any wrongdoing or gets involved in charitable work, he/she is said to be moral. Pollock (2008) defines ethics as the study and analysis of what constitutes good or bad conduct in relation to a profession (P. 7). Ethical systems are the source of moral beliefs, they are the underlying premises from which we make judgments and they are beyond argument that is, decisions made are based on fundamental truth (Pollock, 2008). An ethical dilemma arises when a decision has to be made that involves a conflict at the personal, interpersonal, institutional or societal level or raises issues of moral character (Banks, 2004). Gaines and Miller (2008) describe an ethical dilemma as a situation in which law enforcers don’t know the right course of action or have difficulties in doing what is right and find wrong choices very tempting (P. 155).
Ethics regarding police officers would concern issues such as taking gratuities, covering up the wrongdoing of a fellow police officer, sleeping on duty, calling in sick when one wants to do his/her own things, and lying on an expense sheet (Pollock, 2008). “A deontological ethical system is solely concerned with the inherent nature of the act that is being judged” (Pollock, 2008, P.33). If an act is done in goodwill it will be considered as a good act even if it results in negative consequences. Consequently, a teleological ethical system determines an act to be moral or immoral through the resulting consequences of the act. A bad act that results in good consequences is considered to be good under the teleological system (Pollock, 2008).
Police officers face ethical dilemmas when executing their duties. Professionals follow ethical codes that are designed to identify and illustrate ethical behavior in the criminal justice profession (Pollock, 2008). As a police officer, if you come across a driver who does not obey traffic rules and unfortunately it happens that he is your father, what will be your action towards this situation (Pollock, 2008)? An ethical dilemma is the responsibility of an individual and requires his/her decision (Banks, 2004). To be able to analyze ethical dilemmas; one has to review all the facts that are known, identify potential values and all moral values for each party that is involved, decide on what is the immediate ethical issue facing the individual, and finally resolve the ethical dilemma by using an ethical system. Sometimes one’s ethical dilemma is caused by other people’s actions (Prenzler, 2009).
Police officers make choices that can be judged under ethical values. Many situations require decisions to be taken by police officers that can be later-on be judged as either right or wrong. The characteristic of the police profession is that their role entails public trust that involves power over them. This requires them to be very sensitive to ethical issues that may arise in their day-to-day professional duty. Police officers are correctional professionals who supervise prisoners. They implement the laws created by legislators by their discretionary powers. For instance, they have the power to arrest people, the power to choose whom to investigate, and the power to set free an errant person with just a warning. Police officers work between the overwhelming state power and the community governed. All correctional professionals have power over the errant members of society (Pollock, 2008).
Police professionals, who ignore their ethics, do it at their own peril. Some police actions are obviously unethical, such as a police officer who pays a friend some money to pretend to be an eyewitness in a murder trial (Gaines & Miller, 2008). Their acts threaten their career and professional well-being. Many people suffer out of unethical police actions though in most cases they go unnoticed, for instance, police brutality and corruption. Some police officers in the early periods used to earn rewards by operating rackets. Violence was an accepted norm because the police believed to have a right to punish wrongdoers themselves. Police operated in the neighborhoods as authority figures whipping offending citizens as a more effective sanction than arrest and imprisonment. They commonly used violence to make suspected persons confess and uphold their dignity. Police officers see their role as punitive treating suspects as though they were already guilty. Viewing the police as law enforcers emphasize force as the central feature of their work. This model has been criticized for focusing extensively on using force as a police function (Banks, 2004). Criminal justice professionals are public servants who should have a special duty to serve the public ethically. Police are thought ethics to sensitize them on how to resolve ethical dilemmas that may face their professional lives (Pollock, 2008).
As professionals, they need to have the knowledge of behavioral decisions that might be judged under ethical standards. Decisions that can be judged have elements of acts that are human and of free will which affect others. In these, some acts must be present for the judgment. To be able to judge an action as moral or immoral, one needs to know the intent of that action. One judges human behavior as either moral or immoral because of their capacity to reason. They can choose to be good or bad (Pollock, 2008).
Any police officer who puts material success first over any moral values will always be corrupt or even behave cruelly in the quest for such goods. These can be manifested in organized crimes where some police officers accept bribes or even get involved in the protection racket. Different levels of culpability are based on the intent versus lack of intent for the act and the consequence. “The four levels of culpability are negligence, recklessness, knowing and intentional or purposive” (Pollock, 2008, p.15). The law recognizes different levels of responsibility based on the mental status of the offender. Crimes that require only evidence of negligence or recklessness have less severe punishments attached to them because the level of culpability or the blame is less (Pollock, 2008).
Here is an example of a police officer confronted with an opportunity to accept some type of privilege. This officer should evaluate all the facts to establish whether there is anything expected in return. Is it just a gift or is it payment for some service? What will others feel should they know about the gift? Is accepting the gift within the law enforcement code of ethics? These will help the officer to make an ethical decision (Pollock, 2008).
Police officers should give priority to their duty to uphold the law and get proper training on how to exercise their discretionary powers which will enable them to act ethically. Recruitment of police officers with high integrity and putting in place internal police controls and accountability of minor acts of corruption will help to a greater extent curb police corruption (Banks, 2004).
According to Banks (2004), the police culture is characterized by immorality, violence, and lies; teamwork is essential and secrecy is endemic (P. 21). Aspects of an individual are significant considerations in law enforcement decision-making. Any show of disrespect for police authority is a matter of great concern, and as such, the person responsible is likely to be punished by arrest or use of force. The police culture in terms of the use of force requires that the police officer should never hesitate to use physical force against those who deserve it. From this perspective, laws concerning the protection of suspects and accused persons should be avoided when possible, so far as the police are concerned, because their function is simply to handicap them in the process of carrying out their duties. Protection of one’s colleague is very common to the police even when one has committed acts of misconduct. It is also considered appropriate for a police officer to accept gifts from the public because they serve the public (Banks, 2004).
Criminal violations committed by police professionals have seen many people suffer at the hands of police officers. The law enforcers should be trained on how to exercise their duties ethically. Police violence and brutality are encouraged by persistent impunity enjoyed by the officers who abuse human rights (Cavallaro, Manuel & Human rights watch/Americas, 1997).
References
Banks, C. (2004). Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory and Practice. New Barry Park, CA: SAGE.
Cavallaro, J., Manuel, A. & Human Rights Watch/Americas. (1997). Police Brutality in Urban Brazil. New York, NY: Human Rights watch.
Gaines, L. & Miller, R. (2008). Criminal Justice in Action: The Core (5th ed.). Florence, KY: Cengage Learning.
Pollock, J. (2008). Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice (6th ed.). Florence, KY: Cengage Learning.
Prenzler, T. (2009). Ethics and Accountability in Criminal Justice: Towards a Universal Standard. Bowen Hills QLD: Australian Academic Press.