Ethics and Law Enforcement: Police Brutality and Racism in the US is Unethical - Term Paper Example

Ethics and Law Enforcement: Police Brutality and Racism in US is Unethical Introduction The rate of police brutality and racism is very high in the United States than in other developed nation. This document explores issues of racism and brutality in the police force in US. Lack of ethical training can affect the professional performance of the police force and how they relate to the public (Fitch, 2013). In most of the states, the black people are treated with contempt and entrenched racism (Gleason, 2006). Ethical training can guide the law enforcing officers to quickly identify ethical problem and establish alternative approaches to address the issue. Also, it can guide them in making quick ethical and rational decision and take action that can address the ethical problem. Finally, the officer can readily accept the consequences of their actions (Gleason, 2006). In the United States, the police officers are guided by various laws and policies to unsure the exercise of ethical practices during law enforcement (Tony, 2011). For example, the Miranda rule grants the suspects the "right to remain silent while in police custody by ensuring they do not give unfair confession that can be used against them in the court of law (Smith et al., 2010)." This ensures ethical practices by the police officers so that they cannot intimidate a suspect during interrogation by forcing them to give wrong confession (Smith et al., 2010). Furthermore, various codes of ethics such as those provided by Law Enforcement Code of Ethics and the American Federation of Police to guide the law enforcing officers into making ethical decisions in their practices (Perez & Moore, 2012). However, the U.S. has not adopted national code of ethics for harmonious ethical practices in all police departments. Instead, individual police departments rely on internally developed codes of ethics in accordance with the standards set by the law enforcement associations and applied in the oath of office that each officer pledges (Perez & Moore, 2012). The criminal justice system protects the accused persons against cruelty of investigatory and prosecution authority. The criminal justice is the structure of practices and rules of government focused on safeguarding social governance, preventing or vindicating crime endorsing the offenders of justice with criminal punishment and recuperation effort (Gleason, 2006). The criminal justice system comprises of legislative adjudication and corrections agencies that work together under the rule of law in order to ensure maintenance of a rule of law in the society (Perez & Moore, 2012). The first officers and offender or suspects comes into contact with the in the criminal justice system are the Police officers whose duty is to investigate the suspect for the wrongdoing and apprehend the suspect (Smith et al., 2010). In case the suspect turns out to be dangerous to the nation the law enforcing agency at the national level is brought in for intervention (Tony, 2011). The policy officers are allowed to use necessary force or any other means of coercion to execute public and social order (Kleinig, 1996). For this reason, police have the primary responsibility to keep a peace and enforce criminal law in accordance with their specific mission and prerogative. The law enforcing officers are guided by professional code of ethics that determines how they should behave and what is expected of them (Tony, 2011). The police officers should adhere to the code of ethics by learning to think and live ethically so that they can shun inconsistent behavior. The police officers encounter difficult situations in their routine activities that trigger emotional and volatile responses (Tony, 2011). Inadequate ethical training influence how the police officers react to ethical issues and decision they make. Police brutality refers to the abuse of power by use of unnecessary force by police officers during law enforcement in the performance of their official responsibilities (Fitch, 2013). The force may cause physical or psychological harm to the victim through intimidation mechanisms (Tony, 2011). On the other hand, police express racism by treating people from different racial background indifferently even though they are in similar situations. The fairness of the police officers implies execution of a social contract of the agreement between the state and citizens and fulfilling mutual responsibility, expectations, and mutual rights. The law enforcing officers have a role to play in safeguarding public confidence from the social contract (Tony, 2011). The social contract depicts the freedom that the public has entrusted to the government including the law enforcing agency with an expectation that the government will protection that freedom (Gleason, 2006). The police officers have the responsibility to execute social contract on behalf of the government by acting in a manner that demonstrates respect for the government principles (Perez & Moore, 2012). The government principles are envisioned in the U.S. constitution which forms the basis of ethics training for the police professionals in U.S. Ethics training should instill integrity in police profession and enable them act professionally in all aspects of life (Tony, 2011). It can enable the police officers to avoid emotional burnout and inculcate the moral values both in personal and public life. Although there are many cases of police brutality in the US most of them go unreported with the responsibility to investigate the police held by the internal police commissioner or district attorneys (Gleason, 2006). The internal police commissions face public criticism from the public for unethical practices and lack of accountability concerning investigation of the police officers. According to (Perez & Moore, 2012), out of 10,000 cases of police brutality filed in Chicago Police Department between 2002 and 2003 only 0.19% culminated in disciplinary action against the officers involved (Fitch, 2013). For this reason, the police force cannot act ethically without strong emphasizes from the seniors. The impunity in the police administration is responsible for increased brutality and racism among the law enforcing officers (Gleason, 2006). According to Smith et al. (2010), police officers are compelled to use force because of the nature of issues they handle in day-to-day lives. In most cases, police have resulted in an application of force due to resistance of arrest by the victims. After all, the police officers are allowed to use some force when necessary in order to restore justice (Fitch, 2013). However, although some studies argue that police officers use force in case of resistance caused during arrest by the suspects, other studies have shown that only in few instances result to use of force during arrest. For example, Smith et al. (2010), argues that only less than twenty percent of that violence result from police control of resistant suspect. The nature of forces varies from use of hands to use of weapons. For this reason, most of the violence is caused by other factors and not resistance to arrest (Chaney & Robertson, 2013). Ethical education in the police force is inevitable in order to improve a relationship between the police officers and citizens (Perez & Moore, 2012). Police officers have absolute control over their integrity and professionalism although the rest of their activities are controlled by their seniors. The police commanders, prosecutors, supervisors, politicians, court, law, criminal judicial system, prosecuting attorneys,, etc. influence the day-to-day activities of the police officers (Smith et al., 2010). The officers who are closely attached to their jobs experience loss of control of personal lives due to the control exercised by other controlling forces and personalities. The feeling of loss of control of individual life can make the police officers perceive the world as potentially deadly (Smith et al., 2010). Consequently, the police officers may develop hyper-vigilant mind-set that makes them turn to their colleagues because they cannot trust another person (Perez & Moore, 2012). As police officers get attached to their colleagues, they lose trust of the public due to separation gap that exist between them. In addition, they get detached from the public and the department of control (Chaney & Robertson, 2013). The resentment of the authority by the police officers can influence the performance of their duties. For example, the police officers may feel victimized thus may not be able to conduct thorough investigation against the offenders. For this reason, conducts of the police officers and the demonstration of loyalty to the profession depend on how they perceive the world either as friendly or hostile to them. Ethical practices are of prime importance in order to restore the public trust of the police and criminal justice system (Smith et al., 2010). Supervisors and commanders have the ethical responsibility to ensure the police officers meet the expectations of the criminal justice system. Acting ethically involves presenting accurate investigation report about the suspects in order to ensure execution of justice in the police force. According to Smith et al. (2010), the police officers in US perceive African-Americans as criminal and the judicial system convict them without adequate evidence of the crimes they are accused of. On the other hand, the when a white person is suspected of a crime the judicial system require the arresting police to conduct the thorough investigation in order to avoid wrongful prosecution of the suspect. However, sometimes they set free despite the supporting evidence establishing of their involvement in crimes (Chaney & Robertson, 2013). Also, when white police officers are involved in crimes, the judicial system does not act justly to hold them responsible for their actions. For example, the Ferguson police officer did not face any charge for the crime of shooting an innocent black man on the street (Chaney & Robertson, 2013). For this reason, the police department should uphold a culture of ethical practices in order to build and maintain public trust. The way the public perceives the police force will influence the relationship between the public and criminal justice system (Chaney & Robertson, 2013). Therefore, police officers should be taught ethics in order to improve the performance of their duties. Racism and brutality is not an unusual thing in the United States (Tony, 2011). The white soldiers can murder an innocent black man in cold blood and continue with his work freely as if nothing happened. The recent example is that of Darren Wilson, Ferguson white American soldier who brutally shot dead Michael Brown, a harmless black man and got acquitted by local ostentatious panel of judges (Smith et al., 2010). The police officer appeared on the national television and reiterated that he would do the same thing again even if he confronted a while assailant because he was doing what he was trained to do (Barker, 2011). The conduct of Darren Wilson indicates how the law enforcing officers have gone out of their minds to execute paramilitary orders unconsciously without taking regard for human lives (Smith et al., 2010). It depicts deficiency of ethical training among the law enforcing officers. If they are provided with ethical training they can make decision on the right course of action before acting and take responsibility of their conducts irrespective of whether they confront black or white harmless civilians (Perez & Moore, 2012). After the September 11th 2001 attack on the world trade center the United Nations Human Right Committee prepared a report that indicated the U.S. determination to fight terrorism in and out of the States (Chaney & Robertson, 2013). However, the report criticized the action as a propagation of impunity for the police officers. That decision also contributed to an elimination of few accountability instruments that existed for nationals control over law administering agencies (Chaney & Robertson, 2013). Consequently, the police violence and cruelty continues without any deterrence around the nation. Following the terrorist attack the United States Department of Justice opted to renounce excess weaponry from Afghanistan and Iraq and militarize the local policemen (Kleinig, 1996). Also, massive arsenal were using in the course of drug raids by SWAT team in which the black race was targeted in nighttime raids. Similarly, the teams were used in Ferguson to cool the protesters after the killing of Brown’s in August that fuelled the violence instead of putting it out. Despite their brutality, the raiders faced little penalties for making mistakes of killing persons, pets and destroying homes and property. The brutality witnessed in the local police force is an act of ignorance and lack of ethical considerations (Perez & Moore, 2012). The police force treats everyone as though they were brutes and terrorists. Although the police officers are hired to protect the rights of the citizens and by getting rid of the criminal elements such as thugs and terrorists they also think that they can achieve their plans by brutalizing everyone in order to force the disclose the perpetrators of crimes (Tony, 2011). With ethical education the law enforcing officers can maintain peace and order without causing injustice to the innocent citizens (Perez & Moore, 2012). The police officers are trained and armed to kill and they do exactly that. For this reason, if they are trained to practice ethics in their work they would be guided by ethical principles to make the rational decision (Barker, 2011). According to Smith et al. (2010), police shoots and kill the people of color twice as frequently as they do to any other racial group. The federal records on crime data reveal the big variation in the number of black people killed by the police officers compared to another racial group (Smith et al., 2010). Among during arrest and those held in custody the rate of death of black people is four times that of other race (Smith et al., 2010). There is the allegation that in most cases the police officers do not report the number deaths to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The police officers propagate brutality and racism during the performance of their operations as evidenced in the data maintained by the FBI (Fitch, 2013). The police brutality is coupled with racial prejudice against the people of color. The professional code of ethics prohibits the law enforcing officers to execute their mandate with prejudice or favoritism (Fitch, 2013). During the arrest of offenders, the police officers should treat the suspects with respect they deserve. The rule of the law considers the suspect innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. However, Tony (2011) argues that the whites defend the policy brutality against the people of color because of the hatred they have against the black race. They perceive black people as deserving suffering and torture in the criminal justice system (Smith et al., 2010). Other studies have established that male blacks are emblematic criminals, and the notion is bolstered by the media and the general public as well as the sentencing system. Eberhardit et al. (2006), argues that black males with more Afrocentric features (e.g., dark skin, broad noses and full lips) may receive longer sentences than blacks with less Afrocentric features, i.e. lighter skin and straighter hair.” Others have justified white shootings of the black people on the ground of “Negrophobia.” Negrophobia can be described as absurdness of blacks such as panic of being abused by black. For this reason, it is because of lack of ethical knowledge that the police officers mistreat the people of the color with brutality (Barker, 2011). With ethical education, the police officers can treat all people fairly irrespective of the race, social or economic background. Ethics would require the police officers to respect human rights and treat all people with dignity (Kleinig, 1996). Ethics training should eliminate impunity in the law enforcement agency and add value to the police force and the entire community (Perez & Moore, 2012). Police force is a system of three components “public entrustment assets, public entrustment of authority and moral exhortation or sense of duty (Smith et al., 2010).” For this reason, training ethics adds value to the organizations asset, the investments used by the organization to add value to the society through just and ethical behaviors of its members. The fairness of the law enforcing agency is of an essence in order for the society to view the police department as a legitimate authority (Kleinig, 1996). Fairness means giving different similar treatment in equal circumstances. As for the police officer being fair implies what the community perceives about the conducts of a policy officer. Their conducts and community’s view of those conducts defines fairness in the police force and affects the legitimacy of their authority (Smith et al., 2010). The fairness of the legal enforcing agencies is an execution of a social contract. Various studies have attested that police officers use excessive force against innocent people and especially the people of color. The April 2014 report following a two years investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) established that police officers use excessive force during their practices thus violating the fourth amendment of the constitution. Also, survey results have established that Latinos and black Americans have low confidence in the police force, and they believe police officers are likely to use excessive force when apprehending a suspect. The work of the police is risky and involving (Smith et al., 2010). They public expectations of the police officers are too high, and they are expected to restore order and justice all the time (Chaney & Robertson, 2013). The public is oblivious to the eminent challenges the police officers are exposed to during execution of their duties. For example, in America there many guns in the hands of the public than in other developed nations. Although the law authorizing gun ownership in America intended to increase personal security the high rate of homicide has been associated with gun ownership (Tony, 2011). Some criminals are smarter than the police officers to the extent that they can draw a gun and shoot at the police officer before the officer reacts to the challenge (Barker, 2011). For this reason, the police officers argue that due to the risk involved in their practices there is little time to make ethical consideration since the option available for them is to shoot or risk being shot by the criminals. According to Chaney & Robertson (2013), in 2013 there were 49,851 cases of police officers assaulted by the suspects in the line of their duties and 29.2% of them had sustained injuries while 27 officers died during the year (Chaney & Robertson, 2013). These findings elucidate pity and empathy for the police officers (Chaney & Robertson, 2013). The law enforcing officers have a duty to deal with criminals and have the right to shoot and kill the suspect whenever it is necessary. In addition, they are human beings and cannot protect others if their own lives are at risk (Perez & Moore, 2012). Although some studies have established that police officers have the right to shoot and kill whenever necessary and that the risk involved in their practices limit the application of ethical considerations during operations, the way they handle situation after the action depicts irresponsible use of force and element of racial discrimination (Chaney & Robertson, 2013). There is the lack of transparency and accountability even in situations where reasonable force was used (Chaney & Robertson, 2013). For example, considering the case of Ferguson where the officer shot a black armless teenager does not represent a situation where the police officer was reacting to a perceived danger posed by the suspect (Perez & Moore, 2012). The action taken by the grand jury against the police officer triggered public reaction to protest against police brutality and racism (Chaney & Robertson, 2013). Despite the fact that the victim (Michael Brown) showed no intention to cause harm to the officer and even opted to run for his life, the officer shot and killed him. The grand jury took no action against the police officer for the offense (Chaney & Robertson, 2013). One can argue that sometimes the suspect react harshly to the police officers because of impunity of the judicial system that finds the police officer at not fault even after killing an innocent person (Chaney & Robertson, 2013). For this reason, ethical education can contribute to police accountability and transparency in an execution of orders. It can guide them into making rational decisions and treat all persons with equality and respect irrespective of their background (Perez & Moore, 2012). Ethical behavior influences the way people responds to various challenges in life (Perez & Moore, 2012). The police officers are expected to offer services to the public without bias. Their role is to deal with crimes in the society and restore peace and order (Chaney & Robertson, 2013). However, in US the police officers have acted in an ignorantly especially towards the African-American men. For example, it is not unusual for the police officer to stop the black men on the street suspecting them to be criminals (Chaney & Robertson, 2013). Studies have indicated that the men of color have suspicious figures that make them appear like criminals. Other police officers have argued that African-Americans are violent in nature and can cause physical harm to the police officers (Perez & Moore, 2012). For this reason, ethical education is necessary for the police force in order to help them avoid acting unfairly towards people from different races. It is apparent that police officers have desire for better performance. According to Perez & Moore, (2012), the police officers get frustrated to realize they are not able to meet the expectations of their supervisors. In order to make them please their seniors they end up committing injustice against innocent persons (Perez & Moore, 2012). For example, they apprehend innocent black Americans and present wrong evidence to in order to punish them for crimes they did not commit. Ethical training is essential in order to guide the police officer in a decision-making and observe professional ethics. References Barker, T. (2011). Police Ethics. Charles C Thomas Publisher Chaney, C. & Robertson, R.V., (2013). Racism and Police Brutality in America. Springer science and Business Media http://www.academia.edu/6042812/Racism_and_Police_Brutality Fitch, B. D. (2013). Law Enforcement Ethics. SAGE Publications Gleason, T. (2006). Ethics Training for Police. Seattle Police Department Washington. Retrieved from Kleinig, J. (1996). Handled with Discretion: Ethical Issues in Police Decision Making. Rowman & Littlefield. Perez, D. & Moore, J. (2012). Police Ethics. Cengage Learning. Smith, M. R. Kaminski, R., Alpert, G. P., Fridell, L. A., MacDonald, J., & Kubu, B. (2010). A Multi-Method Evaluation of Police Use of Force Outcomes: Final Report to the National Institute of Justice Tony, M. (2011). Punishing Race: A Continuing American Dilemma. New York: Oxford University Press. Read More