The Motto of NSWs Police - Essay Example

The police are one of the most important and powerful institution in any country. This is because of the sensitive and vast authority bestowed upon this institution by the government. Part of the police’s duties and functions include detecting and preventing crimes, maintaining law and order and coordinating emergency operations. Over the years, the police institution has evolved to specialized functional units such as homicide detectives, sniffer dog squads and air wing. These specialised police units have played critical roles in the form of religious police, political police and military police among others. Since the police institution was conceived, it has been closely associated with judicial and political processes of countries as noted by Anona Armstrong. The motto of NSW’s police is “Culpam Poena Premit Comes”, which is translated as ‘punishment follows closely upon crime’. Through the police’s close collaboration with judicial and corrective agencies, this motto has been followed and reinforced to the benefit of the NSW community. One website that has been developed by the Police Foundation explains how ethical behaviour has been embedded into the police force to become a priority for both on duty and off duty officers. As a result, these officers have the obligation to not only observe the law but also serve as examples to the community by executing their duties efficiently. Usually, the efficiency of the police institution is brought into disrepute because of negative public image, which cast doubt on police ethics. It is imperative that police officers use discretion when dealing with certain incidents. One website by Direct Gov explains what members of the public should do when they get warnings from police officers. For instance, a mother feeding her child on pieces of peach and grapes in a supermarket might not be aware that she is stealing and costing the supermarket a lot of money. In other cases, the woman might be feeling satisfied that she is only taking a small amount from the supermarket’s vast resource vault to feed her infant child. Since children have high chances of being included in such like cases, restraint and precautions must be observed. If for instance the mother picked the grapes from the display bin, restraint should be utilised as the mother might not be aware that what she is doing is wrong. As such, punishing the young child is morally wrong. The mother can, however, talk with the police and apologise but if she becomes defiant, a fine can be imposed upon her act. Taking some pieces of a product from the display shelf in a supermarket so that the product weighs less and becomes cheaper is a direct form of larceny. This is, however, not in the usual sense of a person stealing a garment from a clothes store because the product is ultimately paid for but contains deception as regards the actual quantity. Again, in this case, the police can talk with the perpetrators and warn them as they might be ignorant of the fact that they have committed a crime. However, formal warning and fines can be imposed where it is found that this was a purposeful deceptive behaviour. The instance of the magazine example as was discussed in the study cannot be reasonably exercised by the police. This is because it is immoral for police to apprehend people except for quiet talk about the subject. A plastic cover over the magazine warning against breaking the seal can be appropriate in curbing the behavior. Cases of women putting nuts in their bags and openly eating them while in the store should be met with a harsh talk because they do not involve young children. The police should clearly warn the offender that if they do not heed the police advice, further actions can be taken and this may include heavy fines. Occasionally, the offender might not be aware that they are committing a crime while removing stalks from bananas or they may think that they are having a harmless flick over the magazine. Arresting such people or punishing them heavily can make them very bitter with the police. This may in turn make their future interaction with the police difficult, for instance when police try to ask for assistance around their neighbourhoods. In the NSW police code and ethical conduct website, it is clearly explained that police officers should use deontological viewpoint as their guiding preposition. This means that their actions and conduct should not be based on what outcomes the offender’s action has brought about but how they acted during the situation. While police officers have to take into account the consequences of their actions, it is important that all parties to a case are satisfied and that the reputation of the police be maintained to reflect the deontological standpoint. This standpoint requires that the police be honest at all times, whether on-duty or off-duty and that necessary care should be taken to protect the reputation of the police force. This obliges individual police officers to be diligent in their work and take measures to protect the wellbeing of other officers. NSW police officers are required to observe and respect the guidelines that regulate the work of the police. Part of these guidelines is that a police officer cannot treat another person with less dignity, courtesy, respect or fairness because of their sexuality, age, gender or physical or mental disability. A police officer must at all times obey orders or request by senior officers if those orders or requests are deemed lawful and reasonable. An officer, whether on duty or out of duty and when in a foreign country must comply with the regulations of the NSW police as well as the laws of the country in which they are. NSW officers cannot be compromised in their duties because of conflicts of interest such as when investigating a close friend or family member. In that case, reasonable steps should be taken by the concerned officer and his superior to ensure that incidents of conflict of interest do not occur. Moreover, police officers should refrain from disclosing confidential information unless the disclosure is in accordance with the NSW police policies and procedures. Any information on NSW police can only be accessed if that information is needed to assist the police in their duties. Police officers cannot use their positions in the society to gain undue advantages from the community because their authority can only be exercised for lawful purposes and for fulfilment of police officers duties. Again, police officers must report corruption and other instances of ethical behavior if they witness the instances to the senior officers or police hotline. There are some codes of conduct which support the view that police use deontological and not teleological viewpoints in the execution of their duties. However the strand of deontological theory that the police follow is that that of Kant’s Duty of Ethics which stipulates that a good intent is necessary when acting in an ethical manner but should be supported by reason and not merely ideas of supernatural origin. The intent should not harbour any form of self-contradiction and should be able to be applied in a universal setting and impact on every area of the society and not just a select group or organization. It is possible to explain Kant’s Duty Ethics by observing that although quadrangles can be of various shapes, sizes and colours, they are all four sided. An equally important principle of Kant’s duty of ethics is that human beings should not be used by other human beings in achieving certain gaols, be it malevolent or benevolent. Rules should be strictly followed out of sense of duty more than anything else and any inclinations should not be relied upon as moral compass since this can be immoral and unstable. Examination of Kant’s ethics brings about the notion of developing a morally absolute system, one that has to be followed out of sense of duty to help people not to be used to achieve personal gaols. It is upon this theoretical stance in exception of certain parts of Kent’s duty ethics that NSW police force operates. One of the most common responses for policing cases when exercising the rule of law as an ethical standpoint is the deontological standpoint, since the law sets out procedures and protocols that should be made the moral compass on what police officers ought to do and what they should not do. For instance, when responding to a domestic dispute, police are required to separate parties for a while. This process can be incorporated into an ethical framework for the concerned officers so that the officer gets to know that it is ethical to separate parties for similar incidents as explained by Lexis Nexis. Lexis Nexis has expounded on a range of considerations regarding consequence of actions that should be taken into account by the police while serving the community. An infamous example is that of the laws enacted in Germany from 1930-1945 during the reign of the NAZI party. These laws required both the police and the citizens to apprehend or report people of Jewish origin. But using a consequentialist mindset, police officers and the people would weigh whether the law should be enforced or whether the imprisonment of an innocent Jew was morally right. Anona Armstrong believes the police are given powerful authority and powers by the government to maintain order and a safe community. However, the government tries to safeguard the laws in order to ensure that the police do not abuse their powers for their selfish ends. Read More