Ethics in Police Forces - Essay Example

Interview Analysis of Affiliation Ethics are the moral standards that govern someone in their line of duty or in their work place. They are the principles that one uses to know if what they are doing is either good or bad. In the work place this principles are used for the benefit of all the people. The police or the law enforcers are also professionals and should highly consider these principles since they normally deal with large masses of people on a daily basis they are advised to practice them so as to maintain law and order. Character also goes a long way in maintaining the principles. In that character keeps one on top of their game constantly keeping them in check. From the interview conducted the participants feel that police are sleeping on their jobs when it comes to ethical issues they do not uphold the law anymore and most time they end up not portraying the right character that the law enforcers should have at all times. For example they take bribes instead of punishing those who break the law; they favor those who are in influential positions instead of promoting equality for the people in the country. These small acts look very in consequential but in the real sense affect a lot of people. In the past the police or the law enforcers upheld their ethical principles so much since they had the public in mind. They did not take bribes but instead made sure that law and order was well maintained by the people. They dedicated their lives to full-service and had their character also put in check constantly to make sure that they were doing the right things for the greater good of the people. In the day to day lives even in the police academies the new recruits are rarely taught about upholding integrity .they are taught that oppressing the innocent is the order of the day since it pays more and makes the rich happy. The participants thus fear the police force more than they even the wrong doers or even the burglars who steal from them. They now fear the law enforcers more than even death itself. Most police officers get caught up in misconduct because they get low pay or because most crimes they try to fight are heavily loaded with money deals for example the drug deals. Most of them are approached by dealers and arte promised large amounts of money if they only look the other way when this deals go down. Most of them are from poor families and so they feel the need to get a fat pay check so as to support their families back at home. Others work closely with politicians who are corrupt and so since they are sworn to secrecy they end up covering most of their bosses’ crimes and most times even end up being their right hand men in doing crime since they are in the police force. Other times they just are influenced by greed from their partners in their line of duty so they end up doing wrong intentionally or because of peer influence from the wrong crowd. Some of them are naturally mischievous and bad people who hide behind the uniform but deep inside have the ills of intentions inside them. When their lives are threatened by other gangster’s police officers most times opt to take justice into their own hands instead of seeking the law courts or the government for help, they end up doing wrong since nobody follows them up to know how they hand the wrong doers. The courts and also the body that governs the police force also has contributed to misconduct of the police since they do not have strict punishments imposed on those police officers that do wrong in their line of duty. They just serve them with light punishment s or most time s just look the other way depending on the type of crime the police officer has committed. This in turn sends a message to the officer that it is easy for them to get away with crime just because they are in the task force of keeping law and order. The interviewers felt that the police academies were little or no training when it came to teaching about ethics and especially of the police officers. This is because they did not reflect these principles in their work places. The public believe that what is taught in the class or academy should be visible when it comes to practically carrying out the duties assigned to them. Others feel that this ethics are taught in the academy but most of the officers are not taught on how to effectively carry them out in the field. So the academy has greatly failed the society by not instilling the right morals and values into these officers. The training officers have not been carrying out their duties well of making sure that their trainees have effectively learnt the right things to do in the field. You even find that even in the academy the trainers are also corrupt and influence the new recruits to be like them in the field. Since they train a huge mass of people in the academy the spread of bad influence is very easy and hence a high production of corrupt and immoral officers in the work force. Their attachment grounds also contribute to the downfall of the officers since during their first orientations and practical experience they are taught on how to be corrupt and un just to the masses. Ethics training should be done constantly not just too new trainees but also to the whole task force. They should be regularly reminded that the mass population that is the public always come first in all they should be doing. The importance of being men and women of noble character in the police force is good so that they can be people who put others before their own greed. This way all those in a position to influence the public should also be in a position to lead and to maintain law and order in the most caviled way possible. To the public such training should also be taught. This creates awareness of how they should be treated by police officer in case they come on the wrong side of the law. This is also important in that they can be in a position to judge the kind of services they get from the police officers. Most people will mistake good principles and ethics with bad morals and ethics and hence end up stereotyping other people just because someone from the same task force made a mistake. The participants in the interview felt that constant training and reminder of the officers of their roles and duties and their obligations to society would greatly reduce the rate of corruption in the country. When something is constantly taught and practiced it starts becoming a norm and in due time most of the officers will start embracing it and hence petty crimes such as accepting bribes will be a hard thing to openly carry out in public. More so, many untrained officers will also have a chance to know some of this core values that will be important and useful in their normal day to day duties. Other participants in the interview felt that being morally upright and upholding ethics is a personal decision that one needs to make from within themselves. So no matter what kind of training one gets at the end of the day it’s a personal decision that one makes to change and be a better person in the duties that they perform where ever they are. Most people agreed to this school of thought and decided that it was the best for the task force. They said that before any training is imposed that the officers should first see their mistakes and be more than willing to correct and learn from their mistakes. If it started from within it would be much easier upholding this values than if they were forcefully pushed down their throats in the aim of making them change. Taking a bribe or being corrupt is a decision that comes from within someone and, hence, people should work hard on their inner values, morals and principles before anything else is done. References Crank, J. P., & Caldero, M. A. (2010). Police Ethics (Revised Printing): The Corruption of Noble Cause. Elsevier. Read More