Ethics in Law Enforcement
i. Ethical Dilemmas
a. Majority of ethical dilemmas a police officer will face are not “clear-cut”
b. Incidents of an ethical dilemma
1. When an officer does not know the right course of action
2. If an officer has difficulty in doing what he or she considers to be right
3. If an officer finds a wrong choice to be very tempting
c. Because of the many rules that govern policing—the subject of the next chapter—police officers often find themselves tempted by a phenomenon called noble cause corruption.
ii. Elements of Ethics
a. Discretion – how a police officer must act and how he or she
cannot act
b. Duty – obligation to act in a certain manner
c. Honesty – critical attribute in making daily decisions
d. Loyalty – decisions about being loyal to other officers within the
department
e. Law enforcement administrators can encourage ethical
policing by doing the following:
1. Incorporating ethics into the department’s mission statement.
2. Conducting internal training sessions in ethics.
3. Accepting “honest mistakes” and helping the officer learn from those mistakes.
4. Adopting a zero-tolerance policy toward unethical decisions when the mistakes are not so honest.
| Media Tool
“Rampart Police Corruption Scandal” · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhhpxpQHSoU · A short clip about ethical misconduct by some LAPD officers. |
Lecture Notes
Chapter 5 begins with a discussion about the structure of police departments and a discussion concerning the chain of command. Delegation of authority is an integral component of every chain of command. It means that almost every member is directly accountable to a supervisor. This structure encourages structure and control, while lessening unsupervised abuses of freedom.
Chapter 5 also examines how responsibilities are divided by area and time. Beats, precincts, and shifts are defined. Next patrol services are discussed. Police patrol serves three primary purposes: it deters crime, it maintains public order, and it provides services to the community. While police spend the majority of their time on preventive patrol, the also spend a significant amount of time responding to calls for service. Furthermore, differential response strategies enable officers to respond more efficiently to calls by distinguishing between “hot” and “cold” calls for service. The concept of providing service to the community is somewhat related to the concept of community policing. Community policing involves not only developing a partnership with citizens, but implementing proactive problem solving techniques to address the root causes of crime in a particular community. In this sense community policing is quite different from the traditional crime-fighting methods employed by law enforcement. Spend some time with students contrasting these two policing styles. What do students think of the increased focus on providing service to the community?
From the first day on the job, police officers begin a process of socialization into the police subculture. This subculture is often marked by police cynicism and an intense sense of loyalty to fellow officers. If unchecked, this subculture can result in an “us versus them” mentality among officers. Police officers also face unique dangers on the job, including physical and mental stress. Police officers suffer from abnormally high rates of suicide, substance abuse, and stress-related illness. Some of this stress is the result of the obligation to use force, even deadly force, against citizens who present a danger to the community. The misuse of force is just one of the ethical issues faced by officers. Officers likely face ethical dilemmas each time they report for duty, a challenge that is exacerbated by burnout and cynicism among officers. To help put these issues into perspective for students, invite a patrol officer to the classroom to speak candidly to students about the best and worst parts of policing. Allow students to ask questions and formulate their own opinions about policing as a profession.
Key Terms
Ballistics – the study of firearms, including the firing of the weapon and the flight of the bullet.
(p. 143)
Blue curtain – a metaphorical term used to refer to the value placed on secrecy and the general
mistrust of the outside world shared by many police officers. (p. 154)
Broken windows theory – Wilson and Kelling’s theory that a neighborhood in disrepair signals
that criminal activity is tolerated in the area. Thus, by cracking down on quality-of-life crimes,
police can reclaim the neighborhood and encourage law-abiding citizens to live and work there.
(p. 151)
Bureaucracy – a hierarchically structured administrative organization that carries out specific
functions. (p. 137)
Burnout – a mental state that occurs when a person suffers from exhaustion and has difficulty
functioning normally as a result of overwork and stress. (p. 155)
Citizen oversight – the process by which citizens review complaints brought against individual
police officers or police departments. (p. 160)
Clearance rate – a comparison of the number of crimes cleared by arrest and prosecution
with the number of crimes reported during any given time period. (p. 142)
Cold case – a criminal investigation that has not been solved after a certain amount of
time. (p. 142)
Cold hit – the establishment of a connection between a suspect and a crime, often
through the use of DNA evidence, in the absence of an ongoing criminal investigation. (p. 145)
Community policing – a policing philosophy that emphasizes community support for
and cooperation with the police in preventing crime. (p. 151)
Confidential informant (CI) – a human source for police who provides information
concerning illegal activity in which he or she is involved. (p. 141)
Crime mapping – technology that allows crime analysts to identify trends and patterns of
criminal behavior within a given area. (p. 149)
Deadly force – force applied by a police officer that is likely or intended to cause death. (p. 156)
Delegation of authority – the principles of command on which most police departments are
based, in which personnel take orders from and are responsible to those in positions of power
directly above them. (p. 137)
Detective – the primary police investigator of crimes. (p. 140)
Differential response – a strategy for answering calls for service in which response time
is adapted to the seriousness of the call. (p. 147)
Directed patrol – a patrol strategy that is designed to focus on a specific type of criminal activity
at a specific time. (p. 149)
DNA fingerprinting – the identification of a person based on a sample of her or his
DNA, the genetic material found in the cells of all living things. (p. 143)
Duty – the moral sense of a police officer that she or he should behave in a certain manner.
(p. 162)
Forensics – the application of science and technology to establish facts and evidence
during the investigation of crimes. (p. 142)
Hot spots – a concentrated area of high criminal activity that draws a directed police response.
(p. 149)
Incident-driven policing – a reactive approach to policing that emphasizes a speedy
response to calls for service. (p. 146)
Internal affairs unit (IAU) – a division within a police department that receives and investigates
complaints of wrongdoing by police officers. (p. 160)
Noble cause corruption – knowing misconduct by a police officer with the goal of attaining
what the officer believes is a “just” result. (p. 162)
Police corruption – the abuse of authority by a law enforcement officer for personal gain.
(p. 159)
Police subculture The values and perceptions that are shared by members of a police department
and, to a certain extent, by all law enforcement agents. (p. 153)
Proactive arrest – an arrest that occurs because of concerted efforts by law enforcement
agencies to respond to a particular type of criminal or criminal behavior. (p. 151)
Problem-oriented policing – a policing philosophy that requires police to identify potential
criminal activity and develop strategies to prevent or respond to that activity. (p. 152)
Random patrol – (p. 148)
Reactive arrest – an arrest that comes about as part of the ordinary routine of police patrols and
responses to calls for service. (p. 150)
Reasonable force – the degree of force that is appropriate to protect the police officer or other
citizens and is not excessive. (p. 156)
Response time – the rapidity with which calls for service are answered. (p. 147)
Socialization – the process through which a police officer is taught the values and
expected behavior of the police subculture. (p. 153)
Stressors – the aspects of police work and life that lead to feelings of stress. (p. 154)
Trace evidence – evidence such as fingerprints, blood, or hair found in small amounts at
a crime scene. (p. 142)
Assignments
1. Research how DNA is used by law enforcement to solve crimes. Why is DNA said to be more useful than the traditional fingerprint? (LO 1)
2. Have students review the section detailing the “broken window” reform strategy theory of policing. Do you agree that cracking down on “quality of life” crimes will necessarily allow for people to reclaim their neighborhoods and encourage law-abiding citizens to live and work there? What are some of the barriers to police being able to utilize this reform strategy? (LO 4-5)
3. Ask students to consider the specific strategies utilized in community policing efforts. How can police officers becoming partners with the community help law enforcement fight crime? Do you agree with critics who say that community policing is more of a public relations gimmick than an actual crime fighting strategy? Why do critics of community policing hold this view? Is there some truth to it? How is the new emphasis on homeland security incompatible with the tenets of community policing? (LO 4-5)
4. Research the Rampart Scandal of the LAPD. Prepare a class presentation about the misconduct of the officers involved and why they were able to continue this misconduct for so many years. In this context, discuss how the Code of Silences contributes to misconduct. What can police departments do to reduce ethical misconduct? (LO 6, 8)
5. Watch the video about “Public Trust and Ethical Issues in Law Enforcement” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj2t4gOPcGg. Prepare a summary paper in which you discuss what you have learned from the video. Following, develop two strategies to increase public trust in law enforcement. (LO 8)
Answers To Critical Thinking Questions In The Text
1. In speaking with a domestic terrorism suspect, a paid FBI informant said, “Allah has more work for you to do,” adding, “Revelation is going to come in your dreams that you have to do this thing.” The “thing” was to shoot down American military airplanes with handheld missiles. If you were defending the terrorism suspect in court, how would you use this evidence? Why would your efforts be likely to fail?
ANS: I would try to use the defense of entrapment because the FBI agent planted the idea of committing the crime. This would likely fail because the suspects could have backed out at any time, which counteracts the entrapment claim.
2. What might be some of the drawbacks of relying on text messaging as part of Next Generation 911?
ANS: Officers must rely on the “texter” to provide an address or contact information. Police could receive “fake” messages and be distracted from the actual crime location. Police may lose response time by trying to verify the information and authenticity of the “texter.” Text messages also compromise the crucial exchange between dispatchers and callers as an emergency unfolds.
3. Criminologists John and Emily Beck suggest that crime reduction strategies should treat crime as if it were a form of pollution. How does this comparison make sense in the context of predictive policing and crime mapping?
ANS: John and Emily Beck talk about the risk society and how crime, just like pollution, can be prevented by predictive policing. Crime mapping can aid predictive policing by making crime hot spots visible and by allowing for predictive models of crime shifts (displacement of crime). One possibility is to increase guardianship and monitoring in risk areas to increase the risk for criminals to get caught and to deter criminals.
4. Suppose that a high-crime neighborhood is plagued by numerous abandoned homes and malfunctioning streetlights. Applying the “broken windows” theory, what steps should local politicians take to reduce crime in the area?
ANS: Politicians would fix the streetlights and attempt to make the neighborhood look nicer (remove graffiti, abandoned cars, etc.). The people who live there would then understand that crime is not tolerated and crime would decrease – at least in that neighborhood. Criminals may simply go somewhere else.
5. Nearly every police department in the country has a policy that limits its officers’ discretion to engage in high speed automobile pursuits of fleeing suspects. Why do you think such policies are so popular among police administrators?
ANS: If police departments do not engage in high speed pursuits then their credibility with citizens and criminals suffers because criminals don’t fear that the police will come after them and the citizens feel that the police aren’t doing their job. Also high speed pursuits often get media coverage and the department looks good if they catch the criminal – especially live on TV.