ISSUE: Excessive Force and Unethical Police Operations
RULE: First precept of Natural Law: “That good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided”
ANALYSIS:
Over the last decade a mounting problem has begun to emerge involving public safety across the United States. The arrival of new technology is effectively exposing a problem within our police forces that in the past was overlooked and labeled insignificant or as isolated cases. Currently public safety forces across the nation are rapidly losing credibility surrounded by accusations of police brutality, militarization of the police force, civil rights violations and creating a “police state”. By analyzing current police safety standards and the behavior of police departments against natural law ethics we can better understand if the accusations against public safety can be dim appropriate under ethical rules. The issue at hand is the use of excessive force and unethical police operations often labeled by citizens as an infringement upon citizens’ natural and civil rights. Being a Police Officer is a job that comes with a tremendous amount of responsibility morally, ethically and legal. Police officers are entrusted with the responsibility of enforcing laws and protecting citizens from harm, their credibility depends upon their own personal compliance with the law and with behaviors that promote public order and citizen safety. Law enforcement canons of ethics like the law enforcement officer 's code of ethic
Since their has been policing entities, it is understood by most that law enforcement officers have been performing a public service that is not easy to carry out. To assist law enforcement officers in diffusing situations, apprehending alleged criminals, and protecting themselves and others, officers are legally entitled to use appropriate means, including force. In discussing police misconduct, this report acknowledges not only the legal grant of such authority,
As each new member of a police department officially becomes a sworn member, friends, family and other members of the public gather as they speak an oath. The oath these officers take, promises their commitment to ensure the safety of the public they serve. This means more than protecting civilians from individuals who may stray from the law, but to also ensure the protection of basic human rights. Police and other public servants are given a great deal of trust and power, what they do with it is based on the ethics they choose to uphold. In this paper we will look at why it is important for these justice professionals to study ethics.
After reading all the material regarding Jeffery Bell, Darryl Forrest and Dustin Sillings all 3 whom were members of the Kansas City Police special unit known as (SCORE) Selective, Crime, Occurrence, Reduction Enforcement unit. I came up with several unethical behaviors throughout the course of the year from January 2010 to January 2011. One, all 3 officers violated the victims constitutional rights. Rights that were taken away were the freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures and not to have their property taken without due process under the law. (The Criminal Indictment: United States of America v. Jeffrey M. Bell, Darryl M. Forrest, and Dustin Sillings) Each officer took it upon themselves to steal various items including money from
While racing down the freeway on March 3, 1991, driver Rodney King and friends were leading the Los Angeles Police Department on a high speed chase making it up to 115 miles per hour. When King was eventually caught, officers pulled him from his car and began to beat King with their batons hitting and kicking him more than 50 times and shocking him with stun guns in a period of two minutes as he struggled helplessly on the ground outside of his car. King suffered 11 skull fractures, kidney damage, and brain damage. This was one of America’s first viral video of what excessive force is, and it changed the way police interacted with communities forever. The use of police force is an obligation, but unfortunately some officers may misuse, or abuse
We hear about police misconduct case and wonder, Why don’t they do anything to stop this? Many say that we should keep the police officers’ perspective in mind. Others say that these actions are due to racism or post 9/11 paranoia. Whatever the excuse may be for these cases, there should be no need for violence anywhere. Police brutality videos go viral and reveal to the world that it actually happens and that it may happen to you too. This pervades people with fear and anger because their civil right are being violated. Riots are the outcome making the streets unsafe and chaotic. Statistics show percentage of the movements taken upon these criminal acts performed by police officers. We can put a stop to this and we will put a
Police work is dangerous. Sometimes police put in situations that excessive force is needed, but, because some officers use these extreme measures in situations when it is not required to use excessive force. The use of excessive force it should be looked into by the system in the misuse of power among officers. Most police officers throughout the ranks of the U.S. police departments are just seeking more authority/recognition among the population or the district his/he is working. The U.S. law enforcement that misuse their authority would get away with it in the past it would only be he or she said. Since the invention of cameras more of the excessive force used by police officers use gets caught in a circle around due to the social network. Law enforcement agents need to wear cameras with their uniforms and a penalty for any tampering with cameras view or shutting down the cameras with a 20 year sentence.
Have you ever thought about what happens if a person breaks a law? What if this individual breaks a minor law and creates a larger problem? A strong topic is upon our society when it comes to law enforcement and the tough physical and verbal oppression that they have the potential to put on people when it comes to breaking the law. Police officers are supposed to be society 's saviors, guardians, and our friends. However, when things do not go quite right, and when someone breaks the law, there will always be that chance that things could escalate. These officers are supposed to deescalate situations and solve problems. That is what society relies on them at any given moment. Sometimes it takes an escalation of force to deescalate a criminal situation. This is why society sees the men and women in uniform with weapons capable of hindering life to the fullest. However, when this force is used and abused, it creates problems. The public eye becomes weary of the police in many different ways for using excessive force to deescalate a situation. Excessive force and police brutality are often caused by depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, as well as other mental disorders; due to the way they are portrayed by the media, excessive force and police brutality have a direct effect on the American society as well as fellow officers in all branches of law enforcement.
“Ethical issues regarding corruption and off-duty behavior have become an increasing challenge in criminal justice” (Writing, 1999-2013). Within the criminal justice system, ethics can be complicated by the moral implications of actions. Differences in cultures and different circumstances can affect the individual moral compass. However, all departments of criminal justice operate by a certain code of ethics and by certain standards. But those standards and ethics often become challenged due to issues relating to police brutality, off duty conduct and corruption that we hear about all of the time through the media.
Law enforcement (police) subcultures have specific set of moral values and a certain mentality exhibited by those in law enforcement. It’s always the public against the police so they form an alliance for supportive reasons. However, people may believe police subculture is breaking down. Police subculture is breaking down because it is inconsistent with the formal morals and values related to the culture and that police are not the same as each other in their qualities and attributes. Examining ethics and its relation to the police subculture is important to help delineate not only the grey area of ethics but also the grey area within which the police operate (McCartney and Parent, 2015). For example, police officers are known to defend their own whether its something right or wrong. However, if another officer feels that the situation interferes with their morals, then it becomes inconsistent with the other officer’s
According to Webster’s Dictionary, ethics is defined “as the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation” (Merriam-Webster Online). This concept is prevalent in the world of police work since police officers are supposed to be the “good” in whatever is considered a “bad” situation. Many police departments offer training in ethics during the time in which a cadet is in the police academy and after officers are put on the streets, which is called in-service training. It is the hope that while this training is available to officers, that they hold a basic code of ethics within themselves which
The use of excessive force by police officers is a topic that continues to make headlines and a study that needs to be done. Although much research has gone into this topic there still is no consensus on why the use of excessive force occurs. Some studies suggest lack of training and/or problems with organization policy/procedures. Law enforcement officers are authorized to use force when necessary, but when the level of force is excessive, however, the actions of the police come under scrutiny. The resulting effects can include; public outrage, scandal, negative reputation for not only the officer but the law enforcement community, and criminal considerations. Although there’s is no concrete definition of excessive force, police
Police officers are given a significant amount of discretion simply due to the nature of the job. Officers are faced with many threatening situations forcing them to react quickly, yet appropriately. They have the power to infringe upon any citizen’s rights to freedom and therefore they must use this power effectively. One major concern with the amount of discretion officers have is their power to decide when to use force or when to use lethal force. Manning (1997) argues that it is generally accepted that police should be allowed to use force. He also explains that there are an uncertain amount people who agree on as to what constitutes excessive force. The line
In this country we are seeing an increase in ethical violations in the field of law enforcement. I will go into detail about some of the main ethical issues we are seeing today and what can be done to prevent such acts from happening. When one officer is being unethical it has a huge effect on how the public views law enforcement as a whole. Many officers go undetected for a long time before getting caught, but an officer committing ethical violations will have their day it’s just a matter of time. In order to improve this growing problem we must first understand why there is such a problem in the field of law enforcement.
A growing concern in America is the unnecessary use of force police officers use on the innocent or those in their custody. The role of the police officer carries both power and authority and the abuse of that power and authority raises issues society must face. This paper discusses the problem of officers who use unnecessary force, what managers and executives are doing to deal with this problem and the ethical dilemmas associated with the use of excessive or unjustified force on the police department.
What do you consider to be the ethical protocols regarding the police force that are intended to protect us as citizens? Excessive force and police brutality are all common incidents in America as police brutality and excessive force is reported on and aired frequently by the media. There are times when citizens should realize and understand that the police force has a code of conduct that is in place in efforts of preventing incidents from occurring however, that code of conduct is not always adhered to by police officers and other officials. This writing will examine a vivid ethical dilemma that occurred in the book, My Bloody Life: The Making of a Latin King by Reymundo Sanchez that, involved the use of unreasonable force and police brutality against a juvenile citizen and what steps should have been taken to prevent this abuse from happening.