Current Issues with Policing and Ethics
Final Essay
Shallan Ley
CJ340: Applied Criminal Justice Ethics Professor: Kevin Stoehr
April 27, 2011
The International Association of Chiefs of Police (2009) states the following:
A police officer acts as an official representative of the government; he is required and trusted to work within the law. The officer's powers and duties are conferred by statute. The fundamental duties of a police officer include serving the community; safe-guarding lives and property; protecting the innocent; keeping the peace; and ensuring the rights of all to liberty, equality and justice. (As cited in Banks, 2009, p.31)
Ethical standards based on Constitutional principles are absolute because police officers take this oath to uphold them. The police in the United States are entrusted with enormous power. With such power and immediate capability to deprive a citizen of their liberties, law enforcement officials must adhere to the strictest of ethical standards in carrying out their duties. On a daily basis, police officers must overcome ethical dilemmas while performing the essential duties of the job. It is the duty of the professionals in law enforcement to continuously improve police ethics training. This paper will examine some current issues in policing, in which ethical decision making have become a pattern. The FBI defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives” (As cited in Abadinsky, 2009, p.8). After Twenty-plus years of militant Islamic terrorist attacks, President Bush signed the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act (U.S. A. Patriot Act), on October 26, 2001, in an effort to strengthen the nation’s counterterrorism resistance. In Organized Crime, Former Cook County, Illinois Sheriff’s Office
Shallan Ley
CJ340: Applied Criminal Justice Ethics Professor: Kevin Stoehr
April 27, 2011
The International Association of Chiefs of Police (2009) states the following:
A police officer acts as an official representative of the government; he is required and trusted to work within the law. The officer's powers and duties are conferred by statute. The fundamental duties of a police officer include serving the community; safe-guarding lives and property; protecting the innocent; keeping the peace; and ensuring the rights of all to liberty, equality and justice. (As cited in Banks, 2009, p.31)
Ethical standards based on Constitutional principles are absolute because police officers take this oath to uphold them. The police in the United States are entrusted with enormous power. With such power and immediate capability to deprive a citizen of their liberties, law enforcement officials must adhere to the strictest of ethical standards in carrying out their duties. On a daily basis, police officers must overcome ethical dilemmas while performing the essential duties of the job. It is the duty of the professionals in law enforcement to continuously improve police ethics training. This paper will examine some current issues in policing, in which ethical decision making have become a pattern. The FBI defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives” (As cited in Abadinsky, 2009, p.8). After Twenty-plus years of militant Islamic terrorist attacks, President Bush signed the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act (U.S. A. Patriot Act), on October 26, 2001, in an effort to strengthen the nation’s counterterrorism resistance. In Organized Crime, Former Cook County, Illinois Sheriff’s Office