E T I- I C S

Multi-faceted approaches needed to find practical ethics in policingThe National Police Research Unit released details recently of new research on police ethics to help Australasian police agencies further improve management practices and support for the ‘honest majority ’ of police.

Director of the NPRU, Chief Superintendent Robert Hamdorf, said the research was requested by police commissioners throughout Australia concerned about the complex question of ethical behaviour within policing.

They asked the NPRU in 1991 to begin research on the topic, and in 1993 the study was continued on behalf of the NPRU by a team of consultants headed by Professor Kevin McConkey of the University of NSW.

The report, Practical Ethics in the Police Service, the third in a series on police ethics, presents the findings of a survey of 4,655 police officers of all ranks in NSW, Queensland and South Australia.

The research showed that there

was no single or simple solution

ethical issues impacting on polii

The survey asked police for their opinions on issues including ethics training, breaches of ethics, and improving practical ethics, as well as their perceptions of ethical dilemmas and their reactions to them. The research showed that there was no single or simple solution to ethical issues impacting on police. Police were also asked about job satisfaction and their commitment to the police service.

The research team said that findings from the survey were numerous and covered many aspects of the police organisation and the individuals within it. However, the researchers were particularly concerned about the perceived organised hypocrisy of the system in which police work, the need for better supervision, an apparent lack of support for good behaviour and the perception that honesty was not part of the

police service as a whole.A total of 49 recommendations were made in

the report. They offered direction for how change might be achieved both at the level of the organisation and at the level of the individual police officer.

They focused on issues such as ethics training, improved police supervision, development of ethical role models and decision making, responsibility and accountability, reward and punishment, the elimination of perceived double standards, giving emphasis to the ‘right’ behaviour, the creation of ethics advisory groups, and determining ways of identifying people who are not prepared to work in ethical ways and ensuring their removal from the policing industry.

To achieve practical ethics, the report noted that police services must be composed of a responsible organisational structure and responsible individual officers.

It concluded that a belief in the need for change, plus a commitment and strategy to

ensure change were all needed to address practical ethics in the police service.

Commissioners welcomed the report and said they were committed to addressing the recommendations as a matter of urgency. They said it provided a solid and scientific foundation on which to address the challenges associated with delivering the highest quality police

services for the Australasian community.

Key findingsA section from chapter three titled

Qualitative Comments about Police Ethics included a selection of qualitative comments made by 41 per cent of the 4,655 respondents.

Comments made in the survey varied in length from a few words to many pages, and researchers said they explored their complexity and richness using a data analysis program to identify particular issues.

Those highlighted by the program were: achieving a balance on the job; dealing with crime and criminals; being in the police service; pride, leadership, and supervision; and ethics and scrutiny. The summary provided comments from respondents whose views represented the majority of comments made about each of these

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ETHICS

issues. The following abridged extract from the chapter is a sample of the comments.

The researchers said they did not offer any recommendations from this material; rather, they let the respondents speak for themselves.

Achieving a balance on the jobPolicing is not just any job. Most of us

joined because we thought it was going to offer the opportunity for personal development, secure income (initially with good pay), respect, dignity, pride and a sense of worth. Police officers are in the department for one common reason. To protect life and property and to catch the criminals in the most professional of ways, staying within the bounds of law. Most officers are just trying to do their jobs as best they can. They have a real sense of pride in their office. Police officers are among the most honest and caring group 1 know. They do a very difficult job, often under trying circumstances, and generally it is done well.

Police must choose between career security, by doing nothing and staying out of trouble, or doing their job effectively and running the gauntlet. You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. It’s better to do nothing at all. The harder you work, the more likely it is you’ll breach some rule. If you don’t work, you can be assured of a clean slate. Most police I know have had enough and want out.

Police officers deal with both the best and the worst that society has to offer. They are asked to do a very difficult job with very little community support and small financial remuneration and with very little thanks for a job done well. There only seems to be criticism for mistakes, both from the public and the department. We can be abused every night, spat on, assaulted, attend fatal accidents with real blood, only to be seriously castigated because we didn’t say nice things to a person who was abusing us. Grass roots policing is non-existent now. The real role of police has been lost.There is a very evident lack of confidence within the rank and file. With this over­emphasis on keeping the police clean, there is an under-emphasis on keeping the community safe.

Getting the right ‘type’ of person is of paramount importance, and not just academic standards. You’ve got to be able to use your common sense. But a lot of young police today just do not possess a great deal of common sense. With many of the older officers it is a case of the song has almost ended, but the malady lingers on. Their negative influences remain to infect even the smarter young people

coming into the organisation. The old and useless officers should be able to escape with some dignity. A fitting thank-you for a job well done. They should be given an attractive package and then gotten rid of.

Dealing with crime and criminalsThose the police deal with are generally not

nice people, but persons who play a sly game, and whose actions are to the detriment of society. They are people who deserve no mercy and should have no rights. Crooks do not follow rules and they often hurt people. At street level, respect is important. To have crooks laughing in your face, doing as they wish, without fear of a useless do-gooder system is just not acceptable. The law has no balls. Offenders have all the rights. Victims have some and police have none. Crims can do almost anything they want, and yet our hands are tied. We just don’t have

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the tools we need to do the job. So we have to bend the rules to get the job done. We really have lost the edge. It is like we are expected to fight crime with one hand tied behind our backs.

Years ago a swift kick from a policeman would settle a youth problem. Now it leads to complaints against police. There is no deterrent to the youth. This results in a lower respect for police by the youth, and by the community.And there is a reluctance by the police to do their job. Young gangs and individual hoodlums no longer take any notice of what a police officer says or tells them to do. They know that all they have to do is make life unpleasant for the officer by lodging a complaint against him.

You can’t be nice to drunken, violent and sometimes vicious criminals. They don’t understand being nice. We need to operate on the same level as the scum. It’s a real world out there! It is hard to have a completely ethical police service when dealing with what mainly appears to be an unethical public. When I was in the army I wore a combat uniform and never went to combat. Since joining the police force, I’ve worn a show pony uniform and been in combat almost every day.

No. 52 — September 1996 35

Police officers deal with both the best and the worst that society has to offer: AFP members faced angry protesters at Parliament House in Canberra recently. Photo Gary Schafer, courtesy The Canberra Times.

Being in the police serviceA truly ethical man would die of a broken

heart in this organisation. Most police officers are loyal to the service, but generally it doesn’t repay that loyalty. The department tends to leave ' individuals lamenting in their own moral dilemmas. The hierarchy don’t give a damn about the troops on the streets. They certainly don’t support us! The rank and file are not treated fairly. Until police are treated with the same degree of fairness in relation to complaints made against them, as normal members of the public are, you cannot expect police to act ethically at all times. The officer is always guilty in the department’s eyes, and when the officer proves he is innocent, no apology from management is forthcoming. What’s ethical about that?

Most of us have a very high work ethic and put heart and soul into the job. We have been let down badly. You virtually have to risk life and limb for a plaudit. An organisational shift is needed is needed to say: Hey fellas, we’re not so concerned with pinching you for breaching ethics, but encouraging you all to understand and demonstrate better ethics, with better pay/conditions etc. To be treated in the way deserving of ‘crime fighters’.

Pride, leadership and supervisionI am proud of my work in the NSW Police

Service, and proud to admit that the vast majority of my workmates are of excellent character and ability, and ethical in the real sense of the word.

Many senior officers often manipulate the constables to achieve their own ends or to teach lessons to those who dare to question their authority or infallibility. The bulk of senior officers perform in a corrupt and unethical manner almost daily by altering statistics to boost their own self image to superiors or to the public, and by encouraging nepotism and cronyism in a big way. Jobs for the boys. Advancement is unrelated to ethics. In fact, abandoning ethics altogether would be the greatest enhancement to promotional prospects. The better you bull. . . the higher you’ll go. It’s known as marijuana castle (the harder you suck, the higher you get). Those at the top do as they please. They execute below for minor incidents, while being hypocritical in the extreme with their own. They’ve been known to sink the boots into the troops whilst protecting the senior ranks. Problems in the ranks are a result of problems higher up, and until the ‘big fish’

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ETHICS

are taken to task, the ‘little fish’ will continue to s.ee their behaviour as the norm! It is demoralising within the ranks that there seems to be one law for ‘them’ and another law (usiually more stringent) for ‘us’. The sooner they stop the ‘boys club’ approach within the dep artment and make the rules the same for everyone, then maybe, just maybe, it will be the first step in retrieving, (or boosting) the current low' morale of its members.

Let’s try and avoid young officers being tainted by cynical and lazy supervisors. Patrol commanders seem to feel they can run the service as they feel fit. It is very sad to see this occur when it affects so many good young police. A supervisor who is negligent in his duties will adversely affect a recruit’s development. While in this very impressionable stage, a constable can have their opinions and morals corrupted. If the chief spends most of his time at the pub or gaming house, for pleasure, then the subordinates think it is okay to do the same. All sorts of sloppy practices exist, and few supervisors have the get up and go to challenge them and achieve good practices through natural leadership. For young constables, the first man is the most important part of ethics training. If the first partner for a new probationer is an ethical police officer then the new probationer has a 90 per cent chance of being ethical. If the police officer is unethical and others around him are also unethical then the probationer’s chances of being unethical is about 90 per cent.

Hands-on contact and firm, responsible leadership will lead to better motivated and less corruptible members of the police forces. The enthusiasm generated from sergeants who care about the education of junior members will give them and the service a great future.

Those at the top are getting away with quite a lot. There is no-one to complain to who really wants to know. It is no bloody wonder that the average cop is apathetic and pissed off; no seniors at the top give as... about morale. The new troop of trainees coming into the service are all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. But it won’t last long. After a few years they’ll become like the majority of us old war horses. They’ll realise it’s useless. The father should lend the son a hand through difficult roads and protect him from the elements. Right now there are fathers no more, we are all orphans.Ethics and scrutiny

They say to be a good police officer, you need to use common sense. But when the s . . .

hits the fan, they say you should have used the rule book. In policing, there are many shades of grey. We’re often placed in extremely difficult situations with contradictory pressures. Ethical behaviour is important, but let’s not confuse it with our mode of operation. There are some things we simply have to do when we deal with the type of person encountered every day on the job. It is easy when you sit in an office and aren’t at the riot at the hotel at 3am and you’re scared as hell, to have high ideals and expectations. The reality is ethics don’t always fit in with survival and the way we see our role in society as ‘protectors’. You can be charged and even heavily disciplined for things like not wearing your hat around 3 am whilst bonatiding five people who are in a car. That’s stupid.

As courts are seen to fail to deter offenders, the ‘old tried and proven’ methods may be used on more than the odd occasion. The problem is that to all practical realities, a legal system that

ijustice and defendunts9 fights

imposed on us through the court?

everyone wants to be a winner most of the time. Most unethical behaviour is the result of the police officer being frustrated with the concept of justice and defendants’ rights that are imposed on us through the courts. There is no room for ethics in the law. If we obeyed all ethics, no offenders would be caught and no doubt chaos would occur. Reality dictates that ethics must go ‘out the window’ if the job is to get done.

Prior to Fitzgerald, we might have broken ethical considerations without concern. But criminals and thieves respected and feared us. Post-Fitzgerald, police in general don’t break ethical considerations, but criminals don’t respect or fear us. Pre-Fitzgerald, police would press on regardless to get evidence of a criminal’s guilt. Post-Fitzgerald, police say ‘whoa back, I don’t want to get charged’. Since Fitzgerald, the service wields the big stick. Staff are intimidated with threatened disciplinary action for the most trivial breaches. Our superiors are waiting like vultures for us to do something wrong. Because of the Fitzgerald inquiry 5,000 innocent police are now paying for the sins of 50 guilty ones. The police service is

is adversarial invites breaches of ethics because

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e notice officer he

No. 52 — September 1996 37

E T H I C S

now too regulated, too disciplinarian, and too punishment happy. The problem as I see it, in modem terms, is that there is a loss of trust and faith in the honesty and integrity of the average policeman to carry out his duties effectively, and with the flexibility of using his personal judgement and making his own, sound decision as to the best and most appropriate action to be taken.In conclusion

The report made the following concluding comment:

Finally, we would like to offer a concluding comment on four matters that we believe are crucial.

First, it needs to be recognised that all officers have to work in a system that can be said to be characterised by organised hypocrisy; if the system overall is unfair, it is difficult for officers to accept that they should be fair in their behaviour within the system. Unethical behaviour may be seen by some as the only way to deal with the apparent unfairness and hypocrisy of the system.

Second, appropriate supervision does not seem to be being provided to many officers; if

4 belief in the need for change, a

ethics in the police service.

supervisors either don’t care about their officers or don’t want to know if their officers do anything wrong, then it is reasonable to expect that these officers will develop similar attitudes. Unethical behaviour can stem from apathy and cynicism as much as from anything else.

Third, the support for good behaviour by the police service overall is seen to be minimal by many officers; if the support for good behaviour isn’t (seen to be) there, then it is difficult for officers to accept that they should show good behaviour (especially when bad behaviour is easier and rewarded).

Fourth, and perhaps most disturbing, many officers do not believe that the police service is interested in honesty. If the members of an institution of trust do not trust that institution, then why should anyone else? A belief in the need for change, a commitment to achieve

change, and a strategy to ensure change ar e all needed to address these matters concerninig practical ethics in the police service.

Superintendent Hamdorf said that police services throughout Australia and New Ze:aland are very aware of the difficulties and temptations that their members face. Commissioners are also very aware of how easily the poor behaviour of some membeirs overshadows the commitment, value, and service of the vast majority of police officers.

“Commissioners are strongly committed to squarely addressing matters involved in unethical and corrupt activities, and are working actively to ensure that those matters are desalt with as effectively and as quickly as possiible,” Chief Superintendent Hamdorf said.

“The research in this major report helps; us all to understand better and to focus more clearly on particular matters relating to the work and concerns of individual police officers and to the structure and effectiveness of police services as a whole.

“The research confirms the definite need for, and value of, the many initiatives that have been put in place already by police services. The

research also points to other initiatives that are under consideration in various jurisdictions, and that will be implemented in a co-ordinated and effective manner. Responsibility is being given to relevant areas within the police organisation to provide remedies as soon as possible. However, the very nature of tlhe changes to be made means that some time will be necessary to

address all issues fully.“Commissioners, together with all those

involved in serving the community through police work, acknowledge the importance of the responsibilities that the community places on them.

“Commissioners are committed to ensuring that those responsibilities are met in a way that brings pride to police officers and to members of the community.

“Police work is not easy, and some individuals will stumble. However, most will not. Rather, they will work effectively with their workmates, the police service and the community. Commissioners are committed to ensuring that organisational procedures and policies will recognise the ‘honest majority’ of the police service. This research will help to deliver that commitment to the community.”Copies of the report are available from the NPRU.

commitment to achieve change, and a

strategy to ensure change are all needed to

address these matters concerning practical

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