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CHAPTER 7

ETHICS IN THE POLICE SERVICE

This chapter is a discussions of the practical reasons why police officers are par ticularly prone to be confronted with with the ethical questions and dilemmas in their 

 proffessional lives.

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES:1. Become familiar with the major arguments supporting the importance og ethics in police proffession.

2. Understand how to analyze an ethical dilemma.

. Become sensitive to the types of ethical dilemmas faced in one!s proffessial life.

POLICE MORALIZING1. The discreti!"r# $ecisi! M"%i!&

"t is the critical decisions which affects peoples lives which the law gives to the police officer in deciding when to ma#e an arrest and when not to ma#e an arrest."t also involves

when to use and when not to use force and what level of force use in dealing with a deviant and not deviant cit izen.$ll of these affects people!s lives profoundly. They are life

changing and such decisions must be made in a logical% intelligent and educated manner with an eye toward what is the best interests of justice and each officer must consider

what justice means for the individual officer and for the closely related citizens and for the society in general.

'. C!(r!ted )ith c!(*icti!& i!terest.

&n a regular basis% the cop on the beat must judge the relative merits of conflicting from citizen wth different perspectives. This is hat theyeven more difficult than simply than

simply e'ercising the discretionary decision ma#ing power! because quite often both parties have legitimate claims.Thus the officer on the street is often presented with two

sides stories that are correct from the perspectives of the citizens involved.

POLICE PO+ER Because the power of the police to use force is apparent and because people so often object to this type of power% most people fous on the coercive power as the way that police

obtain cooperaton from citizens. $nytime police are nearby% the implied threat of arrest i s present.The uniforms% bdges%weapons and carriage of the police also imply that they are

ready to use violence.(one of these threat is unrealistic. They are substancial.But focusing on police power as e'clusively relating to the use of violence suggests that threats to

use forse are the only means at the disposal of the police.that these are the only tools the police used in controlling behavior but their powers of logic and intellectual persuassionto convince people to behave themselves.

THREE T,PES O- PO+ER 

E)*&+T$T"&(, -onvincing people thruogh the appeal or use of logic or reason or morals to do right thing% the honest thing or the moral thing.

+-"/+&-"T0, 'changing something to obtain the desired behavior from another.

-&+-"&(, &btaining the desired behavior using force to the person being coerced.

-onduct creating the appea

PRINCIPLES O- PBLIC SERVICE ETHICS.

1. PUBLIC SERVICE. /ublic servants should treat their office as a public trust% using the power and resources ofpublic office only to advance public interests and

not to attain personal benefit or pursue any other private interests incompatible with public good.

2. Objective Judgement. /ublic servants should employ independent objective judgementvin performing their duties% deciding all matters on the merits% free from

voidable conflicts of interests and both real and apparent improper influences.

. Accountability. /ublic servants should ensure that government is conducted openly% efficiently and honorably in a manner that permits the citizenry to m#e

informed judgements and hold government officials accountable.

. emoc!atic Leade!"#i$. /ublic servants should honor and respect the principles of representative democracy and set a positive e'ample of good citizenship by

scrupulously observing the letter and spirit of the law and rules.

. Re"$ectability./unlic servants should safeguard public confidence in the integrity of the governmentbby being honest% fair% caring and respectful and by avoiding

the conduct creating the appearance of impropriety or which is other wise unbefitting a public official.

ACTIVITIES:

1. 3roup the students in . 4et each group discuss the course objectives.

2 . 5U"6 after worshop.

+7+(-8.

1. /olice training manual

2. /olice ethics9by :ouglas w. /erez and j. $lan ;oore

. thical dilemmas and decisions in criminal justice system.

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