ETHICS AND DIVERSITY

Ethics and Diversity

Ethics and Diversity

Question 1:

Many people consider the U.S. justice system, comprised of various organizations, such as the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the FBI, as one of the best criminal justice systems in the world. Nevertheless, the system still has concerns that it deals with on a regular basis, such as ethics and ethical conduct.

The topic of ethics and ethical behavior has existed for centuries. Many people believe that Socrates was the first philosopher to delve into the issue of ethics, specifically the ethical treatment of problems in government. (1) Plato documented Socrates' discussions concerning ethics in The Republic.

Law enforcement officers are professionals; they work in a skilled occupational group whose prime consideration constitutes providing a service that benefits the public. Because law enforcement is a profession, ethics and ethical conduct play an important role. Ethics and ethical standards involve doing the right thing at the right time in the right way (2) for the right reason. (3) With this in mind, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) established a code of ethics to govern the conduct of its members. This code of ethics, originally written in 1957, was revised at the IACP conference in Louisville, Kentucky, on October 17, 1989. The IACP membership reviewed and finalized these revisions.

Question 2:

Instead of practicing a professional code of ethics, some cops develop a personal code of ethics in which loyalty to their fellow officers trumps serving and protecting the community. This tribal mentality can be attributed to three causes. First of all, police officers are an identifiable group with uniforms, badges and guns. Secondly, this group shares a common way of life. They share similar dangers, setbacks, and rewards that outsiders rarely see outside of the movies. Thirdly, these dangers foster an "us against them" mentality not just against criminals but politicians, bureaucrats and concerned citizens who are perceived as impediments to enforcing the law.

Police officers are people the society should normally look up to asepitomes of discipline and protectors of law and order, however policebehavior in recent years has been anything but exemplary thus rising riseto extreme resentment and distrust in the public. The public no longertrusts or respects police officers levying all sorts of charges againstthem.

Question 3:

Situational variables that affect officer behavior in making arrests include the seriousness of the offense, harm to the victim, and whether or not a weapon is involved in the crime (Robinson and Chandek 2000). The decision to arrest is made expeditiously in response to a variety of situational factors including seriousness of the offense, characteristics of the suspect and the victim, harm to the victim, and the presence of a weapon. The attitudes about misconduct and an officer's decision to report misconduct reflect a different kind of decision process. It is not unreflective behavior directed at disconnected clients. The decision to report officer misconduct is made after the fact and is directed at ...