Ethics on a Police Officer
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Introduction
Surprisingly, the word police to many people does not seem to marry well with ethics.Infact most people have gone miles to paraphrase it as the living machines.Neverthe less, ethics on police officer has a lot to be desired needless t o say, throughout their carrier, official in forces will front many instances whereby ethics must be subjected to the routinely test and is incumbent upon police officers not compromise and to some extent belittle them. Police officers often find themselves in scenarios which depict some serious ethical deliberation , hence this calls for officers to decipher ardently and arrive at right and sound decision which conforms to police ethics.Certainly,the decision he arrives at has something to do with his carrier and personal life( Dantzker,2003). Fortunately, this ethical practice is welcomed by the public and police officers themselves.Firstly,the public rests assured of the peace which oftenly is denied as a result of the police practices, like arresting without prior information and unnecessary disturbances due to propped searches. On the other hand some sees it as a moral weapon to put officers in police accountable. According to Dantzker,any police officer who has had no moral dilemma rejoices just like the public that has had no confrontation with police. . By the nature of the job of law enforcement you can surmise that there are many occasions when a police officer can be confronted with a moral dilemma.
Inaddition, under law there exist the code of conduct and ethics which precisely effaces out the confusion over, whether or not an officer faced with a moral question and their daily operations. Dantzker who seems to share a lot with police perhaps he was one, confesses that throughout his career he had oftenly referred to the code of ethics which embodies the prerequisite of a police officer.Importance of the ethical code Whether there is some conflicting laws of the land, whether the police have proper and well articulated operation structure their, fundamental duty towards mankind is that of service, that is to say they are charged with responsibility of safeguarding property and lives, protecting the civilians against deception, protecting the weak against intimidation and oppression, and that the peace and not violence finds its way into the confines of the people and above all to respect fundamental rights of the people like liberty, justice and equality(Williamson,2006).
Moreover, Williamson further states that for the police man to be a servant of the people he should never forget to keep his personal life unsullied for all persons to see, above all, he adds that he should be able to observe courageous calm when faced with danger, ridicule or scorn, also by developing self-restraint; and being a gist and vigilant to other peoples welfare. However this can not be hutched without showing some oddities in obeying the laws. In addition, there are some instances where police officers openly denounce their personal feelings, animosities, and prejudices in order to make sound decisions. Just to sum up, the codes of ethics have accompany the badge as a manifestation of public faith, which police officers must accept as trust and that it must be observed for good time based on their ethical pronunciation and service. Hence it is always imperative for them to strive and achieve these ideals and goals.The unethical scenarios and dilemmas
Police have the core the mandate of investigating against the wrongs committed in the society, bounds by their service and ethics this must be achieved without forgery and deceit. For instance, it will be difficult to forgive the officer who slanderously conspires with investigation just because the society has known convicts but with unproven guilt towards the act in question. If this finds its way to their service then, the lack of transparency will creep in and the end result will be lack of autonomy and trust in their service hence the lack of full support by the public. In my view this must not be allowed to exist.Also, some common temptation the policeman meets in their service is linked with money (Tapscott, 2006). This occurs due to the feeling that some officers are paid well but not others, and so they strike some compensatory method. Although to some extent, this has been tamed due to deployment of qualified officers in fields of operation. Tapscott relates this to a fresh officer who has come right away out of training and landed a call to check on an elderly person in the neighborhood. On reaching there, he is greeted with dozens of dollars both lying dead on the floor. With this it becomes untimely and over anticipated to come to the answer of what followed but obviously ethical practices leaves us with an option. But in the heat situation when no eye is seeing the temptations increase.
Repercussions
In the words of Tapscott, these are described as cowardly actions whose consequences are to lesson the good will of police officers and serve to weaken the morals and ethics and further expose the police officers to future temptation and embarrassment. In addition, the personal image of honesty dwindles, and hence the shred of credibility disappears.Finally, this will culminate in the loss of job.
Conclusion
Integrity and ethics are part and parcels of police practice, hence can not be compromised. Some special concern is needed in this field of ethics and the should carried forward both in training and practice. In the long run this good practice should not just end on badges but be able to stem out bad practices that undermines their service.Lastly, the policing job should also embrace the change and improve on professionalism that is mostly unheard of as it has some goodness towards their service and ethics.
References
Dantzker, M. (2003). The understanding of police. New York; Prentice Hall, Inc. Williamson, T. (2003). The Crime line theft. Retrieved
Tapscott, K. (2006).The police ethics, Chicago city; Adventure publishers.
