Defining Police Ethics

Police Ethics
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26th July 2015.
They are conventionally supposed to be the upholders of law and order, the keepers and advocates of morality. The police are a very integral part of law enforcement. It is always their fundamental duty to serve and protect, with no compromise or favoritism. In the United States, and many other countries in the world, the police have been charged with the duty to provide internal security, as the army does the external duties from the borders. They are guided by the oath of office that they take upon getting their chance to serve, and the code of conduct, as per the respective code of ethics that guides the police force and the entire disciplined forces. It is often more important to look at the duties of a police officer through the basic fabric or skeleton that in entails. They have got the power to deny life, freedom or expression of an individual if they duly feel such is the best thing to do.
As a result, their role is more often connected to the society, and the two are more or less interconnected and interrelated. However, even with the guiding blocks of the code of conduct and ethics, the police have been traditionally accused of numerous cases of misconduct and unethical behavior for so long in the past. High up among these include corruption, brutality and unreasonable search. It is out of such things that there is raised the question of ethical observation within the police force. A number of arguments, criticisms and examples associated with ethics, and lack of it thereof, are going to be discussed in this paper, in order to offer a deeper insight into what plagues this very vital security department.
The general image painted in the eyes and minds of the public about the police is that of a corrupt, brutal and senseless juggernaut that is out to wreak havoc. A relentless machine that has been given more power and authority than it can handle, was unprepared for, or is utterly in awe of its capability. When the police system is looked at carefully, there is a genuine assumption, or benefit of doubt, given by authorities as far as delegation of police duties is concerned. As a result, there are so many loopholes left in the system, which results to a number of rogue officers to exploit the system for their own personal interests (Perez & Moore, 2013).
This begs so much upon the ethical standards of the individual police officers as well as their respect for their professional code of ethics. It is arguably more valid to state that the ethical competence of a police officer, and his or her diligence to duties, is a direct reflection of their own personal ethics. It is because of this that the police recruitment takes a rigorous process to hire new officers, based on their ethics. The problem is that the authorities do not have a well structured system of dealing with these officers who misbehave in their respective capacities, and in most cases, tend to sweep it under the carpet (Barker, 2011).
Ethics can be defined as the general conduct of an individual when they are not under supervision, or when they are alone. The manner in which a police officer conducts himself when alone speaks quite a lot about the levels of personal ethics and ...