Ethics and Ethical Leadership in Law Enforcement

Ethics and Ethical Leadership in Law Enforcement

Reasons for Ethical Behavior in Law Enforcement 

According to Fitch (2011), law enforcement agencies seek to recruit, train, and hire individuals with high moral standing before enlisting them in the Police Academy. However, even with such efforts, some police officers get involved in unethical conduct that attracts public and media attention. Unethical practice exposes the affected departments to public mistrust, ruins investigative processes, and subjects law enforcement agencies to unnecessary liabilities. Law enforcement agencies must adhere to high moral and ethical standards to perform their tasks effectively and gain public trust. Get in touch with us at eminencepapers.com. We offer assignment help with high professionalism.

One of the reasons law enforcement officers need to exhibit a high ethical behavior standard is that their lives are under constant scrutiny. Even when off-duty, members of the public hold law enforcement officers to a higher moral standard (Fitch, 2011). The public scrutinizes the police to gauge whether they can trust them with their security. Therefore, even when off-duty and on holidays, the police must live to a high moral standard, lest they risk losing public trust.

Another premise that justifies the subjection of law enforcers to a high moral standard is the doctrine of necessary force. While on duty, law enforcers face situations that call for critical thinking and quick decision-making (Fitch, 2011). The failure to act quickly or overreaction can put the life of a police officer or member of the public at risk. For instance, following the much-publicized killing of George Floyd by a law enforcer, the Black Lives Matter Movement organized nationwide demonstrations to protest the use of excessive force. The event emphasizes that law enforcers are under constant public scrutiny and, hence, must use only necessary force when dealing with members of the public.

Ethical behavior also bolsters officers’ social learning skills. Most officers enter law enforcement with little or no experience dealing with social situations (Fitch, 2011). That calls for high ethical standards and a punishment-reward system to bolster their social skills. Punishment deters officers from repeating mistakes, whereas rewards motivate them to improve delivery.

Implications of Unethical Behavior

Unethical behavior by even a single law enforcement officer can affect the operations of an entire agency in myriad ways. Many discussions about law enforcers’ unethical behavior revolve around their public image, media reputation, and the impact of unethical behavior on case outcomes (Sunahara, 2004). Unethical police behavior affects the entire justice system and the community. Some incidents even make members of the public question law enforcement’s ability to control officers’ conduct.

Any reports on an officer’s illegal misconduct affect their policing activities in the community. Notably, it does not matter whether such reports are accurate or not. Once public members receive news about any misconduct, they lose confidence in the entire police agency (Sunahara, 2004). Once the trust fades, it becomes challenging for officers to conduct proactive and reactive community policing initiatives.

In addition, police misconduct has implications for the conduct of criminal trials. First, the misconduct can form the basis of cross-examining an officer. Also, allegations of misconduct can affect an officer’s credibility when giving evidence in court. Justices and juries may not trust the testimony of an officer whose conduct has been questioned previously (Sunahara, 2004). Such doubts not only stop at an ongoing case but could also extend to other unrelated cases.

Strategies to Encourage Ethical Behavior among Law Enforcers

Policing agencies’ leaders can implement several strategies internally to encourage ethical behavior among law enforcers. One such strategy is the creation of an ethical culture within the agency. Law enforcement agency leaders must ascribe to a specific mission statement and values that will guide the operations of police officers (Fitch, 2011). These values should gauge an officer’s success or failure in the agency. Leaders must equally ascribe to these principles as a way of leading by example (Pope, 2015). When leaders exhibit high moral standing, it sends a clear message to employees that anything to the contrary is intolerable.

Next, police leaders should reward positive behavior and punish immoral conduct. Police managers must be willing to confront unethical behavior immediately (Fitch, 2011). Notably, this is important because organizational leaders influence their followers’ conduct (Pope, 2015). Such a system will help disciplined officers advance their careers while those who go haywire receive punishment. Also, there is a need for leaders and followers in police agencies to engage in discussions that encourage moral behavior constantly. Ethical practice, just like physical fitness, requires constant practice for results to show (Pope, 2015). Constant engagement among critical players in law enforcement agencies will curb immoral conduct since officers now understand what constitutes moral behavior.

How Law Enforcement Leaders Influence Ethical Behavior or Corruption

Leaders significantly impact the organizational culture and employees’ productivity, whether transparent or fraudulent. To emphasize this role, the leader-follower model applies. Leaders are the typical first movers in most organizations, including the police force (Amore et al., 2022). On the other hand, employees are typical second movers. For instance, if leaders in a police department report early to work, followers will duplicate the practice, leading to positive organizational outcomes. Essentially, leaders provide vision to the rest of the organizational participants. Once the leader creates a vision for the organization, the followers tend to be unified in pursuing a pre-determined goal (Amore et al., 2022). Leaders can also empower followers by understanding their followers’ capabilities (Pope, 2015). Once they understand these individual capabilities, they will capitalize on improving them.

The Role of Consequences in Creating an Ethical Environment

The role of the consequences doctrine in creating an ethical workplace environment cannot be overstated. Firstly, employees rely on the consequences system to evaluate their behavior (Stenmark et al., 2011). For instance, in law enforcement, there is a myriad of consequences for unethical behavior. An officer who commits an unethical action can be warned, suspended, or even fired completely. Since these consequences are clearly illustrated in an organization’s code of conduct, followers will adhere to the established ethical standards.

Additionally, consequences can be used as a motivating factor. Consequences are negative and, therefore, can be used to reinforce positive behavior. Employees can be rewarded for achieving specific objectives or milestones (Stenmark et al., 2011). In law enforcement, for instance, arresting officers who apprehend some of the most wanted criminals are subject to a job promotion. Also, consequences can be used to bolster organizational integrity. The integrity of an organization affects its image and reputation among public members (Pope, 2015). If members of the public observe that the organization is committed to ensuring wayward officers receive punishment, members of the public will gain trust.

Conclusion

Law enforcement agencies, just like any other organization, require an ethical environment and practices to perform their roles effectively. Police officers tend to be held to a higher moral standard due to the nature of their work. The failure to comply with ethical standards, even by a single officer, seriously damages the public image of the entire agency. Also, immoral conduct by officers has severe implications for justice delivery. Therefore, it is incumbent upon police agencies’ leaders to ensure an ethical environment among law enforcement departments.

References

Amore, M. D., Garofalo, O., & Guerra, A. (2022). How Leaders Influence (un)Ethical Behaviors Within Organizations: A Laboratory Experiment on Reporting Choices. Journal of Business Ethics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-022-05088-z

Fitch, B. (2011). Focus on Ethics: Rethinking Ethics in Law Enforcement | FBI: Law Enforcement Bulletin. FBI: Law Enforcement Bulletin. https://leb.fbi.gov/articles/focus/focus-on-ethics-rethinking-ethics-in-law-enforcement

Pope, K. S. (2015). Steps to Strengthen Ethics in Organizations: Research Findings, Ethics Placebos, and What Works. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 16(2), 139–152. https://doi.org/10.1080/15299732.2015.995021

Stenmark, C. K., Antes, A. L., Thiel, C. E., Caughron, J. J., Wang, X., & Mumford, M. D. (2011). Consequences Identification in Forecasting and Ethical Decision-making. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics: JERHRE, 6(1), 25–32. https://doi.org/10.1525/jer.2011.6.1.25

Sunahara, D. (2004). A Model of Unethical and Unprofessional Police Behaviour. The Canadian Review of Policing Research, 1(0). https://crpr.icaap.org/index.php/crpr/article/view/17/16

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