RUNNING HEAD: Ethics in Criminal Justice Administration
Ethics in Criminal Justice Administration Steven Griffiths CJA484 12/10/2013 Nicholas Barbella
2
Ethics and Professional Behavior In the world of law enforcement and criminal justice alike, there are two prevalent entities that are like the proverbial glue that hold everything in place ethics, and professional behavior. What are ethics? The public trust in their law enforcement agency is to perform their assigned duties and responsibilities in a manner that is both ethical and in line with the standards of the department which are essential to the overall effective nature of crime control, and community policing. In the world of criminal justice administration ethics are what separate doing right from wrong. The aspect of effective crime control comes from a collaborative working relationship between administrators and line staff. Professional behavior is what sets us apart from the worker at McDonalds who smokes pot on his lunch break. Administrators act professional because they are professional, and their carried attitude is exactly how they want those under them to act. As it stands right now the world does not present itself to us in a transparent nature in regards to moral terms. Often times the moral matter at hand is a mere disagreement among people of standing good nature. Often time one and the same act is praised (morally), by some while condemned by others. Even when we are not facing the moral conflicting claims of our peers we tend to have our own inner conflicts as to what we need to do in a particular situation. More or less critical thinking is a base form of judgment, meaning, it specifically is purposeful as a reflective judgment, be the reflection of an individual or a policy. How we use critical thinking is how one comes to a decision or solves a problem, such as too many officers working excessive overtime. It [critical thinking] solves the problem by stepping back and judging what is perceived to be the right thing to do, but from a reflective standpoint. To put it simply, it is a basic tool used by criminal justice administrators to evaluate incoming information. Take the basics of critical thinking and toss in role of ethics and everything suddenly changes. Now you have to evaluate information as a supervisor, but your solution to the problem cannot cross lines with other officers or the general public, meaning you have to plan for the solution to serve the public trust without a compromise on. 3
Training in Law Enforcement Ethics The best way to have your officers prepared to execute ethics in the line of duty is to have training on ethics. The difference between department level training and outside entity training is that from within a department you get someone who is only familiar with the term ethics, and its overall role everyday on the job. An outside training agency makes it their business to be not only well versed in the field of ethics and practical deployment but they have made it their career to be masters and professionals in the field of law enforcement ethics. It is not always feasible to send everyone to a week-long seminar on the subject. Often times it is more cost effective to find a company willing to come and train your department over the course of 2 or 3 days, where it is the same type of training but brought to your front door. Police professionals cannot simply think ethically; they must also act ethically. Ethics training provides tools for addressing ethical problems, but the police professional must have the courage to act. Responding to a particular situation has two components: reaction (emotions and thought) and action. The law typically focuses on the action, that is, so long as the action complies with the law, the reason is generally irrelevant. But ethics considers not only the action but also the motivation for the action. Thus, doing the right thing for the wrong reason is not ethical. Police professionals aiming for ethical excellence must also consider motives behind behavior. (Gleason, 2006.) More importantly the areas of training that should be covered should be: Individual time management, understanding departmental organization as it relates to the overall mission, and communication between line staff, and upper echelon leaders. These areas are most important because they all share the bridge of communication and understanding, as it pertains to all aspects of the job. Individual time management is a professional ethic that everyone should have because it shows that you take your job and its responsibilities seriously and in a professional manner. Knowing how to communicate with your superiors, Always remember that communication is a two-way process and it is quite possible that your boss has the same impression about your abilities to express yourself. It is easy to get distracted while your boss is speaking. Perhaps he is explaining a new project to you. However, you are already thinking about what problems the project may bring and whether you will get it completed on 4
time. Maybe he is explaining his ideas for changes in your department. ("Communicating With Superiors ", 2011). Professional ethics in the workplace dictate that you be respectful when addressing superiors, as well as the general public in any field of criminal justice. Knowing how to conduct yourself in a professional criminal justice field will make or break your career and reputation. Exercising tact and professionalism in all of your actions is always going to be the right choice.
Gleason, T. (2006). Ethics Training for Police. Retrieved from http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=1054&iss ue_id=112006
Communicating with superiors . (2011). Retrieved from http://www.gnosislearning.com/_document/Communicating+with+Superiors.pdf