E s c o b a r P a g e | 1

Running head: By the Book

By the Book
Georgette Escobar
Americana Crime Policy ( CJUS 432)

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By the Book
In asking the question about whether we need a code of ethics and what values that includes,
Rosenstand (2013) wrote:
Why do values make some people give up their comfort, even their lives, for a cause, or for
other peoples welfare? Why do some people disregard the values of their society for a
chosen cause or for personal gain? Is it ever morally appropriate to think of yourself and
not others? (pg. 6).
Policies of law enforcement agencies form the cornerstone of an effective and efficient
administration. This is especially true when it comes to minimizing the likelihood that a citizen-
officer interaction will be mishandled, mitigating the harm when mistakes happen and
minimizing the negative attention, distraction and enormous expense involved with civil
litigation. Clear polices, rules, regulations, directives, objectives, goals, mutual expectations and
benchmarks help ensure proper protocol in every department. Setting this stage with due care
and caution required as they strongly influence employee morale, minimizing of mistakes in
judgment, proper handling of situation, consistency, misconduct, corruption, and probability of
minimizing mistakes, mitigating of damages,
I. Police Ethics
The Code must be more than rhetoric and if it is no longer valuable as standard of conduct is
should become part of the historical record. Recent events suggest that the nature of corrupt
practices has changed, particularly in some large urban police departments with histories of
systematic corruption. In these departments, the corrupt acts appear to be the result of rotten
apples and rotten groups engaging primarily in drug-related crimes (Barker, 2002). The
specter of police departments with system-wide problems still
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exists, especially in those departments with long histories of police cor- ruption, such as New
Orleans. A 1993 undercover FBI investigation into police corruption in New Orleans, dubbed
Operation Shattered Shield, led to the conviction of ten NOPD officers, including one who was
sentenced to death for ordering a hit on a woman who filed a civil rights complaint against him.
Reforms instituted after this operation evidently did not solve the problem. A recent New
Orleans Times- Picayune editorial calls the NOPD one of the least effective and most corrupt
police forces in the nation (Times-Picayune, 2010). Police miscon- duct incidents following
Hurricane Katrina, especially the killing of two innocent civilians on the Danziger Bridge, and
the subsequent cover-up, support this indictment of the NOPD
II. Civil Liability
This case points out that changing times create new oppor- tunities for police
misconduct. The increased efforts to secure our bor- ders after 9/11 have not only
created new opportunities for corruption, but they have introduced a new threat
terrorists or weapons of mass destruction being allowed into the country by a
corrupt or cooperating. New Orleans new mayor has asked for the U.S. Department
of
Justice to help the city address and prevent police misconduct (Schoichet,
2010). The Department of Justice has announced that it will open a pattern or
practice investigation into misconduct in the NOPD that will result in a consent
decree between the DOJ and the NOPD. Ongoing federal investigations into other
shootings and corruption allegations will serve as the platform for reform by the
new mayor and police chief. The instances of Noble Cause Injustice (using
unlawful means to
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control crime) are, unfortunately, all too common, particularly in the real or
perceived war on drugs. Some officers who see themselves as good cops will
conduct illegal searches and seizures, falsely swear to obtain warrants, plant
evidence, and lie in court to put away the dirt bags. The Worst Case Scenario of
Noble Cause Injustice occurred in Atlanta, Georgia, where drug officers executing
an illegal search warrant shot and killed a 92-year-old grandmother and then
planted dope grandmother and then planted dope in the house and falsified reports
to cover-up their misdeeds. Four police officers are in prison, two have been fired,
six have been disciplined, and one has resigned as a result of the federal and state
investigation that followed. As happened in Atlanta, fellow officers, knowing that
these practices occur, remain silent out of a false sense of loyalty. However, as I
have repeatedly said in training sessions, there is never an ethical officer observing
the unethical, illegal, corrupt, or brutal behavior of a fellow officer without taking
some action.
Negligence Actions
This Article contends that 14141s greatest potential has been overlooked. Limited
resources will always mean that 14141 can be used to force reform on only a limited number of
police departments. But 14141 could also be used to induce reform in many more. This goal
requires a 14141 litigation strategy designed to motivate proactive reform in more departments
than the Justice Department can sue. The key components of this strategy are a worst-first
litigation policy that prioritizes suits against police departments with the worst indicia of
misconduct, and a policy that grants a safe harbor from suit for police departments
that voluntarily adopt best
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practice
reforms. This Article also explains why this
proactive 14141
enforcement strategy would be more efficient at reducing police misconduct than current
enforcement policies, proposals to reform 14141 by adding private plaintiffs, and alternative
mechanisms by which the federal government could regulate police department reform.
*(R. A. Harmon et al., 1994) Much police misconduct is not accidental, incidental, or
inevitable. Instead,
it is systemic, arising out of departmental deficiencies that undermine officer adherence to
legal rules. When a police department resists public feedback, provides inadequate training and
policy guidance to officers, or disciplines laxly those who violate legal rules, it facilitateseven
encourageslaw breaking. Countering the systemic causes of police misconduct requires doing
more than punishing individual officers. It requires structurally changing police departments that
permit misconduct
in order to create accountability for
officers and supervisors and foster norms of professional integrity.(R. Harmon et al., 1994)
III. Departmental Policies
The reality of the situation is that many officers do in fact violate written policies about proper
standards of conduct especially where something viewed as insignificant and innocent is clearly
a violation of office policy but they do it anyway. Sometimes, its hard not to. In fact, refusing
the proffered beverage from a witness, victim, or local restaurant may be more offensive and
damaging to public relations. This type of gift, donation, gratuity, economic gain is often
emphasized when discussing misconduct and police corruption. However, this type of behavior
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is rarely the subject of civil litigation even where officers are stealing money, running rackets
and shaking down dealers as there is no credible plaintiff to come forward and file an action, be
willing to expose themselves to the intensive prolonged discovery process before not having the
option to not take the witness stand. Skeptical public and damaging police community
cooperation frequently results. Others who suspect corruption may try and muscle their way in to
the action. Police policy, formal or informal, should not condone behav- ior that violates the
ethical standards such as gratuities or violations of constitutional rights. (Ebookchpt1)
Indemnification
Immunity
IV. Conclusion
As already discussed, policing is an extremely hazardous activity with high percentages of
serious injuries suffered by not only employees but third parties as well. Every officer fears
appearances of inproprieties such as the question Where is your duty weapon? after it has just
been linked to a murder.
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References
Cordner, Georgie and Scarborough, K. Police Administration (2010) (7
th
edition kindle) New
Providence, NJ: LexisNexis Group
Crank, J and Caldero, M.(2010) (kindle revised printing) Police Ethics: The Corruption of Noble
Cause. New Providence, NJ: LexisNexis Group
Fodera, J. , Alifano, C. and Savelli, L. (16 November 2005) The importance of focused policy in
modern policing.(web last accessed on August 19, 2013). Savelli, L (columnist) Tools of
the (Crime) Trade published on PoliceOne.com News.
Gleason, T. (November 2006) Ethics Training for Police. Police Chief Magazine 73 (11). (web
last accessed on August 18, 2013).
International Association of Chiefs of Police. (2013) Model Policy Standards of Conduct (web
last accessed August 18, 2013). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies
Rosenstand, Nina. The Moral of the Story: An Introduction to Ethics. (2013) (7
th
edition kindle)
Anderson, Charles & Johnson (2003). The impressive psychology paper. Chicago: Lucerne
Publishing.
Smith, M. (2001). Writing a successful paper. The Trey Research Monthly, 53, 149-150.
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Appendix
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Footnotes
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