U4875631 Case Study

Case Study of Professional Ethics in Police Organisations

Introduction

Policing in a modern plural society involves the concerns associated with the ethical
norms and practices of the individual and the organisation. Although police
departments, like other professional organisations, have an ethical code of conduct that
adequately defines a moral and professional conduct but the ethical dilemmas of a
police officer are more complicated than defined in the booklet of ethics. The inherent
discretionary powers of the police officer and his right and duty to make decisions on
the spot for the purpose of protecting others moral rights are the main source of such
ethical dilemmas. Policing has the utilitarian justification of using deceptive and
coercive means to achieve the moral good of protecting the society from social evils.
However, how this utilitarian justification manifests itself in actual practice is of more
importance than the mere words of ethics. Utilitarian underlining of police working
does not give much importance to the character of the individual using those means.
Virtue and Kantian ethics point out that it is ones own character that matters at the end.
No matter how strict the laws are, and how detailed the codes of ethics are, deciding
factor will be the character and mental culture of the person using that discretion. So
there is a need of character building and ethical culture formation in the police force to
deliver highest moral good to society within the sphere of law and professionalism.

Policing in the Modern Society

Policing in a modern society has become highly complicated job, fraught with
contradictions, conflicts and moral dilemmas. Due to the enormous social problems,
police involvement with society has increased tremendously. New image of police
fixer of all wrongs has emerged in the modern society (Souryal 2003, p329). In 1859
J. S. Mill warned that unless the functions of police were limited, liberty would be
greatly endangered. He warned in vain (Petrow 1994).

Increased powers of the police are in response to the compounding social disorder
resulting from over emphasis on individual rights, and lack of social control. But the
society itself is not clear about the extent of police role and powers. As some argue that
police are the victims of an irrational society that is fascinated with glamorous images
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of criminals in the media. There is virtually nothing that the police can do because they
are helpless part of a misguided society (Souryal 2003).

Abuse of authority and harbouring prejudices have become a sort of police culture. This
is mainly because of the sections of the society police interacts the most. Even though
the criminal law may not be a crude instrument of the ruling class, police work is often
focussed on the type of crime that involves the poor and the powerless (Chan 1997,
p.28). Rich and affluent may not call police officer in emergencies, but it is poor,
middle class and minorities which are police clients most of the time. Police officials
may find it comparatively easy to use arbitrary means with such clients. For example
Police Racism in Australia has been an established fact till 80s (Chan 1994). Racial
bias against the aboriginal community was seen as a professional and ethical hazard that
was systematically cured over a period of time.

Ethical Justification of Police Organisations

Institutions in a society exist on the justification of providing some moral good to the
society and these moral good are the collective ends of the institutions. Modern policing
has two roles, i.e. crime fighting and peacekeeping. But among the other important
duties of police, enforcing and protecting the moral rights is the foremost duty. Human
rights and institutional moral rights are the two categories of moral rights. Human rights
are the rights that the humans have by virtue of possessing the quality of being humans.
Moral institutional rights are generated by the membership of morally legitimate
institution that has the sanction of the society and laws. A Police officer has certain
deontic powers of search, seizure and arrest but these powers are justified in term of
moral good (Miller & Blackler 2005, p. 20) This right is in part dependent upon
member ship of a morally legitimate police institution but it is also in part dependent on
human right of the victim not to be assaulted (Miller & Blackler 2005, p6).

Moral rights generate concomitant duties on the others, are justifiable enforceable and
one possesses it without necessarily asserting it. The police have moral right to perform
its duty but this moral right is constrained by law and various police codes of ethics. Not
only the victim has a moral right but suspect has it too. A police officer learns to
balance between the two.

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The laws that contain the wider social acceptance and conviction of the police official
are smooth to apply. The law is very helpful in terms of guiding police officers and
citizens in relation to the way that abstract moral right and principles apply to specific
circumstances (Miller & Blackler 2005, p.9). Laws pass through a legitimate procedure
and social consent of that procedure makes them justifiably enforceable.

Police Code of Ethics

Professional ethical codes imply a wide range of commitment and pledge to certain
legal, professional and ethical norms. These are vows and public promises or at least
commitment by the provider of goods and service that certain minimum standard will be
observed (Kleining& Zhong 1993). These codes have binding force in form of their
legal basis and are largely in response to societal expectation from that organisation or
individual. Although code existed in history as we still find the manuscript of Code of
Hammurabi and Athenian Code; but, professional code got popular in post
industrialisation era. Increased social awareness and rise of democracy led to the
questioning of professional ethics in dealing with wider issues having ethical
underlining. Moreover, lack of trust on part of society on the people who provided
service also necessitated the formulation of professional codes.

Codes of ethics did not become popular in policing until middle of 20th century when
urbanisation and social upheavals led to multiple and new crimes like drinking,
prostitution, property related crimes etc. Police involvement with the society increased
and it was found necessary to formulate some sort of code of ethics for the officials.
These codes not only helped the officials to refine their conduct but they also
understood their wider role in the society. For example our objectives are to uphold
rule of law, protect and assist the citizens and work for the prevention of immoral acts,
(the principals of policing and guidance for professional behaviour London
Metropolitan Police 1958).

Besides defining the objectives of policing, these codes stress on the moral and ethical
practices in policing. For example, Constables Oath, Manchester constabulary Police
1882 enacts in its code of ethics You must bear in mind that , to be thoroughly
efficient, your character as a police officer as well in private life should be above
reproach, (Kleining& Zhong 1993). Even the modern law enforcement agencies have
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incorporated collective moral objectives of their organisation in their codes. For

example, We measure our success by our contribution to the protection and
enhancement of American values, security and national interest (CIA CREDO 1984).

Limitations of the Ethical Codes

Despite being exhaustive, these codes have their limitations. Although they proclaim,
let common sense guide your judgment and courtesy control your actions at all time
(Basic Tenets of Good Law Enforcement, FBI 1958), concerns with the police neglect
of ethical norms in line of their duty have not lowered down. Ethical dilemmas of a
police official are more complicated than envisaged by professional codes of ethics. A
police officer may well find, as they acclimatize themselves to their occupational
environment, that the codes are not fully adequate to the situation and moral demands
that are placed on them( Kleining& Zhong 1993,p.23).

In different roles, a police official is serving some moral good to the society. His
activities and roles differ widely but multiplicity of the roles and activities are based on
what social and moral ends he is serving. The laws and codes have tried to balance
between the rights of the victim and the suspect, individual freedom and social control,
liberty and laws but the Moral dilemmas arise when law, society and police official
come apart (Miller & Blackler2005).

Enforcement of laws in an authoritarian society presents a moral challenge to the police

official. Such laws do not enjoy social backing and mostly lack conviction of the police
official as well. An example of such law is compulsory prayer attendance in Pakistan in
1980s. Every individual has a freedom of action and it is against the moral right of an
individual to be coerced into offering prayers. Such authoritarian laws present serious
moral dilemmas to the law enforcer.

Another serious conflict arises when the society itself coerces the law enforcement to
violate moral rights or society itself violates the moral rights (Miller & Blackler 2005)
like right to individual freedom, right to education, freedom of religion. Although these
moral rights (Laws) have passed the procedural legality test and society has given its
consent to enforce them but still, majority defies them and wants police to see them
being violated.
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Some Ethical dilemmas of Police Work

Police working offers serious ethical dilemmas to it functionaries. Use of deception,

coercive force, lies and noble cause corruption have long being justified on the
argument that ends justify means and the end is greater good. Certain violation of laws
and ethical code of conduct have become a culture of Police force and have got an
organisational utility.

Choice of Means

How important is the choice of means for the moral good the police department intends
to achieve? Sometimes wrong means are necessary to realise the fundamental ends of
policing but does the choice of wrong means is really inescapable? Given the same
situation different police officials will apply different means. Some may resort to use of
force and others to deceit and lies but throughout this process of exempting and
subordinating the obligation to be truthful, the police officers reasoning is moral, not
career, not personal gains but moral justification.

Policing constantly places its practitioners in situation in which good ends can be
achieved by dirty means (Klockars 1991, p.413) but when it becomes natural for a
police officer to believe that dirty means and only dirt means will work, utilitarian
argument loses its force. Moreover, selection of means is related to training and
resources that department places at the disposal of his officers. The moral standard that
a police man knows in advance of resorting to dirty means that a dirty means and only
a dirty means will work, rests heavily on two technical dimensions i)the professional
competence of policeman ,ii)range of legitimate working options available(Klockars
1991,p 418).

Telling lies and Deception

Telling lies and deception is an essential feature of Police job as Klockars 1991 states,
... in any situation in which police would be justified in using force to achieve
legitimate ends, they would not only be justified in using lies, but lies would be a
preferable alternative (p. 431). Moreover police blue lies can be justified by To tell

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the truth is a duty, but it is a duty only towards them who have a right to truth,
(Constant 1797). Those who intend to harm the society have no right to a truth.

Utilitarian argument for the justification of lies holds the ground till that lie and
deception has a moral end. Deception is most acceptable at the investigation stage, less
acceptable during the interrogation and least acceptable in the courtroom (Souryal
2003). But unfortunately police lies transcend this limit and often become a habit of the
police officer. Policemen lose their sense of moral proportion, fail to care, turn cynical
or allow their passionate caring to lead them to employ dirty means too crudely or too
readily (Klockars 1991,p413).

Corruption

Moral vulnerability of police official is fundamental defining feature and basic

occupational hazard (Miller & Blackler2005). There are two types of corruption,
hedonistic corruption i.e. for personal gains and obligatory corruption, i.e. ignoring the
rules for egoistical reasons (Souryal 2003). Police discretion and culture provide
enormous opportunities for indulging into immoral activities like corruption. It is
pertinent to point out that police has moral justification of this corruption.

Justifying the moral ends of the corruption, police officials separate it from an immoral
act. For example, planting fake evidence to get the hardened criminal convicted from
the court may hardly be ethically justified but its end is purging the society of the
criminals who are sharp enough to dodge the eyes of law. Would it be morally
justifiable for a cop to let a criminal walk away just for the lack of evidence and pollute
the society once again? Is it not his moral obligation to serve the collective good of the
society and contribute to achieve the moral end of his department?

But definitely such noble cause corruption (Miller & Blackler2005) should be
distinguished from habitual, personalised and recurring acts of corruption that aim
nothing but personal ends. Such official destroy the moral foundations of their
institution and create credibility deficit between the society and the department. A
police officer might have legal authority but in virtue of his lack of credibility in a
community, he in fact has no moral authority (Miller & Blackler 2005, p. 44).

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Police organisations have devised mechanisms to check such individualised corruption

by reducing the opportunities of corruption but sometimes it is not the mere individual
but the whole organisation and system that tends to indulge in corruption and shows no
remorse over it. It is habitual, on a very large scale and interdependent. Individual
accountability measures fail in such instances. Those who are recruited have the
highest moral character. (Miller & Blackler 2005, p. 134).

Use of Force

Laws are morally justifiable, enforceable moral rights and society has consented to be
governed by them and sometimes even coerced. Use of force and coercion may be
morally unacceptable in normal circumstances but sometimes it is inescapable. These
inescapable circumstances need special moral justification (Miller & Blackler 2005).

Police has a moral right to protect the rights of those who cannot protect their own
rights and in pursuit of this objective use of force becomes necessary. However,
traditionally use of force has been justified in self defence, defence of others, upholding
the law and apprehending the armed suspect.

But this use of force has seriously being questioned in modern times. The recent
example is the police shooting of McCummings who was awarded $4.3 million in a
suit he filed against the city of New York, because he had been shot twice in the back
by police in 1984 while trying to flee the scene of beating and robbing an old man
(Cebulak 2001).

This example displays a moral dilemma for the cop who shot that robber. He might be
repenting shooting that man because the robber made a fortune out of that incident but
on the other hand, if that robber has succeeded in escaping after looting, it would have
resulted into a professional remorse for that cop.

Need for Building Moral Character and Culture

Utilitarian argument has limitations when applied to practical ethical dilemmas of police
working because it argues that any person can institute moral outcome. It stresses on
ends and ignore the means because the general good is the desired objective and who
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realises it, is least important. Due to over play of utilitarian argument in police working,
Kantian and Virtue ethics have been neglected. But the countless stories of police abuse
and arbitrary use of power, discrimination against minorities, and wide spread use of
wrong means for wrong ends have necessitated the moral character building and ethical
culture formation in police organisations more than ever.

Discretion to apply law, power to make judgment, lack of accountability, and autonomy
are the inherent feature of police job. Laws cannot account for every deed and misdeed.
It is the prudence and professional knowledge of a police officer that handles the
situation. At the end, it would be the moral character of the official that would carry the
day. Those who are recruited have the highest moral character. ( Miller &
Blackler2005, p. 134). Codes and laws cannot dictate the mental culture of a person
unless his own conviction in the superiority of moral means is established. The nexus
between the desire and ability to do what is right and the habit of ethical reflection is
especially important in policing (Miller & Blackler2005, p. 140).

Ethics and responsibility are inherently related to each other and power without
accountability and gun without conscience is mere savagery. Absence of intellectual
virtue can be detrimental to the quality of policing (Souryal 2003). Police has been
victim of utilitarian argument. Using dirty means for noble ends ultimately tempt the
individuals to use the same argument for indulging into personalised act of corruption.
Unless the police officers have strength of character and ethical mental culture, it is
impossible to curb wrong practices in police working.

Conclusion

Many of the negative aspect associated with police are the result of personal goals
winning over the general good, lack of training and character strength. Justifying them
by utilitarian argument has not produced ethically satisfactory outcomes. Rather
collective moral good has often been sacrificed for the personal gains. Laws, code of
ethics and organisational collective moral objectives do have a role in shaping the
practices but enormous discretionary powers of the individual police officers necessitate
the character building of the force. Laws and codes are effective till the accountability
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mechanism has capability to punish every breach but if it has limitations, then one will
have to rely on the individual moral character and his adherence to categorical
imperatives. Ethical standards of police working demand doing right thing at the right
time for right reason and by the right man.