fbinaa_apr-jun-2020-Press-digital

ETHICAL CULTURE AND POLICING: A NECESSITY IN A TIME OF CRISIS

DAVID ESTEP

Law enforcement agencies are akin to business corporations in that they share various commonalities. One such similarity is that both have codes of ethics/conduct to which they must adhere. Another similarity is that both entities (corporations and law enforcement agencies) have stakeholders whom expect them to operate in an ethical manner and to be held accountable if they fail to do so. Corporate stakeholders are those individuals who have a vested interest (e.g. financial/ monetary) in the company, while in law enforcement the stakeholders are the citizens of the communities in which they serve. L aw enforcement is a profession which possesses some rather unique characteristics associated with it. The profession is largely decentralized in that officers have the ability to work in an autonomous fashion, and this type of work environment requires that officers use their discretion in conducting their duties. Discretion can be defined as “the authority to make decisions based on own’s own judgement rather than on specified rules” (Reid, 2008, p.8). The use of discretion in law enforcement is of critical importance. The discretion afforded law enforcement also places a tremendous responsibility upon

them, and this is due to the decisions they make can involve the taking of an individual’s liberty/ freedom. It is felt that discretion is a necessity in law enforcement, but must be used ethically, judiciously, and in moderation. An example of the discretion afforded police officers is in their capacity to decide if an infraction/ offense warrants a verbal warning, citation, or arrest of an individual. The use of discretion is also a concept which is contested, and Albrecht (2011) concurred with this by revealing that it is a topic which receives a great amount of attention and scrutiny. Police officers also act as the official representatives of government and are required and trusted to work within the boundaries of the law (Popa, Naghi, and Isopescu, 2012). Another unique characteristic of the law enforcement profession, and one which is a topic of much debate in contemporary society was provided by Nolan (2009) stating that most of officer’s

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